The distances we travel in airplanes and the airline we use can dramatically affect our carbon footprints. Many airlines are beginning to invest in or use bio fuel. United, a widely used air line, is beginning to incorporate the use of bio fuels into its fuel tanks. It has also invested millions of dollars in the promise of future recycled fuel in the future. Many ecologists are fighting for the promise of fuels that are healthier to be required. Here is a link with more information about fuels that will help us to go green sky high. http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/201 … lanes-soar

This is very interesting. I travel a lot during the summer, both in car and plane, so I understand how recycled fuel would be helpful to the environment. Domestic aircraft makes up 11% of greenhouse gas emissions for the U.S. transportation industry, so incorporating bio fuels and other kinds of fuel would help immensely.

Global carbon emissions caused by air travel is expected to triple by 2050. This is terrible for the environment! Thankfully, the Obama Administration is thinking of ideas how to decrease carbon emissions due to airplanes. In addition to planes being run on bio fuel, they are also planning lighter, more efficient engines, smaller vertical tails on the planes, and 3D printing certain parts of the plane to make it lighter. This is a major issue, and I am happy that the government and airlines are taking notice.

Reference: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/ener … emissions/

Logan, that's very interesting and cool. I travel by plane every 1 or 2 years and I fly with Southwest Airlines most of the time. It's great that United is going green fuel wise. Do you know if United is the only airline that uses bio fuels?

Biofuels have their benefits. They are a renewable resource, and the plants grown to produce biofuels absorb the same amount of carbon dioxide as is released when the fuels are burnt. Their contribution to climate change is significantly lower than fossil fuels. But there are drawbacks to using biofuels. A lot of land is required to grow the crops used fto make biofuels. To fuel our existing transport needs exclusively with biofuels would require 90% of the world’s agricultural land. To have more land to grow these crops would require some deforestation which would endanger the world's rainforest. So should we go with biofuels?

Reference: https://www.eta.co.uk/environmental-info/biofuels/

Transportation, especially air transportation, really has a negative impact on our environment.  I have known about the negative effects of traveling for a while, but I didn't realize the major impact of the traveling that I do and its impact. More specifically, my carbon footprint is quite large, significantly larger than my region. It is relieving news that advancements are being made to create low-carbon transportation fuels. I really like how people are showing their innovative thinking and putting it to action. These discoveries of using organic waste to transform into usable fuel can and will really help the carbon outputs from transportation. However, I will still make an effort to reduce my transportation overall, as transportation overall has a detrimental impact on our environment and our future.