Tourism, Transport and Climate Change: The Carbon Footprint of International Air Traffic on Islands

Many small islands base their economy on tourism. This activity, based to a large extent on the movement of millions of people by air transport, depends on the use of fossil fuels and, therefore, generates a large amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this work, these emissions are evaluated by means of various carbon calculators, taking the Canary Islands as an example, which is one of the most highly developed tourist archipelagos in the world. The result is that more than 6.4 million tonnes (Mt) of CO2 are produced per year exclusively due to the massive transport of tourists over an average distance of more than 3000 km. The relative weight of these emissions is of such magnitude that they are equivalent to more than 50% of the total amount produced by the socioeconomic activity of the archipelago. Although, individually, it is travelers from Russia and Nordic countries who generate the highest carbon footprint due to their greater traveling distance, the British and German tourists account for the greatest weight in the total, with two-thirds of emissions.

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Determining the 2019 Carbon Footprint of a School of Design, Innovation and Technology

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13041750 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 1750

Author(s):

Guillermo Filippone ◽

Rocío Sancho ◽

Sebastián Labella

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Carbon Footprint ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Electrical Energy ◽

Renewable Sources ◽

Innovation And Technology ◽

Design Innovation

As a contribution to the fight against climate change, ESNE’s 2018/19 carbon footprint has been evaluated using the CarbonFeel methodology, based on ISO 14069 standards. In the scenario studied, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by direct and indirect emissions have been included. For comparative purposes, a second scenario has been analyzed in which fossil fuels used for heating are replaced by electrical energy from renewable sources. A decrease of 28% in GHG emissions has been verified, which could even reach 40% if the energy for thermal conditioning was replaced by renewables.

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Renewable and Unconventional Energies

10.2118/207209-ms ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Igolo Nonye Aniebo

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Twentieth Century ◽

Renewable Energy ◽

Carbon Footprint ◽

Large Scale ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Industrialized Nations ◽

The World ◽

Speed Up

Abstract Renewable and unconventional energies have finally moved from the realm of ideas to fact. They, as was expected and feared, have forced deep changes in world economies. Fortunately, they have, at the same time, begun to fulfill an aspect of the dream that made them an alluring idea in the first place- help humanity fight climate change. For decades, large scale exploitation of energy has been the preserve of industrialized nations. It is therefore understandable that they would lead the push for the practicalization of renewables and unconventional energies. Since the nations occupy less than a third of the world, their diminished carbon footprint will not be enough to reverse the effects of climate change. The objective of this research is to posit that just as these nations initiated and were mainly responsible for the excessive and unregulated use of fossil fuels all over the world, they should also try to do the same for renewables if they want to save humanity from the devastating effects of climate change. Nigeria, like most countries in Africa, is a case in point. Her fossil fuels, coal, oil, and gas were brought on stream in the twentieth century to satisfy foreign demands. Now that these demands have found other sources, a chaotic operation has been left for the locals to vandalize or operate, further creating a disastrous situation that will speed up climate change. What is true for Nigeria is equally true for more than 50 other foreign created/controlled countries of Africa, the second largest continent globally. Evaluation of research on renewable energy and Nigeria will be done to lay the facts bare and show the things that have to be put in place to start the process. The result will show that while there are constraints, Nigeria as a country will greatly benefit from policies based on renewables and unconventional energies.

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There is a silver lining: carbon footprint reduction by holding Preventive Cardiology conference 2020 virtually

European Journal of Preventive Cardiology ◽

10.1093/eurjpc/zwab061.224 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 28 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

T Batool ◽

A Neven ◽

Y Vanrompay ◽

M Adnan ◽

P Dendale

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Co2 Emissions ◽

Carbon Footprint ◽

Carbon Emission ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Air Travel ◽

