10 million tons of CO2 is no small matter. In Europe alone, private jets have emitted this amount of greenhouse gas into the air. The flights are usually superfluous, judges a climate researcher.
Flights with private jets rose to a record level in Germany last year. The research association of NDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung” named on Thursday the number of more than 94,000 take-offs of business aircraft in Germany, citing the European flight safety organization Eurocontrol – about 8,000 more than in the previous year. According to the report, private jets caused greenhouse gas emissions of around 10 million tons of CO2 across Europe last year.
Almost three quarters of the flights started in Germany were shorter than 500 kilometers. Frequently flown routes were therefore Hamburg – Sylt or Berlin – Munich. For longer flights, the most common destination by far was Mallorca.
In the article, climate researcher Stefan Gössling criticized the flights as mostly superfluous. “From a climate perspective, we can no longer watch that many trips are made by plane, especially with private planes, which could just as well be done by train or, for that matter, by private car,” said the professor at Sweden’s Linnaeus University in Sweden. Smaller private jet operators are exempt from European emissions trading, which is actually mandatory for airlines.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
