The Washington Post reports on a new study from the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation, shedding light on which nations are driving the largest share of this planet-warming pollution — and which airports stand out. Globally, private jets emitted up to 19.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2023. Aircraft departing from the United States accounted for 65 percent of global private jet flights, and 55 percent of those gas emissions. “Private jets generate between five and 14 times more greenhouse emissions per passenger than commercial planes, according to the European clean transportation nonprofit group Transport & Environment, and 50 times more emissions than trains traveling that same distance.” Interestingly, the appearance of the study coincided with the weekend wedding of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Atmos reported that “more than 90 private jets touched down in northern Italy this week, ferrying celebrities, politicians, and tech titans for the three-day wedding of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez.” Now, how does Bezos plan to offset those emissions?
The Financial Times reports about the recent ‘heat domes’ that many EiD readers will be well aware of. “Scientists said “heat domes” and related atmospheric events behind extreme weather around the world this week had almost tripled in strength and duration since the 1950s, as tens of millions of people sweltered in “dangerous heat” in parts of the US and Europe.” The FT quotes Amanda Maycock, University of Leeds professor of climate dynamics: “We now expect that temperature records will be regularly broken, not by a small amount but often by large margins. We must remind ourselves this is not normal. Climate change is standing before our eyes.” [Note that EiD is being edited in 37 C weather this weekend.] Now, what are we prepared to do to address this?
In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here are some useful ideas to help you along:
- Country Living Magazine provides 3 European train routes set to transform travel in 2025.
- Check out the Good Night Train website for the unique way to travel through Europe while you sleep.
- World Walks provides us with the top spring walks in Europe.
- For those who want to combine hiking with food and wine in Europe and Australia, check out the Hedonistic Hiking website.
- Cycling for Softies provides us with the 15 Best Cycling Holidays in Europe 2025.
- Turin, Italy is embracing a new era, transforming from an industrial powerhouse into a flourishing tourism destination: Torino Named European Capital of Smart Tourism 2025.
Anne Frank (1929-1945), the German-born Jewish girl and diarist, provides us with an inspirational message this week: “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
- New EEA report on noise pollution in Europe
- Is there a future for carbon capture and storage?
- AI is quietly transforming how cities generate, store and distribute energy, acting as the invisible conductor that orchestrates cleaner, smarter and more resilient cities
- Britain’s energy transition: while the government’s priority is energy savings for larger businesses, SMEs typically pay the highest rates for their energy
- Tracing the origins of China’s dominance in the electric vehicle market
- New EEA report on renewable electricity in Europe’s energy transition
- Developing new light-driven techniques inspired by nature’s efficiency to help the chemical manufacturing industry become more efficient
- India’s energy transition
Please send your comments on any of the posts. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.
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Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 