Whole Travel Blog

Snow and pleasant air travel hardly go hand in hand. That is, unless you’re New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, Japan which, come 2010 will start converting the mounds of annual winter snowfall into air-conditioning for the summer months.

Known for its icy winters where temperatures drop to well below freezing, Hokkaido will begin utilizing the abundance of snow to replace 30% of the airport’s cooling energy needs. This translates into a reduction of 2,100 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

What other natural resources can airports harness to reduce their carbon emissions?

With the cost of oil at a 16-month low ($67/barrel), both domestic as well as international airlines have decided to slash their fuel surcharges on most flights, a very welcome relief in a still struggling economy.

Some routes, such as that between San Francisco and most major European cities, have seen as much as an 18% decrease from a year ago, while other departure cities, namely those in Germany are choosing not to cut their fuel fees. While this is great news for the travel industry, does this mean that the search for alternative energy will slow down?

Photo by: Flip Barrientos

While most stories involving cows focus on their methane emissions and, as a result, their inherent contribution to global warming, the New York Times shines a different light on cow manure: the possibility and practice of turning it into electricity.

Given that the amount of methane gas the average dairy cow expels per day can be as much as 132 gallons, farmers might have stepped into an incredible source of alternative energy.

While many travelers choose to visit the popular and often over visited landmarks of China, among them the Great Wall, the Yin Ruins, and the Forbidden City, more and more travelers are beginning to choose to travel off the beaten path to a more authentic and oftentimes more remote China. Fortunately, more eco-lodges are popping up to assist this new trend where supporting the local community is an inherent feature of a traveler’s stay. A good example is the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat which has committed to being sustainable through the creation of its own well which lessens its dependence on water resources, by hiring staff from nearby villages, and also by committing to replacing coal with alternative energy by 2009.

Two other ecolodges in China are Wenhai Ecolodge and Alou’s Tibetan Lodge.

Friday’s $700 billion bail-out restored $18 billion in alternative energy tax credits. This amount, although less than 2.6% of the total bail out, may seem like a lot of money. However, a good question that many have raised is, what if there had been a $700 billion bail-out for the environment?