Two trend-setting pieces of legislation expected to significantly cut down green house emissions have been enacted into UK law.

Friends of the Earth took the initiative to urge the government to enact a climate change law, which will direct the UK to bring down its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.   It is said that the new legislation is the first law of its kind reported anywhere in the world. Analysts state that this would take Britain to the forefront of the global efforts to combat climate change.

Along with Friends of the Earth, the environmental campaign group also joined the campaign, in addition to the Renewable Energy Association, urging the government to feature the Energy Bill to give room for a feed-in tariff - which will offer a financial incentive to homes, businesses and communities for installing small-scale renewable energy systems, including solar panels and water turbines.

Reporting the serious concern and warning issued by the head of the Environment Agency, the Independent has reported that a third runway at the Heathrow Airport would certainly give way to 'unavoidable' rises in air pollution and noise pollution in addition to causing traffic jams. Over and above, while commenting on the plans for a third runway, former Labour Culture Secretary Lord Smith of Finsbury has noted that approving the expansion of the airport would surely prove to be a grave mistake on part of the government, which has come as a serious blow to the plans put forward by the government.

Most notably, according to the promise made by Gordon Brown and Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly, it appears that the government wants the environmental concerns to be a central element in considering a decision on the further expansion of Heathrow, which is expected later during this year. But Lord Smith, the recently appointed chairman of the Environment Agency has clearly stated yesterday that even as per the conclusions forwarded by its own experts, there was never a green case that could be put forth as a matter of support for the above said proposals.

While dismissing the opinion of the Department of Transport that a new runway at Heathrow Airport is environmentally sustainable, Lord Smith noted, "The increases in volume of air traffic and in congestion on the ground are, from the analysis that we've done, pretty unavoidable. I think the Government is making a mistake and I will carry on telling them that I think they are making a mistake.”

After closely analysing the performance of the low-cost carriers, an industry expert has said in a statement made to the BBC that most of them are guilty of practices that prove to be environmentally irresponsible.

According to Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners, most special offers to bust-fare are in turn contributing to the proliferation of superfluous flights, which further add to CO2 emissions.

He has clearly urged that the no-frills airlines certainly need to dramatically increase their fares in order to hold back from frivolous flying. Though the advice seems to make sense, it appears that not everyone in the industry has agreed with his above said assessment.

In a significant move as part of the preparation for the Olympics scheduled for next month, the government of Beijing has introduced a plan to bring down the heavy air pollution that clouds the capital. With the unfolding of the plan in the city, people report that the traffic flow in the city has become remarkably smooth and the wide avenues of the city are witnessing only a few cars now. Once it gets dark during night, the haze that used to be hovering over the city appears to have cleared significantly.

The essential feature of the pollution-reduction scheme sees millions of commuters resorting to public transportation that includes buses and subways. This measure has strictly removed not less than 3.3 million cars from the streets of the city on an average day. In some parts of Beijing, the traffic was remarkably lighter during the beginning of the last week, which wonderfully coincided with the commencement of the campaign.

Lin Kai, a civil servant noted, "There were much fewer vehicles on the airport expressway, and I could drive much faster." He happily said that his father had bought a new bicycle, which he would be pedaling to work not less than a few times a week, necessitated by new restrictions.

In a deal finalized recently, Avis and Budget have teamed up with Carbonfund.org to provide their customers with an excellent opportunity to contribute to initiatives that assist offset carbon emissions.

According to the new alliance announced recently, the Avis Budget Group - the parent of Avis Rent A Car and Budget Rent A Car, and Carbonfund.org, a leading international non-profit organization offering carbon offset solutions to individuals and corporations have joined hands. The principal goal of this alliance is to assist the Avis Budget Group with the ways and means of providing its customers an attractive way to make financial contributions to those programmes designed to offset the environmental impact of carbon emissions that ensue from their rented vehicles.

Ronald L. Nelson, the chairman and CEO of the Avis Budget Group observed, "At Avis Budget Group, we are very concerned with how our business affects the environment. Teaming up with Carbonfund.org will help us advance our efforts to reduce the environmental impact of our fleet."

