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In the country that has given teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg to the world, the shame of traveling on planes that consume fossil fuels can now have a real impact on travel habits.
Swedavia AB, which operates 10 Swedish airports, including those outside Stockholm and Gothenburg, experienced an annual decrease in pbadenger numbers for seven consecutive months. Last year, Sweden experienced its lowest overall growth in pbadenger numbers in a decade.
At the same time, the number of pbadengers at SJ, the state-run train operator, reached a record 32 million last year because of the "great interest of climate-smart travel" .
The phenomenon, known as "flying shame", is pushing airlines to redouble their efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Scandinavian Airlines of SAS AB is taking a series of measures, including replacing older aircraft models with fuel efficient models and researching biofuels.
The carrier, which is partly owned by the Swedish and Danish governments, also uses heavy seats to buy lighter seats and asks customers to book in advance. These steps will reduce the weight of its aircraft and reduce fuel consumption. In addition, it seeks to offset the emissions of flights made by members of its club Eurobonus by investing in energy projects generating compensation equivalent to the amount of CO2 emitted.
Over the last ten years, SAS has redesigned one of the least efficient fleets in Europe. He eliminated the fuel-hungry McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft and placed orders for the latest Airbus SE A320neo series and for the double-aisle A350-900, which is expected to join the fleet this year.
For SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson, the question is existential. Unless society – and airlines – are tackling climate change, the world as we know it may cease to exist. But since airlines are an integral part of the globalized world in which we live, he does not believe that the solution is to stop stealing. Instead, airlines must take steps to reduce pollution and become more sustainable until the day when there will be engines that do not depend on fossil fuels.
"Airlines, like other infrastructures, are necessary for us to have the companies we want, with growth, transparency, openness, clarity and tolerance," he said. from an interview at SAS headquarters in Stockholm. "It's important that people continue to meet and that the world continues to travel. But we can not continue to travel without adapting to a sustainable approach. "
The issue is increasingly on the agenda of airlines as customers are increasingly climate sensitive, especially in Sweden.
ASHAMED TO VOL
The shame of theft, where people are ashamed to use any mode of transportation using fossil fuels, is on the rise in Sweden. According to a survey by the World Wildlife Fund, 23% of Swedes abstained from air travel in the past year to reduce their impact on the climate, an increase of 6 percentage points over the previous year. ;last year. Some 18% chose to travel by train rather than by plane.
A recent separate poll by Swedish radio showed that climate is now the most important political issue for young people. This development coincides with the movement of Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, where thousands of students from around the world demonstrate regularly to protest that political leaders must act to protect the environment. Thunberg travels by train whenever she shows up at events in Europe.
In addition to flygskam, the Swedes have adapted to new words describing change, such as "tagskryt" and "smygflyga", or fly in secret.
Even Swedavia, the operator of the airport, seems to feel the pressure. In his last two monthly reports on pbadenger numbers, he included comments on how he works to become more sustainable. This means increasing the use of biofuels at its airports and ensuring that all Swedavia airports do not produce fossil CO2 emissions from their own activities by 2020.
NUMBER OF FALLS
According to Swedavia, the climate debate is one of the reasons for the decline in the number of pbadengers, as well as factors such as concerns about the Swedish stock and housing markets, the weakness of the crown Swedish economy and geopolitical uncertainties. The impact is obvious, especially on domestic travel, which dropped by 3% last year.
For SAS, one of the key measures is to use more biofuels, which, unlike fossil fuels, have been produced by current biological processes rather than by geological processes. This fuel is considered carbon-neutral because the CO2 absorbed by the plants used to produce it is equal to the gas released during the combustion of the fuel.
But there is a problem: there is simply not enough biofuels. To solve the supply problem, SAS has partnered with the Preem refinery to increase biofuel production in Sweden, as it seeks to use the biofuel corresponding to its overall fuel consumption. Here 2030. This is part of a broader plan to reduce 25% of total carbon emissions. percent by 2030 compared to base year 2005. There is also a cost, with biofuel being more expensive than fossil fuels.
As pbadengers seem to be becoming more climate sensitive, airlines may not have any choice but to make this change. They could even become a selling point.
"The path to a fossil-free footprint will be long, but I'm an optimist about technology," said Gustafson. "One day, a scientist will look at how to replace the current jet engine, and I think these planes will become available to all of us, say, in 20 years."
-Swift.com
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