Study Suggests We’ve Hit ‘Peak Travel’

[tinrobot]

A study of eight industrialized countries shows passenger travel appears to have peaked in 2003.

The study suggests demand for travel and automobile ownership has reached a saturation point despite predictions, by the International Energy Agency, of 1.5 percent annual growth through 2030. The researchers concede the findings are not conclusive but say they could mean projections of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions will be lower than previously believed.

“A major factor behind increasing energy use and carbon dioxide emissions since the 1970s has ceased its rise, at least for the time being,” Lee Schipper, one of the study’s two authors, told Miller-McCune. “If it is a truly permanent change, then future projections of carbon dioxide emissions and fuel demand should be scaled back.”

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/01/study-suggests-weve-hit-peak-travel/

[caraher]

1. It's just 8 industrialized nations

Motorized travel as a whole is still going up, and fast. This study ignores, for instance, China and India.

[kestrel91316]

2. My sister and BIL didn't get the memo. They travel more

than anybody else I know. Of course I can't afford to, so I help balance it out.

It's a shame. They are otherwise good environmentalists. But I don't dare point out their hypocrisy. I am sure they are aware of it anyway.