Recently, TUI Travel UK has announced that it is considering measures to impose additional charges for checked baggage on its charter services for green reasons. Notably, the company has been offering not less than 19 million package holidays across Britain annually. The recent move is aimed at discouraging passengers who check-in heavy and large bags. The ultimate aim of this measure is to reduce the overall weight of the aircraft thereby reducing the carbon footprint.

Through an estimate, the travel company has revealed that more than one third of all the baggage carried by passengers on their trips abroad are actually unnecessary. The company says that by imposing the green tax on passengers who over-pack, the holiday package price for people packing modestly can be lowered. Presently, the planes of TUI limit the luggage between 15-25kgs per passenger for checked luggage. However, the weight also depends on the route taken.

Over and above, the airline might also announce its plans to charge a flat rate for checked luggage on short haul routes also. For instance, Ryanair is charging £8 for the first bag, with an upper limit of 15kgs per bag.

With the soaring up of oil costs, most carriers across the globe are confronting a really tough time in the airline industry. With the airlines finding it so hard to cope up with the soaring fuel bills, British Airways has contemplated on an innovation that addresses the issue of oil price rise as well as environmental concerns. The airline has recently announced that it is in the verge of entering into a significant partnership with Rolls Royce to speed up the process of landing on an alternative fuel option. As the first step of this elaborate process, Rolls Royce will involve itself with a detailed study on the potential use of alternative fuels for the use of commercial airline industry.
 
In additio0n, British Airways will also be enlisting the participation of companies in this mission involving the firms that specialize in the production of alternative fuels. Once the samples of all the existing alternative fuels are collected, the same will be tested on most Rolls Royce engines that power the various aircraft of the airline. Most importantly, Boeing 747 will also be used for the trial run, which is operated on popular long-haul routes.

As part of the study, only four suppliers of alternative fuels will be short-listed. Those selected firms will be asked to supply not less than 60,000 litres of fuel for the purpose of testing applications. According to both the firms, it is apparent that they are looking out for such a fuel that is not only cost effective, but also has minimal impact on the environment.

A recent report published in the telegraph reports that the airline passengers can expect to face yet another bill pertaining to environmental surcharge. In a significant move, European MPs are getting ready to debate over Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), a recently proposed scheme that is expected to add up £170 to the cost of a long-haul family holiday.

Those supporting this new measure consider it as an absolutely necessary green tax to contribute to the betterment of the environment. However, on the other hand, several critics have pointed out that this new addition will only worsen the already-unfavorable conditions prevailing in the aviation industry.

As of present, ETS is scheduled for coming into effect in the year 2012 aiming to employ a complex licensing system called as 'carbon permits' to levy a given fees against airlines. For instance, this scheme will allocate a particular ceiling for CO2 emissions based on the levels recorded between the years 2004 and 2006. If the airlines want to increase this threshold, they will have to purchase extra credits.

As part of its sincere efforts to further the cause of greener air travel tax, EasyJet has taken out a full page advertisement in several leading newspapers of the nation. The move has put the airline at loggerheads with British Airways and a range of other UK carriers as well.

With effect from 2009 November, the government has pledged to replace the air passenger duty (APD) with an aircraft tax. The treasury is at present working on proposals expected to be launched in the near future. However, British Airways and several other long-haul carriers, however, want to see that the APD is retained. Most cargo firms are opposing the switch. Amidst this background, the US government is cautioning the companies regarding a legal challenge to any attempt towards imposing an aircraft tax.

Presently, APD is excluded on business jets and cargo flights, in addition to being effected on passengers arriving from overseas who have planned to transfer to other UK flights. EasyJet comes out with an idea that transfer passengers, business jets and cargo flights should certainly pay their fair share, like others. Over and above, those aircraft that cause more pollution should pay more.

In a highly welcomed move, Virgin Atlantic, Air New Zealand and Boeing, the three leading airlines are into a joint venture of developing the world's first green aviation fuel, manufactured from pond and sea weed. This news has been reported in the Daily Mail reports. While several endeavours are on trial runs to develop bio-fuels based on algae, the main factors that are driving such initiatives are the shooting prices of fuel and the Soaring fuel costs and growing concerns over environmental damage caused by aviation fuel.