Co2 Production ◽

Scientific Conference ◽

Preventive Cardiology ◽

Transport Modes

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Other. Main funding source(s): Special Research Fund (BOF), Hasselt University Introduction The transportation sector is one of the major sectors influencing climate change, contributing around 16% of total Greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. Aviation contributes to 12% of the transport related emissions. Among other climate change impacts, elevated heat exposure is associated with increased cardiac events and exposure to air pollution caused by GHG emissions has also well-known association with increased cardiovascular related morbidity and mortality. The global temperature rise should be restricted to less than 2 °C which requires keeping carbon emission (CO2) less than 2900 billion tonnes by the end of the 21st century. Assuming air travel a major contributing source to GHG, this study aims to raise the awareness about potential carbon emissions reduction due to air travel of international events like a scientific conference. Purpose Due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, the Preventive cardiology conference 2020 which was planned to be held at Malaga Spain, instead was held in virtual online way. This study aims to calculate the contribution of reduced CO2 emissions in tons due to ESC preventive cardiology conference 2020, which was then held online and air travel of the registered participants was avoided. Methods Anonymized participant registration information was used to determine the country and city of the 949 registered participants of the Preventive Cardiology conference 2020. It is assumed that participants would have travelled from the closest airports from their reported city locations to Malaga airport, Spain. At first, the closest city airports were determined using Google maps and flights information, then the flight emissions (direct and indirect CO2-equivalent emissions) per passenger for the given flight distances were calculated. The CO2 emissions (tons) were calculated for round trips in economy class from the participants of 68 nationalities (excluding 60 participants from Spain as they are assumed to take other modes of transport than airplane). Results In total, 1156.51 tons of CO2 emissions were saved by turning the physical conference into a virtual event. This emission amount is equivalent to the annual CO2 production of 108 people living in high-income countries. Conclusion The pandemic situation has forced us to rethink the necessity of trips by air and has shown us the feasibility of digitally organized events. The information from this study can add to the awareness about reduced amount of carbon emission due to air travel by organizing events in a virtual way when possible. Apart from only digitally organized events there are others options to reduce the carbon footprint of conferences such as limiting the number of physical attendees, encouraging the use of relatively sustainable transport modes for participants from nearby countries (e.g. international trains and use of active transport modes at conference venue etc.) and including CO2 emission offsetting costs.

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Effects of climate change on environmental sustainability

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202125001005 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 250 ◽

pp. 01005

Author(s):

Manuela Tvaronavičienė

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Warming ◽

Natural Resources ◽

Carbon Footprint ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Industrial Pollution ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Adaptation Strategies ◽

Viable Solution ◽

The World

Adaptation strategies to the climate change include measures that can be taken to take account of the new climatic conditions. This paper aims at assessing the effects of climate change on environmental sustainability. This sustainability constitutes a major problem in many countries and regions around the world that experience industrial pollution, degradation of land as well as natural disasters caused by the global warming. The paper shows that adaptation strategies are often parallel strategies that can be integrated simultaneously with the management of natural resources. They can make resources more efficient and resilient to climate change. The paper shows that reducing the carbon footprint by more than 50 percent by 2030 and eliminating it by 2050 might be a viable solution how to tackle the climate change and support the environmental sustainability.

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The Impacts of Climate Change on Agricultural Production and Sustainable Agriculture of Smallholder Farmers in Vietnam

Vietnam Journal of Agricultural Sciences ◽

10.31817/vjas.2021.4.2.10 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 1100-1107

Author(s):

Nguyen Van Phu

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sustainable Agriculture ◽

Supply Chains ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Human Beings ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Food Supply Chains ◽

The World

Climate change is one of the greatest threats to human beings, and agriculture is one of the fields that is most negatively affected by climate change. Farmers around the world and global food supply chains are impacted by the more extreme weather phenomena and increased damage of diseases and pests caused by climate change. Today, almost all agricultural enterprises and farms consider climate change a serious long-term risk for their production. Agricultural land systems can produce significant greenhouse gases (GHGs) by the conversion of forests to crop- and animal lands, and also through the weak management of crops and livestock. Around the world, cultivation and cattle production accounts for 25% of global GHG emissions (Javeline, ‎2014). However, under suitable conditions, agriculture can create environmental conditions that can help minimize pollution and the negative effects of climate change including carbon absorption by green plants in forests, and fields for watershed protection and biodiversity conservation. Sustainable agriculture helps farmers to adapt, maintain, and improve productivity without applying harmful techniques. In turn, this allows farms to manage and mitigate climate-related risks in their supply chains. The Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) has found new ways to incorporate smart climate cultivation methods into all farming practices to help farms and enterprises carry out agriculture sustainably.

