What is this page?
This page is an archive of efforts to address Air Travel emissions at the UW.
To learn about on going efforts, follow this link: See OUR CURRENT WORK
Past research and data gathering
The UW began measuring travel emissions in 2005 with its first carbon inventory.
In Fall Quarter 2015 and Winter Quarter 2016, a Keystone team of three graduate students researched the UW’s professional air travel. The project had three goals:
- Provide better accounting of UW air travel through reimbursement data
- Research faculty and staff attitudes toward travel
- Recommend steps to achieve future emissions reductions set out by the Climate Action Plan
The team calculated that in 2014, UW travelers logged 84,075 flights, which consisted of 136 million miles and emissions of 23,811 MTCDE (metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent). The team recommended:
- Book flights through an universal booking system to make tracking UW’s air travel and emissions more efficient and accurate
- Consider using ground transportation for regional travel (<300 miles)
- Consider alternatives such as videoconferencing
- Develop a UW-wide policy regarding the purchase of carbon offsets
During Summer Quarter 2016, two Capstone students followed up on the work completed by the 2015-16 Keystone student group. The Capstone students focused on developing and communicating the Keystone Team's recommendations (below).
- Regional travel alternatives comparison for trips <300 miles
- Develop a UW-wide policy regarding the purchase of carbon offsets (in process)
- Final Capstone presentations:
- Fight or Flight: Examining Academic Air Travel's Carbon Footprint
- Reducing the Impact of Professional Air Travel: Landing Alternatives for University Faculty and Staff
In 2018, the data processing strategies developed by the Keystone students were revised to be more accessible (using Excel rather than Matlab). A consultant, Roel Hammerschlag did this work and produced calculation tools and documentation. In 2020, a student from the Program On the Environment continued this work. He refined the data collection process and expanded it to include more information about the department and campus travelers are affiliated with.
In 2020, a Professional Travel Working group composed of faculty, staff and students was formed to implement the Sustainability Action Plan actions. This group is compiling information to follow up on the recommendations of the Keystone/Capstone teams. In 2021, a graduate student from the Evans School, funded by the Campus Sustainability Fund conducted a survey of attitudes toward air travel and analyzed travel-related policy ideas.