As part of their venture, these three companies will sponsor a series of scientific projects for developing the fuel source and test the products on their own aircrafts. Virgin's Sir Richard Branson observes that within the next 5 years the Virgin fleet could partly run on fuel from algae.

Addressing the newspaper, Sir Richard noted, "It offers huge potential. Crucially it is a source of biofuel that doesn't lead to deforestation or taking away of land or water from the cultivation of essential food crops."

Several car rental companies have started offering fuel-efficient cars in great numbers these days. This is to ensure a steady flow of customers to sustain their rental operations by maintaining their prices despite the increase in fuel costs and airfares.

Most travelers going on vacation find the high prices of oil highly bothering their vacation plans. However, this summer has got several options with respect to fuel efficient imports as the travelers frequent the car rental companies for booking either at the counters or online. When compared to a large number of domestic cars and SUVs, Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, and other imports offer a better mileage for gas.

In addition, an increasing number of hybrid vehicles are also available at some select airport locations to benefit those customers who would like to take the benefit of gasoline electric option in addition to offering a greater saving on gas.

In an important move to cut fuel costs and carbon dioxide emissions from increasing number of aircrafts, the European commission has introduced a plan to straighten the aviation routes on Wednesday.

Notably, the EU has set a goal of bringing down carbon emissions by fifth by the year 2020, when compared with that of the year 1990. This move is aimed at enhancing the profile of the EU as a global leader in leading by example at the global climate talks scheduled for next year involving other major emitters like China, India and the US. 

Statistics reveal that airlines alone account for more than 3% of the total CO2 emission in Europe and the traffic is expected to double by the year 2020. Over and above, aircrafts waste millions of tonne of fuel since they zig-zag their sky route between national airspaces in the 27-nation bloc.

One of the best ways to explore South Somerset, the beautiful region of rural England is the South Somerset 80 Mile Cycle Route: it includes the area's gentle hills and valleys to the North East of Yeovil as well as the plain moors, historic market towns and scenic hamstone villages.

The route, which has been designed for both visitors and locals, can be undertaken in 7 simple stages.

The large part of the waymarked ride is along literally level, calm country lanes fitting most abilities and the few mountains are well worth the climb for the wonderful sights from their top. Cycle links to some of the area's historic towns such as Bruton, Wincanton, Chard, Yeovil and Crewkerne are also available.

Virgin Atlantic, Boeing and Air New Zealand are joining their forces in an attempt to develop the world's first 'green' fuel for the aviation industry.

The wished-for bio-fuel would be developed with the help of pond and sea weed and would allow the sector to be free from its dependence on oil, the price of which seems to push many airline companies out of air. This is an adventurous venture in which lots of efforts are already being put and no wonder that Virgin has again showed their commitment to get independence from oil and also from the concept of carbon emissions.

While commenting on the new association, Sir Richard Branson said that he envisioned the fleet of Virgin Atlantic to be operating partly on algae-based fuel within 5 years.

Earlier it was the time for self-service bicycles, and now the French capital city Paris is getting organised to initiate a 'green' drive to make electric cars available to people at pick-up and drop-off locations all around the city, marking a new era of green travel.

The Socialist mayor of the capital city, Bertrand Delanoë, revealed this last week that starting in late next year, around four thousand electric cars will be made available at a number of self-service sites in the city and the outskirts for travellers to use on short journeys.

This would be the first of its kind electric car scheme in a European capital city.

The Director of a small regional airport in Colorado is positive that a new report on carbon dioxide emissions will result in enhanced energy-savings and cut greenhouse gas emissions at his facility.

The Aspen-Pitkin County Airport is reflecting on the results appeared in a new report in relation to carbon dioxide emissions and its application to its working. The report would help in chalking out plans that would be geared towards the betterment of carbon emissions of the airport and would allow the authorities to put on some efforts in this regard.

The report shows that, in combination, the operations of the facility, traffic in and out of the hub, and the heat and the electricity used in the buildings, produced 55,270 metric tonne of CO2 (the most troublesome of the "greenhouse gases) in the year 2006.

