The Travel Industry Guide to
Lowering Carbon Emissions Megan Epler Wood North American Ecotourism Conference NativeEnergy Travel Offsets, LLC September 27, 2007
Carbon Crisis – Where are We • The U.S. Travel Industry is only beginning to respond to the risk of rapidly elevating carbon emissions • Other major corporations and investors are already starting to respond more rapidly
“On Monday, September 24, 2007 former President Bill Clinton released the results of the 2007 Carbon Disclosure Project, a survey requesting data from 2,400 public companies on how they manage climate-change risk. The report was conducted for more than 300 institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Calpers, the California pension fund.”
World Air Travel On the RISE Forecast Growth in international passenger air traffic 2005-2010 Annual Increase of RPK 7% 6% 4%
5%
4%
5%
RPK - Revenue passengerKilometers
¾Airlines have recovered from down
Source: IATA
Am er ica M idd le Ea La st tin Am er ica
Af ric a
No rth
As ia
Pa ci f ic
turns
Eu ro pe
8% 7% 6% 5% 4% 3% 2% 1% 0%
Air travel is the fastest growing source of carbon emissions and presently accounts for 3.5% of the CO2 in the atmosphere. In the next 10 years this impact is expected to grow by at least 75%.
¾Projecting profits for 2007 – first time since 2001
¾Despite healthy growth suffering from growing competition from low-cost airlines
¾Fastest growing market segment is short-haul
Domestic Air Travel Also on Rise • U.S. Airlines carried nearly 380 million passengers in 1st six months of 2007 – Growth of 2.5% domestic passengers • 3.9% growth in international passengers
– Average load factors nearly 80% - an all time high
• This represents 5.2 million domestic and international flights – 2.8 billion miles traveled Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics
This can be translated into about 183 million tons of carbon emitted in 6 months or approximately 366 million tons for 2007
Effective Carbon Management • The U.S. Airlines represent over 99% of the total carbon emissions produced when looking at: – U.S. Airlines, Tour Operators, and Travel Agencies* • Other industry players need further investigation, such as rental car agencies, major attractions, and cruise
• The travel industry can play a key role in the climate crisis by helping passengers to be efficient in their air travel • Beyond efficiency, the travel industry can be even more proactive by offering quality information on carbon offsets & making offsets available * Source: Travel Research Online
Basic Steps to Monitor Carbon • Being carbon neutral is an important goal – but first every company needs to understand their carbon footprint • This concept is based on a variety of calculations that any company can undertake • Knowing your carbon footprint will become part of a strategy for corporate management that will help with decision making for the next 10 – 20 years.
Items to Consider •
•
•
Total Travel by Car, Plane and Train
– Total cars, total miles, gallons of gas used by corporate personnel
Total Number of Passenger Flights
– Average distance, Total miles traveled
Corporate headquarters & Field Office Energy Use
– Total square feet, KWH or Cubic Feet of Gas per square foot – Average CO2 emitted by state
•
Accommodations
– # of hotel nights & average kWh per room – CO2 emitted by electricity source in location of hotel
Items to Consider • Waste generated by company activities – Amount sent to landfills – Type of landfill
Why Carbon Offset in the U.S.
• The U.S. is the world’s largest emitter of carbon & the world’s largest travel market. • The U.S. Travel Industry can play an important role in reducing carbon emissions and helping to solve the carbon crisis. • Carbon Offsetting can help launch a new more renewable infrastructure system in the U.S.
Basic Concept: Burning coal and other fossil fuels produces most of our electricity, and is the number one contributor to global warming
More electricity from renewables ELECTRICITY GRID
= Less electricity from fossil fuels = CO2 Pollution Reductions
Wind and other new renewables reduce CO2 pollution from fossilfueled power plants
About NativeEnergy Travel Offsets
• A Joint Venture Partnership between – NativeEnergy – Megan Epler Wood & Richard G. Edwards
• Objective is to help the U.S. Travel Industry lower its carbon impacts – Goals are: • Help U.S. travel companies educate their clients about the issues related to travel and global warming • Provide marketing support that will communicate corporate commitment to a cleaner, more responsible U.S. travel industry
NativeEnergy Projects • Rosebud Sioux Tribe Wind Turbine – First large-scale Native American wind turbine
• Three Affiliated Tribes’ Wind Turbine – Second Native American wind turbine
• Other Native American/Alaskan Projects – Rosebud expansion and others under discussion or contract
• Essex Wastewater Treatment Facility – Vermont biogas generator
• Farmer-owned Methane Projects – Projects under construction
• Farmer-owned Wind Farms – Midwest projects under contract
• Solar Projects – NH largest array
Commitment to Innovation Moving Forward:
The only way forward is a transformational approach that creates incentives for innovation and alternative energy. David Esty & Andrew Winston,
Green to Gold 2006
Learn More • Visit our website at www.nativeenergy/traveloffsets.com • Come to the Stakeholder Session on
Climate Change and the Tourism Industry, Friday at 9-12:30PM • Come visit the NETO booth and schedule a free carbon consultation!
For More Information visit us at
Nativeenergy/traveloffsets.com Contact: Megan Epler Wood (802) 999-9920 Megan.EplerWood@NativeEnergy.com
NativeEnergy Travel Offsets, LLC P.O. Box 4363, VT 05406