GWR
14-12-07, 02:07 PM
Explore airship travel option, urges expert
http://www.nst.com.my/Friday/National/2109267/insidepix1
[Photo: NST - As airlines contribute seven per cent of carbon emissions, they should look into the technology of airship travel.]
KUALA LUMPUR: Flying by airships instead of the more polluting aeroplanes should be explored by airlines, a visiting professor suggested yesterday.
Professor Michael Northcott, Professor of Ethics, Edinburgh University, UK, made the suggestion during a question-and-answer session after speaking at a public forum on Clouds of Witness: Moral Responsibility on a Planet in Peril here yesterday.
He said since the transport sector accounted for one-third of greenhouse gas emissions, with airlines contributing seven per cent of carbon emissions, airlines should at least look into the technology of airship travel.
It could be done and there were advantages for this mode of air transport, he said.
"Airships fly at half the speed of jetplanes at over 200mph and at lower altitudes of 1,500ft," Northcott said.
"They can be powered by helium, a non-inflammable gas. Travelling at this height, passengers can enjoy the beauty of the earth. We may then be encouraged to nurture nature.
"Airships depend on wind conditions for flying and landing and they are slower. More stops may need to be made but it's definitely a more sustainable way of flying.
"I have never heard of sustainable ways of flying airplanes. The quantity of emission of a jetplane flying at 47,000ft contribute to climate change and the effects are magnified at that high altitude."
Earlier in his speech, Northcott said the world must rid its addiction for fossil fuels.
"To reduce greenhouse gas emissions we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground and we need to stop burning and eradicating forests."
He said there was an urgent need to find other alternatives for transport such as improving the train system to Penang and Bangkok or building a high-speed train to Singapore.
The public forum was organised by Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia, the International Movement for a Just World and the Centre for Policy Research and International Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
ISIS chairman and CEO Datuk Seri Mohamed Jawhar Hassan, in his closing speech, remarked that there were not enough policymakers attending the "illuminating, absorbing, educational and one of the most discussive talks".
He suggested that countries change their values system and development models and the sooner this was done, the better.
"We must ask ourselves what is important as it is about our survival," he added.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/National/2109267/Article/index_html
http://www.nst.com.my/Friday/National/2109267/insidepix1
[Photo: NST - As airlines contribute seven per cent of carbon emissions, they should look into the technology of airship travel.]
KUALA LUMPUR: Flying by airships instead of the more polluting aeroplanes should be explored by airlines, a visiting professor suggested yesterday.
Professor Michael Northcott, Professor of Ethics, Edinburgh University, UK, made the suggestion during a question-and-answer session after speaking at a public forum on Clouds of Witness: Moral Responsibility on a Planet in Peril here yesterday.
He said since the transport sector accounted for one-third of greenhouse gas emissions, with airlines contributing seven per cent of carbon emissions, airlines should at least look into the technology of airship travel.
It could be done and there were advantages for this mode of air transport, he said.
"Airships fly at half the speed of jetplanes at over 200mph and at lower altitudes of 1,500ft," Northcott said.
"They can be powered by helium, a non-inflammable gas. Travelling at this height, passengers can enjoy the beauty of the earth. We may then be encouraged to nurture nature.
"Airships depend on wind conditions for flying and landing and they are slower. More stops may need to be made but it's definitely a more sustainable way of flying.
"I have never heard of sustainable ways of flying airplanes. The quantity of emission of a jetplane flying at 47,000ft contribute to climate change and the effects are magnified at that high altitude."
Earlier in his speech, Northcott said the world must rid its addiction for fossil fuels.
"To reduce greenhouse gas emissions we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground and we need to stop burning and eradicating forests."
He said there was an urgent need to find other alternatives for transport such as improving the train system to Penang and Bangkok or building a high-speed train to Singapore.
The public forum was organised by Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia, the International Movement for a Just World and the Centre for Policy Research and International Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
ISIS chairman and CEO Datuk Seri Mohamed Jawhar Hassan, in his closing speech, remarked that there were not enough policymakers attending the "illuminating, absorbing, educational and one of the most discussive talks".
He suggested that countries change their values system and development models and the sooner this was done, the better.
"We must ask ourselves what is important as it is about our survival," he added.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/National/2109267/Article/index_html