On Monday Japan Airlines (JAL) revealed that it intended to operate Asia's first commercial jet flight on bio-fuel before the month of March the following year, as part of an international more to cut carbon dioxide emissions produced by the sector.

To operate the flight with no passenger onboard, the carrier will use a Boeing 747 plane with engines manufactured by Pratt & Whitney. This could lead to a new development in the aviation industry.

Japan Airlines will be the first Asian airline company to operate such a flight and the fourth international carrier after British carrier Virgin Atlantic, Continental Airlines and Air New Zealand.

European leader in passenger cars and light utility vehicles rental, Europcar International, today revealed that it had gained certification for its Green Charter, which honours its promises towards sustainable development.

The certification is the first of its kind for a firm in Europe by Bureau Veritas Certification in the areas of safety, quality, social responsibility, the environment and health.

Salvatore Catania, Chief Executive Officer of Europcar Groupe, said, "We have been offering 'green' cars for over 10 years and we play a pioneering role in our industry.

Green Motion, the car rental firm, is promising to plant one tree each time one of its vehicles is hired.

The car hire company, which started operating in the month of October last year, reports that it provides consumers not only with the latest models of vehicles, but also the cars which produce the lowest CO2 emissions.

Green Motion has recently unveiled a combined offering with Trees4Good-a carbon offsetting firm-which will result in the car rental company planting a tree each time a customer hires a car from Green Motion.

Lufthansa explains ambitious targets in its planned environmental initiative. The company has spelled out fifteen guidelines to guide its track towards accomplishment of more decisive advancement in environmental effectiveness by 2020.

Lufthansa's endeavours in support of environment and climate protection and social responsibility are recorded in Balance, the Sustainability Report of the Group. The fourteenth issue of the Group's Report is set to be brought out shortly.

Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said, "Lufthansa has in recent years succeeded in decoupling traffic growth from its deleterious impact on the environment.

According to a new report, the application of mobile ticketing in transport markets is going to see a significant rise over the course of next few years.

Presently, around 37.4 million transactions related to transport are managed by mobile ticketing systems, which according to Juniper Research predictions will rise to 1.8 billion by the year 2011. This is a very good concept that can help in the cause of green travel due to the paper saved in paper tickets that are made up from trees. It is expected that millions of trees can be saved through this.

The air travel sector is among the industries that are expected to benefit the most from the new concept of ticketing, with the rising prices of fuel forcing airline companies to depend more on measures that can help in reducing their costs.

easyJet, the low fares carrier, has refreshed its pledge to the environment by fitting new energy-efficiency engines in its Airbus A319 flying machines.

The London Luton airport-based budget carrier's upgrade will cut NOx (mono-nitrogen oxide) emissions by 25 per cent, reducing the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of its planes and save on its fuel costs.

The carrier's initiative appears before the launch of a NOx emissions legislative proposal presently being listed by the EC, which is seeking to encourage uptake of the green technology. This is a great step from Virgin Atlantic as it could also inspire other airlines who would be able to take advice from them to get the concept of green travel incorporated into their business practices.

World's leading online directory of hand-picked holidays, responsibletravel.com, reported an 86 per cent rise in the number of enquiries from those who are interested in cycling holidays from May 31, 2007 and June 1st, 2008, compared to the same period a year ago.

The figures are released to coincide with National Bike Week in the United Kingdom, from June 14th to June 22nd.

Co-founder of responsibletravel.com, Justin Francis, said, "We are seeing more and more people consider their everyday transport and commuting options so it makes sense that travellers are starting to hop on a saddle when on holiday too.

On Monday, Air France-KLM-the French-Dutch carrier-raised concerns over the planned inclusion of airline companies in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) of EU at a time when the prices of oil are at record highs.

The carrier said that the terms of the scheme were discriminatory and made threats to the financial situation of those already concerned about their profits.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says that a record high level of fuel prices and a decline in traffic in the US and Europe have resulted in the failure of 24 airlines since the beginning of the year.

Schemers have approved a scheme to develop an eco-friendly holiday village of cabins in North Yorkshire.

