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Feeling environmentally guilty? Frontier may soon help

Chris Walsh, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 1, 2007 at midnight

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Cutting your carbon dioxide emissions on a daily basis is relatively easy.

Ditch the SUV and buy a hybrid car. Take public transportation to work. Walk to the nearby convenience store.

But what's an environmentally conscious jet-setter to do?

Denver-based Frontier Airlines is looking to offer its passengers the opportunity to neutralize the environmental effects of their fuel-guzzling flights.

The airline is talking with Boulder-based Sustainable Travel International about a possible partnership that would let Frontier customers buy carbon offsets when they purchase airline tickets. Sustainable Travel, a nonprofit organization, would use the money to fund renewable energy and energy-efficiency projects.

"We are looking very closely at this, and we hope to offer something soon," said Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas. "We know people are going to travel anyway, but we want to let our customers offset any damage. So we're trying to find the best way to make it a meaningful relationship and really make it a part of the consciousness of our customers."

Frontier is the second-largest airline at Denver International Airport, handling more than 20 percent of its passengers. Hodas said the company is exploring several different options with regards to carbon offsets, so he couldn't elaborate on any details.

This week, Sustainable Travel announced a partnership in which Continental Airlines customers will be able to purchase offsets. The option will be available through Continental's Web site later this year.

Sustainable Travel invests in projects around the world that reduce the output of greenhouse gases and increase the use of renewable energy.

One project, for instance, involves switching out older stoves in Cambodia with more fuel-efficient ones. The new stoves burn less fuel and help avoid deforestation, said Peter Krahenbuhl, vice president and a co-founder of the nonprofit organization. Other projects involve everything from boosting wind power to replacing lightbulbs with more energy-efficient models.

"The bottom line is that these projects wouldn't exist or continue without your investment," said Krahenbuhl. "We all travel and we all have to fly. This is a way to neutralize the impact of your flight by supporting a project that's going to eliminate (or reduce) the need to emit somewhere else."

The organization has developed a calculator that determines a consumers' share of the total carbon dioxide emitted on a particular flight. It then determines how much it will cost to offset that.

"If your share emits 1 ton of CO2 at $10 to $20 a ton, that money is going to be invested in a solar oven in Africa and eliminate need to import diesel fuel that would've emitted the same amount of C02," Krahenbuhl said.

Some observers, though, question whether many budget-conscious consumers will fork over more money after spending hundreds of dollars on airline tickets.

"I just know the average Tom, Dick and Harry...would probably not be participating in this program," said Tom Parsons, who runs travel site Bestfares.com in Texas. "Consumers get upset when they see airfares go up $10. And with the cost of fuel rising, we're already watching out budgets and cutting back."

walshc@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2744