Research Project: Analysing Carbon Offsetting in Aviation Industry

This research project analyzes the impact of carbon offsetting in the aviation industry. The report begins by defining carbon offsetting and its significance in mitigating carbon emissions from aviation. It examines how the aviation sector is adopting carbon offsetting, including voluntary schemes and initiatives like CORSIA. The study delves into the principles of carbon offsetting, such as additionality, verification, and traceability. The report explores the challenges faced by the aviation industry, including the effectiveness of offsetting schemes and the difficulty in assessing their contributions. The research also identifies strategies adopted by the aviation sector to address these challenges, such as fleet renewal, route optimization, and biofuel investments. The report concludes with an overview of the activities, timescales, and milestones involved in the research project, including a Gantt chart timeline for efficient project management.

Research Project

Contents
Contents......................................................................................................................................................2
Research Proposal Form..............................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................10
APPENDIX..................................................................................................................................................11
Research Ethics approval form..............................................................................................................11

Research Proposal Form
Student Name: ______________________ Student ID: ____________
Centre Name: _____________________
Tutor: ________________ Date: ___________________
Unit: ____________________
Proposed Title:“To analyse the impact of Carbon Offsetting in the Aviation Industry.”
Section One: Title, objective, responsibilities
Title or working title of the research project (in the form of a question, objective or
hypothesis)
INTRODUCTION
Carbon Offset is basically known as process of making reduction in the emissions of
Carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for emissions made
elsewhere. Offsets are assessed in tonnes of Carbon dioxide equivalent. In order to address
climate change, offsetting is an activity through enterprises or people to compensate for
carbon emissions, in this case arising from their utilisation of commercial aviation faculties
(Ritchie and et. al., 2020). The offset can be similar in part or in whole to the related
emissions, by financing a reduction in emissions elsewhere. There are several forms to attain
CO2 minimisations which can be utilised in as offsets, many of which bring other social,
ecological and economical advantages which is reliable for sustainable development. In order
to make development in technology, operations and infrastructure measures, the aviation
sector will provide long term solutions for aviation’s sustainable development. Along with
this, to attainment these measures, a consumer based offset program could be included to
minimise the net impact of flying through accomplishing equivalent carbon reductions from
actions taken by the aviation sector.
Aim and objectives:
Aim: “To analyse the effect of Carbon Offsetting in the Aviation Sector.”
Objectives:
 To understand the conception of Carbon offsetting.
 To examine the ways by which Aviation sector adopting Carbon offsetting.
 To study the principle of Carbon offsetting.
 To analyse the challenges of Carbon Offsetting which faced by Aviation Industry.
 To determine the strategies which considered by Aviation sector venture in order to
deal with challenges of Carbon Offsetting.

Research objectives (e.g what is the question you want to answer? What do you want to
learn how to do? What do you want to find out?):
Research Question
 What is the concept of Carbon offsetting?
 What are the ways by which Aviation sector adopting Carbon offsetting?
 What is the principle of Carbon offsetting?
 What are the challenges of Carbon Offsetting which faced by Aviation Industry?
 What are the strategies which considered by Aviation sector venture in order to deal
with challenges of Carbon Offsetting?
Section Two: Reasons for choosing this research project
Reasons for choosing the project (e.g links to other subjects you are studying, personal
interest, future plans, knowledge/skills you want to improve, why the topic is
important):
Section Three: Literature sources searched
The conception of Carbon offsetting
As per the view of Anwar S. (2017), carbon offsetting can be described as the mitigation
of carbon footprints by development of alternative projects like solar, wind, tidal energy and
reforestation. The emission of green house gases is a global problem and carbon offsets work
on the idea which any reduction in any area is valuable. It generally measures how much
carbon dioxide, the different business sectors like aviation and many more have produced.
Also, Carbon offset is a way to compensate for emissions through funding an equivalent
carbon dioxide saving somewhere else (Yang and O’Connell, 2020). Everyday actions, at
home and at work, take energy and produce carbon footprints, such as driving, flying and
heating buildings, Carbon Offsetting is used to balance out and manage these emissions
through supporting to pay for emanation saving in other parts of the world.
According to Woodford C. (2021), Carbon offsetting states compensating for the carbon
dioxide pollution making by carbon footprint by preventing the same amount of pollution
from happening somewhere else. More specifically, one carbon offset means recompensing
for producing one tonne of carbon dioxide into the environment by preventing a tonne of CO2
from entering the atmosphere elsewhere on Earth or by eliminating a tonne of CO2 which is
already up there. Carbon offsetting is quickly rising in importance. The world’s carbon
emissions are maximising at an alarming rate and offset the carbon release is a powerful
mechanism to support in the battle against climate change and global warming (Cordes,