The thirty-six, mostly timber made, Scandinavian-style second homes will be constructed at York House Holiday Park, at Balk, close to Bagby. These are designed to offer families the chance to enjoy their leisure time in the region, still having a minimum impact on the environment.

The holiday park will be constructing the homes by using recycled materials and will get all the timber required for the project from sustainable sources.

Mr. Ruth Kelly, the secretary of state for transport, has said that the Government is committed to reducing green house gases while creating bigger airport facilities.

She revealed to a House of Commons discussion this week that accomplishing the targets of carbon emission reduction was compatible with its schemes to develop Stansted and Gatwick airports. Lots of groups are creating problems for the development of airports in London that are looking to increase capacity and terminals also like Heathrow. However, the government has clarified its stance that it would look into this matter so that a conducive decision can be reached at.

She said, "We are championing a European emissions trading scheme whereby any increase in aviation emissions above the base level would have to be matched one for one by a reduction in carbon emissions elsewhere, paid for by the aviation sector. In that way, not only do we help to push forward with our climate change objectives, we do so in a way compatible with future economic growth".

On Thursday, the aviation agency of UN, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), introduced a standard to calculate how much air travellers should pay to offset the carbon emissions produced by the their travel, deciding to pay no attention to an area of hot discussion on the environmental impact of the industry.

Enno Harders, a senior official at Germany's emissions trading authority which calculates national greenhouse gas emissions, said, "It's a race to the bottom",

Harders also said that the proposed calculator underestimated the contribution airlines are making to warming.

Plane maker Airbus has vowed to developing greener flying machines in the face of environmental issues related to the industry.

The aircraft manufacturing company said that it intended to take advantage of a step change in technology to develop more fuel-efficient planes by the year 2020. This is surely a great need of the present time when aviation industry is facing a severe threat from dual channels-green travel concept and rising fuel costs. Green technology will surely help the aviation industry to come up with terms with the demands of emission regulations that many green groups demand to be put on.

Tom Enders, the company's chief executive said that the changing focus on bio-fuels and energy conservation would also help the air travel industry to deal better with unstable prices of fuel.

According to a report, the international airline industry is taking a number of steps to cut both fuel costs and emissions.

For example, American Airlines paints its signature red, white and blue stripes only on the bare metal of the flying machine rather than covering the whole of the aircraft while Japan Airlines has reduced the weight of its spoons by 2 grams. And, a similar weight reduction strategy is also adopted by Virgin Atlantic in the UK.

The airline companies say that these measures will help in reducing the weight of the plane, reducing the amount of fuel burnt and the emissions produced.

An international award has been won by London Stansted for its continuous efforts to encourage travellers to make use of public transport for travelling to and from the airport. This is great news for the airport as Heathrow is facing a lot of revolt from various groups due to Terminal 5 construction. But London Stansted has really proved a point about green practices by winning this award.

Presently, around 44 per cent of travellers leave their vehicles at home and use rail, coach or bus services when going through Stansted airport, the highest figure for any major airport in the UK. This can be further increased in the coming days.

Every day, more than 550 bus and coach services run out of BAA Stansted linking the airport to a total of sixty locations in the UK, in addition to a rail service connecting the airport to London Liverpool Street, operating every 15 minutes.

Advantage Rent A Car, the American car rental company, has revealed its aim to turn out to be the greenest car rental firm in the country. This would be a great achievement for the company and no wonder that it would be attracting more customers to the services of the company as many visitors and travellers like to hire companies that have green practices.

At a recent Las Vegas conference, Danny Hecker, the company's spokesman revealed to the media that the company intends to be the first car hire firm in the US to offer a full 'green' fleet. No wonder that it could also set up a trend among other car hire companies to go green and offer lower carbon emission travel to their customers.

Giving the date of 2010 as the projection point, Hecker said that after that any vehicle rented out by the company would be environmentally friendly.

Advantage Rent A Car has vowed to run out to be the most environmentally-friendly car rental firm in the US over the period of the coming two years.

Mr. Denny Hecker made this announcement late yesterday, when he appeared at the American Car Rental show arranged in Las Vegas with a green T-shirt.