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Climate Change

Geography of Tourism ◽

10.23912/9781911396437-3641 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Peter Mason

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Rain Forest ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Mass Tourism ◽

Major Threat ◽

The World ◽

Tourism Activity ◽

The Stability ◽

Almost All ◽

Main Attraction

Climate change poses a major threat to almost all forms of human activity on earth, including tourism. As Holden (2016: 227) argues: Of all the challenges facing tourism’s relationship with nature, it is not an exaggeration to state that climate change represents the greatest. Holden gives as his rationale for this statement that it is the stability and predictability of climate that is vital for the environments and ecosystems that are required for the continuation of current types of tourism, whether these are the traditional form of mass tourism, in terms of ‘sun, sea and sand’ holidays, or a niche activity which involves visiting a tropical rain forest with rare flora and fauna as the main attraction. Climate change also presents opportunities for tourism. If areas currently experiencing cool winters and mild summers get warmer, then new types of tourism may be possible including beach-based holidays where at present these are of little importance. Climate change is likely to lead to modifications in the weather at different times of the year so ‘seasonality’ which is currently a very important dimension to many forms of tourism will be affected, probably to the extent that seasons when there is high tourism activity will get longer in some parts of the world. Although tourism is likely to be significantly affected by climate change, it has also contributed to climate change through for example the burning of fossil fuels in transport for tourism as well through the use of power in hotel accommodation.

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Transitioning to Low Carbon Mobility

Low Carbon Mobility Transitions ◽

10.23912/978-1-910158-64-7-3267 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Debbie Hopkins ◽

James Higham

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Climate ◽

Critical Role ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Substantial Contribution ◽

Transport Sector ◽

Low Carbon ◽

The World ◽

Environmental Transformation ◽

Context Specific

Since the turn of the 21st Century, the world has experienced unprecedented economic, political, social and environmental transformation. The ‘inconvenient truth’ of climate change is now undeniable; rising temperatures and the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme events have resulted in the loss of lives, livelihoods and habitats as well as straining economies. Increasingly mobile lives are often dependent on high carbon modes of transport, representing a substantial contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the underlying cause of anthropogenic climate change. With growing demand and rising emissions, the transport sector has a critical role to play in achieving GHG emissions reductions, and stabilising the global climate. Low Carbon Mobility Transitions draws interdisciplinary insights on transport and mobilities, as a vast and complex socio-technical system. It presents 15 chapters and 6 shorter ‘case studies’ covering a diversity of themes and geographic contexts across three thematic sections: People and Place, Structures in Transition, and Innovations for Low Carbon Mobility. The three sections are highly interrelated, and with overlapping, complementing, and challenging themes. The contributions offer critical, often neglected insights into low carbon mobility transitions across the world. In doing so, Low Carbon Mobility Transitions sheds light on the place- and context-specific nature of mobility in a climate constrained world.

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Consumption and Emissions Analysis in Domestic Hot Water Hotels. Case Study: Canary Islands

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11030599 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 599 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Francisco Díaz Pérez ◽

Ricardo Díaz Martín ◽

Francisco Pérez Trujillo ◽

Moises Díaz ◽

Adib Mouhaffel

Keyword(s):

