The Social Relevance of Green Tickets according to Science and the Travel Industry
With the development of the European multi-modal door-to-door route planner Green Tickets we want to highlight the more sustainable alternatives to flying. Our goal is, first and foremost, to help people find the best travel option. And we believe that, within Europe, this is often not the airplane.
But it’s not just about helping people to find the fastest and most comfortable route. We are also convinced that our current air travel behaviour is incompatible with the battle on climate change. And we are not alone in our belief in the necessity of reducing air travel.
Research on Climate Change
The International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organization advising it’s 29 member states on energy policy, estimated that so-called Avoid and Shift policies ‘have the potential to reduce global transport energy consumption and emissions by 15% or more by 2050.’ They explicitly mention the necessity of shifting users to more sustainable modes of travel to supplement the use of more efficient fuels and vehicles. (IEA, 2015)
The personal impact of flying has long been ignored, even by climate scientists. But more and more scientists recognize the enormity of the contribution to climate change by the aviation industry, and have stopped to fly completely.
“Hour for hour, there’s no better way to warm the planet than to fly in a plane.”
- Peter Kalmus, NASA Climate scientist at CalTech Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (Yes! Magazine, 2016)
Other scientists are researching ways to make flying more sustainable, for example at the faculty of Aerospace Engineering of the TUDelft. But will electric flying be a viable alternative any time soon? Dean Henri Werij doesn’t think so: “People think too easily about that. […] progress does not have the pace we would like to see.” One colleague even questions the usefulness of research into electric flying:
“It’s more to show the world the industry does try to make an effort on sustainability. […] Well, you could call it Greenwashing.”
- Leo Veldhuis, Professor of Flight Performance & Propulsion at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering — TUDelft (De Groene Amsterdammer, 2018)
Popular opinion
During the last few months many articles, op-eds and television items appeared on the future of transportation. There is more and more attention for the impact of flying, and for the currently available alternatives.
“It’s very difficult to find cheap train tickets. They are available, but just try to find and book them… While in aviation; for the whole world you can have a ticket within 10 minutes.”
- Paul Peeters, Associate Professor at NHTV University Breda (VPRO Tegenlicht, 2017)
Some publicists analyse the impact of flying and our attitude towards it and others try to put it on the political agenda.
“It’s time to say goodbye to the domination of aviation.” “There are excellent alternatives for cheap flights”
- Hein-Anton van der Heijden, writer and political scientist. (NRC, 2017)
Managers in the air travel industry
Even CEOs from the air travel industry point to alternatives for flying within Europe, for example the CEO of the largest airport of The Netherlands:
“I wonder if it’s socially responsible to fly back and forth to Barcelona for thirty euros”
- Jos Nijhuis, CEO Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (NRC, 2016)
And the CEO of KLM, the largest Dutch airline, points to alternatives for flying:
“Reliable high speed trains can replace short flights”
- Pieter Elbers, CEO KLM (luchtvaartnieuws.nl, 2018)
The attitude towards flying is changing
We believe that awareness of the impact of flying is continues to increase and a paradigm shift may not be far away. The aviation industry is no longer being ignored in the climate change debate, and more and more people consider climate impact when choosing a method of transport.
With Green Tickets we would love to help people find the best alternatives for flying, and contribute to a much needed change in society.
Follow us in building the European route planner of the future: getgreentickets.com
- De Groene Amsterdammer (2018). Voor een prikkie naar de Filistijnen — de toekomst van het vliegen. https://www.groene.nl/artikel/voor-een-prikkie-naar-de-filistijnen
- IEA (2015). Energy technology perspectives 2015: mobilising innovation to accelerate climate action. International Energy Agency, Paris.
- luchtvaartnieuws.nl (2018). Pieter Elbers: betrouwbare snelle trein kan korte vluchten vervangen. https://www.luchtvaartnieuws.nl/nieuws/categorie/2/airlines/pieter-elbers-betrouwbare-snelle-trein-kan-korte-vluchten-vervangen
- NRC (2016). Doe als de baas van Schiphol: neem de trein naar Parijs. https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2016/11/06/doe-als-de-baas-van-schiphol-neem-de-trein-naar-parijs-5141430-a1530456
- NRC (2017). Verbied vliegen binnen Europa. https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2017/12/13/verbied-vliegen-binnen-europa-a1584686
- VPRO Tegenlicht (2017). Groene vliegtuigpioniers. https://www.vpro.nl/programmas/tegenlicht/kijk/afleveringen/2017-2018/groene-vliegtuigpioniers.html#
- Yes! Magazine (2016). How far can we get without flying? http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/life-after-oil/how-far-can-we-get-without-flying-20160211