Mr. Hecker set off the demanding pledge of becoming the first car-hire company in the United States to have an 'all green' fleet of cars.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have demanded for airlines to be taken in the emissions trading programme a year before the scheduled time. With increased carbon emissions from travel and tourism, environmental groups are also stressing the need of emissions trading.

According to the Guardian reports, members of the environment committee of the parliament want to see airlines included in bidding for carbon credits by the year 2011 rather than the year targeted earlier by the EU, 2012. However, the decision is yet to be taken.

Caroline Lucas, UK Green MEP, who has worked against development at London Heathrow and Stansted airports, said, "This vote demonstrates the Parliament's determination to get tough with the aviation sector".

Besides ensuring sustainable water for Cebu, the Buhisan Watershed Rehabilitation Project will also make the lives of local people better.

The plans uncovered yesterday include the creation of a nature park with a tree-planting drive guided by the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), Visayas. This effort is being put in to increase the awareness about sustainable tourism sites across the world.

Engr. Jun L. Sarmiento, manager of Lexmark International Philippines Inc, said, "The goals of this project are to ensure sustainable water to the city, improve the quality of life of 498 families in Buhisan, and promote Buhisan as an eco-tourism destination".

While speaking after the meeting of IACA Board of Directors in Brussels, Christoph Mueller, the President of IACA, asked the European Parliament's ENVI committee to make out the harsh truth of the present situation of air travel business and to choose an effective and affordable Emissions Trading System (ETS).

The Board of IACA keeps on supporting the inclusion of air travel into the EU ETS and remains devoted to deal with the environment responsibilities of their members.

However, it has serious issues with the Rapporteur's (Peter Liese MEP) panel draft changes which suggest 100 per cent auctioning from 2013 and a closed trading system for air travel business.

According to a new study, the rapidly increasing demand for air travel could spoil all the attempts the Scottish government is making to cut emissions. With increase in air travel, the concept of green travel is under a severe threat.

The reports claim that if the number of travellers from Scottish airports rises as expected, and it could damage the processes geared to cut emissions by 80 per cent by the year 2050.

Government estimates show a huge rise in air traffic over the next fifty years. A report has been released by the World Development Movement (WDM), which works against poverty in developing nations, projecting what this means for traveller figures in Scotland.

Delta Air Lines, a United States airline based in Atlanta, Georgia, is the most recent winner of the prestigious '2008 Green Cross for Safety Medal' awarded each year by 'The National Safety Council'.

The accolade, awarded at a ceremony that took place on the 30th of April at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, recognizes businesses and their bosses for great achievements in safety and health, responsible citizenship and community service.

To be eligible for the recognition, an organisation and its management need to demonstrate an excellent record in the development of safety and health practices in relation to the National Safety Council's mission.

Four of Luton Airport's airport buses have been replaced with brand new fuel efficient models as part of the airport's pledge to cut its environmental impact. This is a great step for the concept of green tourism.

The introduction of four brand new 'green' vehicles is the first step towards a complete replacement drive that will eventually see replacement of all the airport buses at Luton Airport.

The COBUS 3000, the new model will replace the existing airside buses used at the airport to provide transportation to the travellers between the airport terminal and the awaiting plane.

The most environmentally-friendly next generation yard locomotive of Union Pacific is on the work at J. R. Davis Rail Yard in Roseville, California.

The first of 4 Genset locomotives turned up in Northern California this week and is previously pushing rail cars into position all around the yard of Union Pacific.

Using the Genset technology picked up by Union Pacific during the past 6 years, the switcher is part of the never-ending efforts of railroad to keep on cutting air emissions in association with the federal, state and local environmental organizations.

Hoteliers in Blackpool are confident to set a trend in eco-tourism: from recycling of waste food to bringing in energy saving lightening and solar power systems, they can take up plenty of initiatives to go green.

Proprietors of the high-quality 'Number One South Beach' are among the pilots of the green revolution and have put £55,000 in latest energy saving systems. The property has had solar power panels fitted along with a brand new condensing boiler and low-energy light bulbs.

