The air of tomorrow, a new climate protection group launched by the Adventure Travel Trade Association, is taking a different technological and social path. It masters Carbon removal and storagelike the Swiss company Climeworks did – an expensive process that filters carbon dioxide from the air and sometimes injects it underground into basalt rock, where it mineralizes over time.
While the process seems solid, “the question is, is it scalable?” said Howard Herzog, a senior research engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has studied carbon capture for more than 30 years, pointing out the technology’s high cost of ownership relative to the amount of carbon removed. “It’s much cheaper not to emit than to try and capture it later.”
While the new technology is indeed costly – a Peruvian tour operator estimated that reducing a flight between London and Lima with carbon capture technology would cost $ 5,040 – Tomorrow’s Air aims to get people excited about the future of carbon abatement, in they invest and a community of travelers and travel companies that will eventually be big enough to get businesses and governments to get involved.
“We offer travelers and travel companies opportunities to help scale up carbon removal technologies,” said Christina Beckmann, co-founder of Tomorrow’s Air. “We thought what if we travel that accounts for 10 percent of global GDP or some of it to combine carbon removal with permanent storage? We could really do something. “
Tomorrow’s Air pursues this goal by planning online Airbnb experiences Tours a CO2 capture system. And it has teamed up with artists who are focused on the climate and showcase their work on their website. It also sells subscriptions starting at $ 30, 80 percent of which is invested in a carbon removal company; 20 percent finance further educational efforts.
The group holds their first Convention Bringing together (virtually, of course) today and bringing together so-called “climate smart travelers and brands” to not only talk about carbon capture, but also where to go and how to become a more sustainable traveler, a step towards consumer demand adapt to climate change action.
“It’s convenient, it’s affordable, and it’s a way to become part of what will hopefully be a growing travel collective where we may be able to scale some things based on final size,” said Ann Becker, 68, a city-based business and business community Travel Advisor Chicago and a member of Tomorrow’s Air.
