Fly less to reduce carbon emissions: think tank


The Australia Institute think tank says Australians need to fly less if the country has any hope of meeting future greenhouse gas reduction targets.
The Institute wants a $30 greenhouse levy to be added to the ticket prices for all domestic flights in a move to curb demand.
A study by the Canberra-based think tank projects that if Australia adopts a 60 per cent reduction target, aviation will account for more than half of all emissions by 2050.
Study author Andrew Macintosh says that is not practical.
"The basic message is that we have to fly less," he said. "Unfortunately for aviation, there are no technological options that will allow us to drastically reduce aviation emissions."
He says if the Federal Government is serious about climate change, it must introduce a greenhouse gas fee on all domestic flights and include aviation in any emissions trading scheme.
The Institute for Sustainable Futures supports the call for Australians to fly less, with director Professor Stuart White saying it is dangerous not to include the sector in greenhouse calculations.
"Offsets will ultimately be required. We need to reduce first, we need to look at alternatives," he said. "We need to try to stem the growth.
"It's not a question of people not using air travel any more, that's obviously unrealistic, but we do need to make sure the growth is not as great as it's been."
But aviation analyst Ben Sandilands says encouraging people to use alternative forms of travel would not necessarily reduce greenhouse emissions.
He says a person driving interstate would use four or five times as much fuel as if they flew the same distance on a fully-booked flight.
"Full planes are very fuel-efficient and most of the flights around Australia are full," he said.
"It's in fact quite difficult to book a flight. So I'm not adding to the pollution problem or the greenhouse gas emission problem by flying, I'm reducing it."
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