Fly guilt-free, buy offsets at the airport

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: Environmentally conscious travellers flying out of San Francisco International Airport will soon be able to assuage their guilt and minimise the impact of their air travel by buying certified carbon offsets at airport kiosks. The experimental programme, scheduled to start this spring, would make SFO the first airport in the nation—possibly the world—to offer flyers the opportunity to purchase carbon offsets.

“We’d like people to consider the impacts of flying,” said Steve McDougal, executive vice-president for 3Degrees, a San Francisco firm that sells renewable energy and carbon reduction investments and is partnering with the airport and the city on the project. “Obviously, people need to fly sometimes. No one expects them to stop but they should consider taking steps to reduce their impacts.”

San Francisco’s Airport Commission has authorised the programme, which will involve a $163,000 investment from SFO, but is still working out the details with 3Degrees. Because of that, McDougal said, he can’t yet discuss specifics such as the cost to purchase carbon offsets and what programmes would benefit from travellers’ purchases.

But the general idea, officials said, is that a traveller would approach a kiosk resembling the self-service check-in stations used by airlines. He or she would punch in their destination, the computer would calculate the carbon footprint and the cost of an investment to offset the damage. The travellers could then swipe their credit cards to help save the planet. They would receive a printed receipt listing the projects benefiting from their environmental largesse.

The carbon offsets are not tax deductible, said Krista Canellakis, a 3Degrees spokeswoman.

“While the carbon offsets purchased at kiosks can’t be seen or touched, they are an actual product with a specific environmental claim whose ownership is transferred at the time of purchase,” she said.

Mike McCarron, airport spokesman, said the projects offered will be chosen by the mayor’s office, in conjunction with 3Degrees, from a list certified by the city’s department of Environment. The airport director, John Martin told that the commission projects could include renewable energy projects in developing countries, agriculture and organic waste capture, coal mine methane capture, and sustainable forestry.

Nathan Ballard, a spokesman for Mayor Gavin Newsom, said a portion of each offset purchase would go to the San Francisco Carbon Fund, which supports local projects such as energy efficiency programmes and solar panel installations for low-income housing as well as efforts to convert waste oils into biodiesel fuels.

The cost of offset for SFO travellers is still being negotiated, McDougal said, but figures on the company’s web-based carbon calculator suggest that a two-hour trip uses about 1,000 lb of carbon dioxide and the cost to offset that would be about $4. Offsetting a trip to Europe would cost $36.

“It’s definitely not going to double your ticket or anything,” he said. “It’s going to end up being a small percentage of your total air fare.”

Under the agreement, the airport will provide the kiosks and 3Degrees will supply the software and the certified carbon offsets being sold, and will operate the programme. Kiosks will be located at the customer service desk in Terminal 3, with the others in the two wings of the International Terminal. 3Degrees will get 30% of each purchase with the rest going to carbon-reduction projects. The agreement calls for a one-year programme with a possible extension to two years.

“The carbon kiosks will not only reduce global warming,” Ballard said, “they will serve an educational function. It’s something interesting to do while you’re killing time at the airport.”

Given the innovative nature of the venture, airport officials said they don’t expect 3Degrees will turn a profit—at least not at the outset. McDougal said it’s impossible to predict how many passengers will want to make what is essentially a voluntary contribution to compensate for their impacts of their air travel. But he hopes the programme takes off. “Hopefully it will be successful,” he said. “But if we just have a lot of people stop and read the information and think about it, that’s something we’ve accomplished.”