2020). Advantages of carbon offsetting are not only carbon release minimisation, but
supporting upon the offset project type; they can bring several advantages to the wider
environment as well as local, social and biodiversity advantages. A carbon offset permits
business sector firms and individuals to minimise carbon emissions by purchasing carbon
credits in carbon reduction projects.
The ways by which Aviation sector adopting Carbon offsetting
Carbon offsetting is one way the aviation section is taking immediate action to contest
climate change. From voluntary offsetting schemes for passengers, to CORSIA which is a
global initiative to stabilise CO2 output- the particular sector is being done to compensate for
global flight emissions. Carbon offsetting alleviates the ecological impact of air travel, which
presently accounts for around 2% of all global carbon emissions. It permits airlines and
passengers to recompense for the CO2 emissions released by flying by investing in carbon
minimisation projects in other spares. An industry wide approach to offset flight emissions
could make all air travel net carbon neutral. As per the view of Qiu J. (2020), Voluntary
carbon offsetting is a form for individuals, organisations and other ventures to fund projects
that either prevent or minimise greenhouse gas releases and capture greenhouse gases from
the environment, in return for credits (Dube and Nhamo, 2019). For instance, this would
permit one to panel a plane or operate a business while still maintaining to have zero net
emissions as long as processes are offset by funding an equivalent amount of credits. For
example, Airlines like United Airlines Qantas ad Virgin Australia already permit passengers
to buy carbon offsets for their flights. Along with this, British Airways and JetBlue have
undertaken to bear the cost of carbon offsetting for all domestic flights. Across the airline
sector, notably in Europe, airlines are taking measures to offset and ready for impending the
social and economical attacks that Flygskam and likely governmental taxes threaten to
deliver. The battle is about both responding coherently and about actually releasing seriously
valuable and responsible changes. Apart from this, CORSIA is a global carbon offsetting
scheme to address CO2 emissions development from international aviation and was
introduced by the International Civil Aviation Organisation with the support from the aviation
sector. A single global carbon offsetting scheme enables atmospheric integrity by covering
most CO2 emissions growth from international commercial flights.
The principle of Carbon offsetting
As per the view of Premer S. (2020), offsetting the carbon footprint is a process of
compensating for CO2 emissions that a firm has made by financing a project to minimise
CO2 emissions or other green house gases somewhere else by another means such as Co2

sequestration (Heikkinen, 2020). There different principle of carbon offsetting which are
considered by Aviation sector in order to deal with carbon emissions.
Additionality- A key need for an offset is that the carbon dioxide minimisation and
removal used as an offset is additional to business as usual process. Demonstrating
additionality is complex but a number of approaches have been productively to make sure the
atmospheric reliability of offsets.
Verification- Records of aircraft CO2 emissions from operations enclosed by the offset
program must be managed and be outwardly established through an independent third part
entity.
Registration- Carbon dioxide reductions from offset projects should be evidenced and
tracked by a central registry, with the quantity bought progressively subtract from the total
analysed for that specific project.
Traceability- The receipt issued to the consumer should clearly indicate that credit has
been or will be retired as an outcome of the buy and cannot be resold (Zhang and et. al., 20).
A receipt may also refer to the sort of project that was utilised to make the offset or the quality
standard that the offset meets.
Guarantee- If an offset is sold where the purchased decrement and minimisation in CO2
will be accomplished at some future date, then a guarantee that an alternative and similar
offset will be generated if the project fails, should be offered.
The aviation industry is confident that technology, operations and infrastructure measures
will offer long term solutions for aviation’s sustainable development. By taking effective
measure regarding use of technology, business operations and many more, they can take
actions regarding the reduction of carbon emissions and can get success regarding carbon
offsets.
The challenges of Carbon Offsetting which faced by Aviation Industry
As per the view of Brown V. (2020), Carbon offsets sum up all that is wrong with the
approach to tourism and climate crisis. Thy perpetuate the idea this crisis does not protect
unlimited development with old and highly polluting technology, shifts the moral
accountability for carbon reduction to someone else. The Carbon offsets are facing issues and
problems with offsetting schemes. The description of some of the complexities with offsetting
is as:
Top schemes have not worked- In 2017, study of offsets, charged by the European
Commission which established that 85 percent of offset projects under the CDM had not
successes to minimise emissions and carbon footprints. This clearly demonstrates that even