High Temperature ◽

Carbon Footprint ◽

Canary Islands ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Heat Pumps ◽

Hot Water ◽

Solar Thermal ◽

Solar Panels ◽

Domestic Hot Water ◽

Temperature Heat

We analyze the energy consumption of domestic hot water (DHW) in the hotels of the archipelago of the Canary Islands (Spain). Currently, systems use fossil fuels of propane and gas oil. However, this paper analyzes several alternative systems which focus on renewable and mixed energies, such as biomass, solar thermal and heat pumps systems associated with an electric generation with photovoltaic solar panels for self-consumption. The carbon footprint generated is calculated for each method of generation of DHW. In our analysis, we demonstrate that by using a high-temperature heat pump with an average coefficient of performance (COP) equal to or greater than 4.4 associated with photovoltaic solar panels, a zero-emission domestic hot water system can be achieved, when the installation area of the photovoltaic solar panels is equal to that of the solar thermal system. The importance of DHW’s carbon footprint is proven, as is the efficiency of using high-temperature heat pumps associated with photovoltaic solar panels. As such, such mixed system suggests that the generation of DHW would have zero emissions with maximum annual savings according to hotel occupancy, between 112,417 and 137,644 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), compared to current boilers based on fossil fuels.

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Evaluating the Link between Low Carbon Reductions Strategies and Its Performance in the Context of Climate Change: A Carbon Footprint of a Wood-Frame Residential Building in Quebec, Canada

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10082715 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 2715 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Alejandro Padilla-Rivera ◽

Ben Amor ◽

Pierre Blanchet

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Carbon Footprint ◽

Climate Change Mitigation ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Quebec City ◽

Baseline Scenario ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Building Sector ◽

Change Mitigation

The design and study of low carbon buildings is a major concern in a modern economy due to high carbon emissions produced by buildings and its effects on climate change. Studies have investigated (CFP) Carbon Footprint of buildings, but there remains a need for a strong analysis that measure and quantify the overall degree of GHG emissions reductions and its relationship with the effect on climate change mitigation. This study evaluates the potential of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the building sector by evaluating the (CFP) of four hotpots approaches defined in line with commonly carbon reduction strategies, also known as mitigation strategies. CFP framework is applied to compare the (CC) climate change impact of mitigation strategies. A multi-story timber residential construction in Quebec City (Canada) was chosen as a baseline scenario. This building has been designed with the idea of being a reference of sustainable development application in the building sector. In this scenario, the production of materials and construction (assembly, waste management and transportation) were evaluated. A CFP that covers eight actions divided in four low carbon strategies, including: low carbon materials, material minimization, reuse and recycle materials and adoption of local sources and use of biofuels were evaluated. The results of this study shows that the used of prefabricated technique in buildings is an alternative to reduce the CFP of buildings in the context of Quebec. The CC decreases per m2 floor area in baseline scenario is up to 25% than current buildings. If the benefits of low carbon strategies are included, the timber structures can generate 38% lower CC than the original baseline scenario. The investigation recommends that CO2eq emissions reduction in the design and implementation of residential constructions as climate change mitigation is perfectly feasible by following different working strategies. It is concluded that if the four strategies were implemented in current buildings they would have environmental benefits by reducing its CFP. The reuse wood wastes into production of particleboard has the greatest environmental benefit due to temporary carbon storage.

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Fuelling America's Climatic Apocalypse

Worldviews Global Religions Culture and Ecology ◽

10.1163/156853507x230555 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 255-283 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Timothy Leduc

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Fossil Fuel ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Environmental Issues ◽

The United States ◽

Climatic Changes ◽

Frame Of Reference ◽

Public Understanding ◽

The World ◽

Political Economic

AbstractThis paper examines the powerful intersection of Christian fundamentalism and fossil fuel interests in the United States' Republican administration's policy response to climate change. Of particular interest is the increasing recognition that apocalyptic Christian beliefs are informing America's political economic and public understanding of environmental issues, thus allowing climate change to be interpreted from a religious frame of reference that could impact a viable response in a country whose GHG emissions are amongst the highest in the world. While liberal secularists may think the Christian apocalypse to be a misguided belief, scientific discourses on the potential interacting impacts of climatic changes and energy shortages offer an almost complementary rational depiction of apocalypse. By bringing these Christian and secular revelations into dialogue, the following interdisciplinary analysis offers a unique perspective on the way in which apocalyptic thought can both negatively and positively inform a political economic response to climate change.

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