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Hillhacks

Is sustaiable long-distance travel possible?

A Session by Matt Z, at Unconference

Abstract

Every time a jumbo jet takes off, it's like lighting a petrol station on fire and flying it over the town. Are there good alternatives? When is it ethical to fly?

Main Description

Flying is by far my biggest environmental sin. The environmental impact of air travel is huge – and many people are not aware of it.

But I am aware of it, and I still choose to fly anyway. Is it ever ethical to fly?

I'll present some research about the environmental impact of flying, as compared to other long-distance modes of travel like trains and cars. We'll also discuss the current state of research into future, more sustainable modes of transportation, like hybrid planes. (It still doesn't look too promising though.)

I think many Hill Hacks attendees also do a lot of flying – I hope we can have a good discussion about the related ethics.

Speaker

I call myself an environmentalist, but I am a total hypocrite. I try to do my part by not eating meat, recycling, buying used clothes, eating local food, etc. – but I canceled out all my efforts by flying across the ocean to come to Hill Hacks this year.

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