the very best schemes do not work (Greene and Façanha, 2018). So now from 2021, the EU
will stop permitting offsets to be counted regarding emissions releasing targets.
Offsets cannot act rapidly enough, only reduction can- Given the huge development in
aviation in current years, the continued development predicted in upcoming time and the
limited time period accessible for reverting the climate issues, many supporters and climate
experts believe that the concentration should be on minimising the number of flights, not
paying for carbon dioxide savings somewhere else that could take years to take impact and
have little guarantee of performing.
Difficulty in assessing offsets contributions- Due to lack of use of effective technology
in order to carbon offsets and reduction of carbon footprints. In context of aviation offsetting,
it is little hard to assess the amount of CO2 that is stored in environment cause of flights, fuels
and other kinds of emissions.
The strategies which considered by Aviation sector venture in order to deal with challenges of
Carbon Offsetting
In order to deal with the issues of offsets and carbon emissions, several airlines quantified
the CO2 reductions they accomplished. In context of fleet renewal or engine retrofit, one of
the most famous measures is to retrofit winglets and sharkets (Larsson and et. al., 2019).
Another area of dealing with the challenges of CO2 emissions connects to routes, descent
administration and tools to lead pilot assessment making. Some of airlines use effective
technology and software for real time pilot updates which supports in better decision making
for finding out appropriate routes. As per the view of Pant P. (2020), number of airlines
reported on investing into bio fuel by some form of partnership. Some were particular and
advanced than others. For example, United Airlines has invested $30 million in US based
alternative fuels developer Fulcrum BioEnergy, The respective airline has also purchased over
2 million gallons of bio fuel of AltAir fuels operations.
Section Four: Activities and timescales

Activities to be carried out during the research project (e.g research,
development and analysis of ideas, writing, data collection, numerical analysis,
tutor meetings, production of final outcome, evaluation, writing the report):
How
long
this
will
take
:
Milestone one: ______10/22/20____________
Target date (set by tutor): ____________________
Milestone two: _______________11/25/20_______
Target date (set by tutor): ______________________
Gantt Chart
Timeline is beneficial and crucial to manage the actions and completed them within
provided time frame. It is presentation of chronological progression of the actions that support
to understand rapidly. It is graphical representation which demonstrates overview of the
timeline for research associated actions and process as well as inters dependences. Each
activity or task is demonstrated with bar chart and visual presentation which displaying the
starting and ending dates in a clear form. In order to administrating time, investigator
considers the Gantt chart and in order to administrate all research actions on the base of set
time frame. It is time table which used to demonstrate that how project will be operate. It
offers graphical representation of timetable which aids to plan, conduct as well as track the
particular works and tasks in project. Gantt chart is significant in order to understand activities

