Ecotourism is a way of travelling with as little damage to the environment as possible. An ecotourist does not interfere with wildlife, supports local communities and respects their traditions.

People who prefer eco-travelling choose the means of transport that have the least impact on the planet and, for instance, get from place to place by bus more often than by plane. Can airplanes flying on biofuels change the situation? The answer may shock you.

On 24 April, negotiators from the European Parliament and the European Commission succeeded in reaching an agreement on a deal to reduce CO2 emissions from air transport by around 66 per cent.

How do they intend to do this? Among other things, by increasing the share of biofuels in total aviation fuel usage to 70 per cent by 2050. As we reported in the text describing the agreement, environmental organisations were concerned that the agreement did not exclude the share of animal fat and used cooking oil in the definition of aviation biofuel.

This issue was highlighted by Szymon Bujalski, also known as a "Journalist for the climate", who noted that, as a result of the agreement, we will soon "start flying on dead animals". He points out that it would take the fat from almost 9,000 dead pigs to fly a plane from Paris to New York.

"Ryanair and Wizz Air have recently signed major contracts with oil suppliers for so-called SAF - Sustainable Aviation Fuels. Beside the used cooking oil, animal fats are supposed to be the most common 'waste' raw material used in SAF," writes Bujalski in his post.

Szymon Bujalski highlights the fact that the use of biofuel from animal fat has doubled in the last decade and will continue to grow. For those who do not understand why this issue is so important, he explains that it is not just about ideological issues and killing animals.

The proposed solution will not be greener at all. Why? Because this biofuel for aircraft will have to be sourced from somewhere, which means more animals will have to be killed, which in turn means increasing CO2 emissions. In 2022 The Climate Healers NGO published "The Journal of Ecological Society", a report where we can read that animal husbandry generates 87 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions.

"The demand for animal fat will be greater than the supply. So either more animals will be killed, or other industries will switch, for example, to palm oil, which is definitely not organic and which has a large carbon footprint. Pig meat, by the way, also has a pretty large one - not as big as beef, cheese, chocolate or coffee, but it's still at the top of the list," says Bujalski in his comment.

It would therefore be worthwhile for the European Union to take this into account and modify the definition of biofuels in the agreement. Looking for alternatives is certainly the right way to go, but it would be worth introducing them in a balanced way.

Source: Instagram / @dziennikarz_dla_klimatu, WP Tech