Wishing For Guilt-free Travel: Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Wishing For Guilt-free Travel: Planes, Trains & Automobiles – After a long year, it’s time for some much-needed rest. Whether you’re visiting family and friends, heading to some tropical retreat or trying your luck on snowy mountains, you’ll likely be taking planes, trains or automobiles – or all three!

So, this month, we get the low-down on sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) with EcoCeres’ CEO Matti Lievonen and contemplate other options for guilt-free travel like training it on high-speed rail or taking a bucket-list road trip across the Tibetan Plateau in an EV. We also ponder if beach holidays will survive climate change… all the more reason to travel green.

According to the IEA, transport is responsible for over half of global oil demand and contributes around a quarter of carbon emissions from fuel combustion. So, travelling green can help slow down climate change and keep beaches & islands safe from rising seas and leave mountains still snow-capped.

Our former intern Matthew Williamson is worried about his future holidays. As it is, flying today already faces disruption from extreme weather – who hasn’t been trapped in an airport for hours due to too much rain, snow or typhoons? Are low-lying airports & tourist hotspots prepared for rapidly rising seas? Williamson reflects on this and gives 2 reasons to remain cautiously optimistic – see how he thinks we should adapt travelling & tourism to the new climate normal.

Flying is one of the biggest climate perpetuators accounting for 2.5% of global carbon emissions. That may not sound like a lot but as Williamson notes, only about 10% of the world’s population flies which means a privileged minority is responsible for a significant slice of emissions. It’s up to those of us who fly regularly to make more responsible choices – like choosing airlines using sustainable aviation fuels.

EcoCeres is helping to expand that list. Already it has partnered with Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific & Qantas to supply them with SAF – a drop-in substitute to conventional jet fuels that could cut emissions by up to 90%! Unlike other biofuels, EcoCeres’ SAF relies exclusively on waste oil as feedstock, therefore avoiding deforestation and food security concerns.

Based in Hong Kong, EcoCeres is a global leader in renewable fuels innovation. Already the 2nd largest producer of SAF in the world, CEO Matti Lievonen is excited about the future – with 9 of the world’s 10 busiest flight routes based in APAC, he says that the region could contribute up to 40% of global SAF production by 2050. This is good news especially since the aviation industry aims to reach net-zero by 2050 and expects SAF to contribute 65% of those efforts.

Which countries have set SAF targets? Which are building SAF refineries? Which airlines are adopting SAF? What are the challenges ahead? Will Hong Kong be the regional SAF hub? Lievonen unpacks it all in our interview. Also see why he thinks the GBA could be a global SAF demo zone… it could happen sooner than you think! Seriously, our chat with him is a MUST READ.

In the meantime, how can we travel more sustainably? Enter High Speed Rail (HSR): not only is it climate-friendly, it’s also comfortable & quicker than you might expect.

Rail travel has a reputation of being fragmented, uneven and slow, but HSR completely changes the game. HSR uses 29% less energy than conventional rail but is 2x as fast and CWR’s Jamie Chan hopes that one day it’ll be possible to go around the world on HSR.

For now China’s HSR, or the gaotie, is right at her doorstep. Did you know that China has more high-speed track than the rest of the world combined? Currently at 40,000km, China could reach 100,000km by 2050 – at that point the IEA projects a 12% drop in its transport emissions!

Why are Chinese passengers preferring the HSR over flying? Where can the HSR take you within 6 hours? Can the HSR really be faster than air travel? Read Chan’s article to find out – and get some inspiration for your next regional trip.

Today, it is also possible to go long distance in an EV – indeed, CWR’s Ziyang Cai dreams of taking the 2,000km+ drive from Chengdu to Lhasa in an EV. This is just one of her 5 wishes for the future of EVs. She wants EVs everywhere – a tripling of China’s EV fleet in 5 years’ time, silent highways filled with electric cars & trucks and of course a clean EV supply chain!

Six years ago, Cai couldn’t even imagine the EV revolution taking place today, yet today she’s even dreaming of making money from her EV.  Maybe this is not that far-fetched as Shenzhen is already implementing Vehicle-to-Grid as part of its Virtual Power Plant pilots. No idea what this is? Read her 5 wishes! After that, you too will think a staggering 100 million EVs in China by 2030 is totally achievable.

It’s Christmas and some dreams do come true. Delay no more, we can all travel greener to slow down climate change to keep our favourite holiday spots from vanishing. Be it planes, trains or automobiles… choose green and stay safe.

Or if you are staying at home this holiday, why not try your hand at collaging? HK Art Centre’s “Collaglacier: Piecing Together a Cooler World” competition is now open for submissions!

This year’s competition proudly supports the UN International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation, and they’re looking for students aged 3-17 to transform recycled materials and scavenged items into inspiring works of art. Not sure where to start? Take a look at our 13-factsheet guide to Stop the Melt to get the low-down on what’s happening to our glaciers.

Happy holidays from the CWR team!