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Carbon dioxide emissions of Antarctic tourism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2011

Ramon Farreny ,
Jordi Oliver-Solà ,
Machiel Lamers ,
Bas Amelung ,
Xavier Gabarrell ,
Joan Rieradevall ,
Martí Boada  and
Javier Benayas
Ramon Farreny*
Affiliation:
Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain Inèdit Innovació S.L., UAB Research Park, Carretera de Cabrils Km2 (IRTA), 08348 Barcelona, Spain
Jordi Oliver-Solà
Affiliation:
Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain Inèdit Innovació S.L., UAB Research Park, Carretera de Cabrils Km2 (IRTA), 08348 Barcelona, Spain
Machiel Lamers
Affiliation:
Environmental Policy Group (ENP), Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), Wageningen, The Netherlands
Bas Amelung
Affiliation:
Environmental Systems Analysis Group (ESA), Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), Wageningen, The Netherlands
Xavier Gabarrell
Affiliation:
Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
Joan Rieradevall
Affiliation:
Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
Martí Boada
Affiliation:
Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain Department of Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
Javier Benayas
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), 28049 Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain
*
ramon@ineditinnova.com
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Abstract

The increase of tourism to the Antarctic continent may entail not only local but also global environmental impacts. These latter impacts, which are mainly caused by transport, have been generally ignored. As a result, there is a lack of data on the global impacts of Antarctic tourism in terms of energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. This paper presents and applies a methodology for quantifying CO2 emissions, both for the Antarctic vessel fleet as a whole and per passenger (both per trip and per day). The results indicate that the average tourist trip to Antarctica results in 5.44 t of CO2 emissions per passenger, or 0.49 t per passenger and day. Approximately 70% of these emissions are attributable to cruising and 30% to flying, which highlights the global environmental relevance of local transport for this type of tourism.

Keywords

climate changeenvironmental impactflightgreenhouse gasessustainable tourismvessel
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 23 , Issue 6 , 22 November 2011 , pp. 556 - 566
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2011

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