The environmental NGO, Atmosfair, is trying to compensate for the amount of carbon dioxide emissions travelers create. But it says that despite its best efforts, only avoiding air travel will truly make a difference.

Founded in 2003 by an environmental organization, Germanwatch, and an association of German tour operators, "forum anders reisen," Atmosfair initially eked out a meager existence in trying to offer  environmentally friendly flying. It did so with a calculator on its website allows travelers to calculate the emissions caused by a holiday flight and how to compensate. These days, it does even more, with projects designed to take conservation a step for further.

For example, a round-trip flight from Berlin to Malaga would cost a passenger ?24. "We invest this amount in environmental protection projects," says Dietrich Brockhagen, managing director of Atmosfair. "It ensures that the amount of carbon dioxide caused by the passenger on each flight is reduced elsewhere." Still, the NGO keeps 20 percent for administrative expenses. Regardless, in 2005, their efforts made about 7,000 flights more environmentally friendly.  

One of Atmosfair's projects is in India. Daily, thousands of pilgrims visit Sringeri Mutt, an important Hindu pilgrimage sites on the west coast. "Until recently, meals for the pilgrims were prepared with the aid of diesel fuel," explains Brockhagen. The money deposited from Atmosfair now allows meals to be prepared with the aid of solar energy.

"There are measuring devices, which reveal how much energy the solar plant has produced," said Brockhagen. Afterward, the amount of diesel that would have been necessary for the same task is determined as well as the corresponding amount of carbon dioxide that would have produced. The Indian project receives ?15 for every ton of carbon dioxide saved. The solar kitchens are expected to save 4,000 tons of emissions through 2012. That equals the amount generated in4.9 million flight miles or almost 4,000 flights between Berlin and Malaga.

On the website and ads, Atmosfair recommends itself as only the "second-best" solution. In order to really take the burden off the environment, a passenger would have to donate financially to the project and also, refrain from stepping on an airplane.   

- NR