Owners of the property, Claire and Mark Smith and Janet and Graham Oxley, said that they are taking their responsibilities towards the environment very seriously.

In America, several car hire firms are taken by surprise at the success of their efforts of becoming more environmentally friendly.

Carbon-offsetting programmes are among the most common approaches by car rental companies which have been adopting to cut their environmental impact.

A scheme was launched previously this month which gives those who rent a car with National, Alamo and Enterprise an opportunity to offset the carbon dioxide generated by their rental vehicle.

SAS Scandinavian Airlines is operating its planes slower to save on fuel costs and limit CO2 emissions in a new drive to green up its reputation.

On Tuesday, the airline said that it has lowered the cruising speed of its passenger jets from 860 kph to almost 780 kph. The trial run by its Norwegian wing has saved it huge amounts of money, approximately USD $12 m, in fuel since early 2006.

Mr. Thomas Midteide, a spokesman for SAS Norge, said, "Our experience is that we were able to save a lot by slowing down. After the test project... we implemented this strategy in the (SAS) group on an everyday basis".

Warnings have been given by a government advisory body report that England may lose its wildlife due to development and climate change.

According to Natural England, the abundance of the landscape has reduced considerably during the past five decades, and the pressure is continuously increasing.

The study found that grassland flowers, native reptiles and butterflies had all went to seed over the past fifty years. It said that landscape-scale management was needed for maintaining eco-systems.

This year, untimely rains-taken as a warning of climate change-have harshly brought down the production of wild honey in the Wayanad regions of Kerala, taking the supplementary income of hard-pressed tribes away.

Due to heavy rains and strong winds, mass-falling of flowers occurs in deep woodlands, forcing bees to shift in drones to greener regions to nest and take the nectar out.

In summers last year, the total collection of wild honey was 15,000 kg, but this year it was estimated to be just 1500 kg.

After a recently conducted audit, Leeds Bradford Airport has been recertified with ISO 14001-the international standard meant to recognise environmental management. This is a great development for Leeds Bradford Airport, as lots of airlines are increasing their flights from this base and no wonder that this award will come in good stead for the airport.

To be eligible for this certification, companies need to demonstrate business management practices that have features like environmental awareness and responsibility. Environmental awareness is one of the topmost agenda in today's air travel industry and no wonders that airlines and airports are vying with one another to demonstrate their awareness about environmental issues.

In the audit, the food and drink services at the airport done exceptionally well, with Yates', Burger King, O'Briens and Food Village all received the top score.

Carbon off-setting initiatives seem to be a genuine hit for the majority of leading car hire companies, and some firms now find that they are above initial expectations.

Enterprise, Alamo and National, for example, initiated a new green scheme, called 'Keys to Green'. This is geared towards the passengers to give them an option to offset the carbon produced through their trips of cars.

The programme provides renters with an opportunity to pay a fairly small and optional amount on top of the fee for their rental vehicle, with the aim of helping off-set the environmental impact caused by the carbon emissions produced by their rental vehicle.

InterContinental Hotels Group's (IHG) new hotel could be the world's first 100% environmentally-friendly hotel and its 'green' credentials will establish a point of reference for hoteliers all over the world.

Innovation Hotel, the solar powered hotel draws round the new technology in the conservation and recycling of both energy and water.

Some of the 'green' features of this ultramodern hotel include: the passing on of all unused food to food banks and charities; solar panels for water heating; wind-power to produce electricity for the hotel; a rainwater harvesting system to provide water for use in toilets; recycled glass windows; and all the furniture and fittings are made by using recycled materials.

In the month of April this year, Marriott hotels have enjoyed a relatively 'green' time, as the global holiday accommodation chain put special efforts for the creation of an environmentally-friendly business environment during this period.

Nearly three-thousand hotels-luxury and high-end-having association with the 'Marriott' brand participated in what has been billed an 'environmental awareness month'.

The 'environmental awareness month' took place in the a total of 67 countries where Marriot presently runs resorts or hotels and it ensured that everyone, including executives working at higher levels, hotel managers and other members of the staff, as well as customers, became familiar with these new green endeavors.