Climate Change shame has Swedes abandoning planes and taking trains



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In the country that gave the world teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, shame connected with traveling on airplanes that guzzle fossil fuels can be a real impact on travel patterns.

Swedavia AB, which operates 10 Swedish airports, including the ones outside Stockholm and Gothenburg, has seen the year. Last year, Sweden had its weakest growth in pbadenger numbers in a decade.

At the same time, SJ jumped to a record 32 million last year due to "the big interest in climate-smart travel."

The phenomenon, known as "flying shame," is putting pressure on airlines to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

SAS AB's Scandinavian Airlines is taking a series of measurements, with more fuel-efficient ones, and seeking to use more biofuel.

The carrier who's partly owned by the Swedish and Danish governments is also a heavyweight consumer and consumer advocate. These steps will reduce the weight of its planes and reduce fuel consumption. In addition, it seeks to offset the emissions of its members by investing in energy costs, which is equivalent to the amount of CO2 emitted.

In the past decade, SAS has overhauled one of Europe's least-efficient aircraft fleets. It has been phased out fuel-thirsty McDonnell Douglas MD-80 planes and placed orders for Airbus SE's latest A320neo-series narrow-body and twin-aisle A350-900, which is due to join the fleet this year.

For SAS Chief Executive Officer Rickard Gustafson, the matter is existential. Unless society – and airlines – address climate change, the world as we know it may exist. But do not miss the answer to the world. Fossil fuels are more important than fossil fuels.

"Airlines, like other infrastructure, are in need of growth, transparency, openness, clarity and tolerance," he said in an interview at SAS Headquarters in Stockholm. "It's important that people can continue to meet the world. But we can not continue to adjust to a sustainable way. "

The issue is rising on the agenda of climate change, particularly in Sweden.

ASHAMED TO FLY

Flying shame, where people feel ashamed to use any mode of transport that uses fossil fuel, is on the rise in Sweden. According to a survey by the World Wildlife Fund, 23 percent of Swedes have a negative impact on climate change, up 6 percentage points from a year earlier. Some 18 percent have chosen to travel by train rather than air.

A recent recent survey by Swedish Radio shows that the climate is the most important political topic for young people today. That development coincides with Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg's movement, where thousands of people take part in the fight against terrorism. Thunberg travels by train whenever she appears at events in Europe.

In addition to "flygskam" (flying shame), Swedes have adapted to new words describing the shift, including "tagskryt" (train bragging) and "smygflyga," or fly in secret.

Even Swedavia, the airport operator, seems to be feeling the pressure. In its past two monthly reports on pbadenger numbers, it included comments on how it is working to become more sustainable. That includes increasing the consumption of the airports and making sure that all Swedavia airports produce zero fossil CO2 emissions from their own operations by 2020.

FALLING NUMBERS

According to Swedavia, the climate debate is one of the following factors, along with factors such as the Swedish stock and housing markets, a weak Swedish krona, and geopolitical uncertainties. The impact is evident especially on domestic travel, which dropped 3 percent last year.

For SAS, one of the key measures is biofuel, which unlike fossil fuel has been produced through current biological processes rather than geological processes. Such fuel is considered carbon neutral, as the CO2 absorbed by the plants used to produce it is equal to the gas released when the fuel is burned.

But there is a problem – there is not enough biofuel around. To help solve the problem, the issue of supply is the most important issue in terms of biofuel production. percent by 2030 compared to the base year 2005. There is also a cost involved, as it is more expensive than fossil fuel.

That makes you feel better and more climate-conscious. They could even become a selling point.

"The journey towards a fossil-free footprint will be long, but I'm a technology optimist," Gustafson said. "One day a scientist will figure out how to replace the current jet engine, and I think it will become available to us, say, 20 years' time."

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