Meeting News - December 15, 2008 - (Page 29)

Green Beat Will Biofuels Fly as EU Limits Carbon Footprint? On Oct. 24, the European Union approved a proposal that will put a cap on carbon dioxide emissions for all flights into and out of the EU effective 2012. Non-EU airlines and the International Air Transport Association criticized the EU for making a unilateral decision that will strongly impact the global aviation industry and almost certainly raise the cost of air travel. According to IATA, no one is more aware or is working harder than the airline industry itself in addressing the issues of fuel conservation and greenhouse gas reduction.“With fuel making up 28 percent of operating costs, airlines have a $132 billion incentive to reduce fuel burn and carbon emissions,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO.“We are 2 percent of global carbon emissions. Our goal is to achieve carbonneutral growth, leading to a carbon-free future.” Developing a viable non-fossil fuel has now become an industry imperative—for both economic and environmental reasons. To that end, Boeing, Honeywell subsidiary UOP, and major airlines such as Air France, Air New Zealand, Japan Airlines, KLM, SAS, and Virgin Atlantic Airways have formed the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group, reinforcing their “commitment to advance the development, certification, and commercial use of drop-in sustainable aviation fuels.” Candidates include jatropha curcas, a non-edible, oil-producing plant and algae. All parties subscribe to a sustainability pledge. It notes that jet fuel plant sources should be developed in a manner that is not competitive with food and potable water sources and also minimizes biodiversity impact. Also, greenhouse gas emissions from plant growth, harvesting, processing, and end-use should be significantly reduced. At the same time, local populations must not be displaced, and fuel source development should improve socioeconomics for smallscale farmers. r —Section written by Joy Anderson Make the World Better By Eating More Chocolate Better World Brands, a division of Nouveautes Inc., offers environmentally friendly in-room gifts based around chocolates from Green & Black’s Organic, Guylian Belgian, and Starbucks—major brands with commitments to fair trade practices and conservation. Planners can select single-serve units for turndown service, as well as from several sizes of gift boxes, all made from recycled Go Green packaging materials. Custom-designed boxes and ribbons showcasing the group or company are a feature of Better World Brands. http://www.charlottesgotalot.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - December 15, 2008

Meeting News - December 15, 2008 Gloom Looms for Rooms Sixth Homeland Defense and Security Symposium's Career Summit... Perspectives What’s Up @ MeetingNews.com Chef Talk People Making News Hotels & Resorts %20%20%20%20%20Dolce Offers to Rebuild Meetings in Public Crisis CVBs %20%20%20%20%20Charlotte's Tim Newman Cultivates a Green Team International %20%20%20%20%20Downturn Deals Sands a Bad Hand in Macau Transportation & Services MN Exclusive Research Green Beat Insider Reports %20%20%20%20%20Affordable Las Vegas %20%20%20%20%20Galveston Destination Insider %20%20%20%20%20Phoenix Incentive Reports %20%20%20%20%20Europe %20%20%20%20%20Ski Destinations Meeting News Planners' Choice Awards Advertisers Index Live from the Forum

Meeting News - December 15, 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.