Britons named world's biggest emitters

[xoxoxoBruce]

This issue has heated up over the last few months and is going to become a bigger issue in the future. The EU has been hashing this over, all summer, trying to figure out how to balance it with their, carbon footprint/emission reduction, goals.

Britons named world's biggest emitters of CO2 from air travel
The Guardian (UK) 10/10/2007 Author: Thair Shaikh

Britons produce more carbon emissions from air travel a head than any other country, a study reveals today, citing the country's predilection for low-cost airlines as a major factor.

The average carbon emission for each British flyer was 603kg (95lb) a year, more than a third higher than Ireland in second place with 434kg and more than double that of the US at 275kg, in third place.

Wetter summers and easier access to air travel were also blamed for the increasing greenhouse gas emissions by British air travellers, according to the report by Global TGI, a market research company, which studied 20
countries with high rates of air travel.

Geoff Wicken, a spokesman for Global TGI, said: "There are clearly a number of reasons for it, some of which include the British weather and people wanting to get away from that, some of which are to do with our being an island. But the rapid growth in low-cost flying has undoubtedly been a factor."

The figures will put the government under renewed pressure to clamp down on air travel to meet its targets to reduce emissions. Although the government has pledged to cut carbon emissions as part of its fight against global warming, it has supported airport expansion.

Delivering his budget report yesterday, Alistair Darling announced measures to tackle climate change, including switching air taxes from individual passengers to airline flights to encourage more efficient use of planes. He also said that air travel, which contributes 6.3% of the UK's carbon emissions, should be part of the EU's .

Several studies have shown that the aviation industry is rapidly becoming a major contributor to global warming. Over the past 30 years air passengers in Britain have increased fivefold.

The government's own figures support the notion that air travel is more harmful to the environment. Defra calculated that rail journeys produce 0.04kg of carbon dioxide for each passenger kilometre.

For longhaul flights it is 0.11kg, while short-haul flights produce 0.15kg. That would make a flight from London to Paris about four times as polluting as a train journey. Cheap shorthaul flights offered by airlines are now in direct competition with trains to European destinations such as Paris and also big cities in the Britain such as Manchester and Edinburgh.

Scientists say carbon emissions in the atmosphere are at least twice as harmful to the environment as those at sea level.

But overall, US adults have the biggest annual travel carbon footprint in the world at 7.8 tonnes, more than double France's 3.7 tonnes, which comes in at number two. Third on the list, at 3.1 tonnes, is Britain.

The study calculated air emissions by adding up the number of long and short haul flights taken. It arrived at road emissions figures by determining the amount of fuel consumed.

The EU, particularly the French and Germans, have been adamantly opposed to including aircraft in the emissions trading scheme. Maybe they are jealous of Briton's lead in airlines?

[ZenGum]

Given the thread title, I thought this was going to be about national flatulence rates. All that beer and egg-and-chips...

Seriously, your title is misleading. Britons are the biggest per capita source of emissions from air travel.
The biggest per capita source of emissions in total remains the USA.
Still, it's an interesting point. With the huge distances in travelling within the USA, I'd have thought they would fly much more. I guess the sucky weather in Britain makes them all want to escape to Spain whenever possible, and who can blame them?
I'm all for high speed trains, MUCH lower emissions. Planes are still faster while in motion, but all the sodding about you have to do to get on a plane adds a lot to the total travel time, so for short and mid-length journeys, trains can be quicker door-to-door.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

That was the whole point, ZenG: to pull you in...

[ZenGum]

So why not "snot-dribbling naked chick hung upside-down over a vat of liquefied head's with a feather duster up her arse while being tased by George Bush"?

Oh yeah, we've already had that thread.

[Aliantha]

We've already had every thread before. We're like a bunch of broken records around here.

[HungLikeJesus]

I hope that their data is better than indicated by their ability to convert between units.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Given the thread title, I thought this was going to be about national flatulence rates. All that beer and egg-and-chips...

Seriously, your title is misleading. Britons are the biggest per capita source of emissions from air travel.
The biggest per capita source of emissions in total remains the USA.
Still, it's an interesting point. With the huge distances in travelling within the USA, I'd have thought they would fly much more. I guess the sucky weather in Britain makes them all want to escape to Spain whenever possible, and who can blame them?
I'm all for high speed trains, MUCH lower emissions. Planes are still faster while in motion, but all the sodding about you have to do to get on a plane adds a lot to the total travel time, so for short and mid-length journeys, trains can be quicker door-to-door.

China and India will beat us out as the biggest emitters within the next three years.

(edited)

[xoxoxoBruce]

What, you don't believe 603kg equals 95lb, in Britain? Is The Guardian conversion-ally challenged?

[HungLikeJesus]

Of course, converting from kg to lb isn't strictly a unit-conversion issue, as kg is a unit of mass and lb is a unit of weight (force) and one needs to account for the local gravity constant, as well as other factors.

[TheMercenary]

http://photos.mongabay.com/07/co2_sh...0-2030-max.jpg

http://photos.mongabay.com/07/world_...0-2030-max.jpg

http://www.mongabay.com/images/2006/..._1990-2025.jpg

http://rainforests.mongabay.com/09-carbon_emissions.htm

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

China and India will beat us out as the biggest emitters within the next three years.

(edited)

Biggest in total, true (and China may well be there already). But per capita, you guys still kick arse.
I wonder how it works out per unit of GDP? Whose economy is the most efficient at creating wealth with the lowest emissions. I'd tip Japan. Industry here is mostly high-tech, and public transport is fantastic.
Anyone got any -gasp- facts?

EDIT *follows links in Mercenary's post* Good graphs, Merc. I'll look for per capita and per GDP breakdowns.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Biggest in total, true (and China may well be there already). But per capita, you guys still kick arse.
I wonder how it works out per unit of GDP? Whose economy is the most efficient at creating wealth with the lowers emissions. I'd tip Japan. Industry here is mostly high-tech, and public transport is fantastic.
Anyone got any -gasp- facts?

There might be some here: http://rainforests.mongabay.com/09-carbon_emissions.htm

I have not looked.

[ZenGum]

Thanks Merc, couldn't find the breakdowns I wanted there but some interesting (and generally depressing) stuff. Especially that renewables have lost market share in the US since 2002 This bodes ill.

http://www.mongabay.com/images/2006/..._1996-2004.jpg
http://www.mongabay.com/images/2006/...y_con_2005.jpg

[ZenGum]

But back to the main issue here ... who does fart the most?

Chinese, with all that cabbage?
British, with their beer and egg-and-chips?
Americans, because everything is usually their fault? (joking, UG!)
Russians ... Borscht ....
Anyone?

[Undertoad]

renewables have lost market share in the US since 2002

An expanding economy will do that.