to analyse project appropriately. Regarding investigation, groups and teams can consider this
tool in order to replace the meeting and develop status update (Yang and O’Connell, 2020).
The Gantt chart provides the capability to teams to centre on work at front of task timetable.
Apart from this, this particular tool maintains management updated and also informed about
the additional resources which require and also keep the reliance between tasks.
Section Five: Research approach and methodologies
What type of research approach and methodologies are you likely to use and why? What
your areas of research will cover:
Research methods and approaches are linked and related with the different philosophy
and methodologies used and executed for conducting research together with gathering and
presentation of data. Generally, it indicates to those techniques that are utilised to organise a
research in more appropriate form. A description about different research methods and tools
for accomplishment of the research is provided as below:
Research philosophy- It is a detail about the form within information about a
phenomenon should be gathered and analysed. There are two key sorts of research philosophy
such as positivism and interpretivism that can be executed for an investigation. Positivism
philosophy is based on the idea that the technical knowledge is truce and symbolized by
research questions which obtained from existing knowledge concept (Terrenoire and et. al.,
2019). While interpretivism philosophy highlights on utilisation of qualitative research tool to
acquire results. This philosophy plays an effective role in making the sense and also
determining collected information. In current research project on Travelodge, the researcher
will make use of Positivism research philosophy as it direct to more practical form and
manner of research are provide appropriate analysis of quantitative information and data.
Positivism depends on quantifiable observations that lead to statistical analyses. It has been
mentioned that “as a philosophy, positivism is according with the empiricist view that
expertise stems from human experience. It has an atomistic, ontological view of the world as
comprising discrete, observable elements and activities that have interaction in an observable,
decided and ordinary way
Research approach- It refers to a plan and procedure which considers of the stages of
broad assumptions to detailed methodologies of data gathering, analysis and interpretation. It
is supported the nature of research complexities being analyses (Broekhoff and et. al., 2019).
The key types of research tools are deductive and inductive out of which deductive tool are
executed and considered with quantitative research method while use of inductive method of

research is made with qualitative method. Therefore, within this current research project, the
researcher will make use of deductive method with the use of quantitative method in order to
collect information with aim of completion of the research project. Along with this, it has
possibility to give an explanation for causal relationships between concepts and variables,
possibility to degree standards quantitatively and possibility to generalize study’s findings to a
positive volume. Deductive approach is an vital ability that can help you assume logically and
make meaningful choices in the place of job. This intellectual tool enables professionals to
come to conclusions based totally on premises assumed to be true or with the aid of taking a
wellknown assumption and turning it right into a more unique concept or action.
Research design- It denotes to overall plan and tools that the investigator selects to
integrate the different aspects of the research in a coherent and logical manner, thus making
sure the researcher will effectively manage the research issues. It contains the plan for
gathering, assessment and analysis of data. There are three form of research design such as
exploratory, descriptive and explanatory. Under this research project, the descriptive research
design is utilised as it support in providing an appropriate image of diverse occasions and the
significance of it is that the investigator has prior experience regarding data collection.
Descriptive research is typically exceptionally brief, smooth and cheap to behaviour.
Exposure statistics regularly only available at the area level. Differences in exposure between
areas can be larger than at the individual degree, and so are greater without difficulty tested.
Research choices- It signifies as the tools which are used and considered by the
researcher in order to conduct research. Generally, there are two types of research methods;
these can either be qualitative and quantitative method. Quantitative methods examine
statistical data and often require the utilisation of numerical tools to analyse collected
information. This tool can be utilised to systematically define large gathering of things and it
makes reproducible information. In context this research tool, the investigator can considered
questionnaires, surveyors, observations, document screening and others (Vanderklift and et.
al., 2018). Use and application of quantitative research method is formed in a form that helps
reveal the behaviour and opinion of customers in context of a particular area. The results of
this method are more descriptive and the deductions can be illustrated relatively in easy form
of data which is collected. Thus research tool is made to glean deep and detail information in
theoretical or subjective manner. Within this research method, the investigator can consider
interviews, focus groups, observations, document determination and others. Within thus
existing research assessment, it has appropriate communication and visualisation of
presentation of research outcomes with the use of quantitative research method.

Research strategy- It refers to those tools and techniques which are considered by the
researcher in order to collect information with the purpose of completion of research project
in more developed manner. There are different research strategies like experiment, case study,
survey and many more, which are used by investigator to collect reliable information
(Gössling, 2020). Within this present research, the surveyor will make use of survey as a
research strategy as it enables in collecting more information as well as answer research
questions. Surveys can assist gauge the representativeness of character perspectives and
studies. When carried out well, surveys offer tough numbers on people's opinions and
behaviors that may be used to make essential choices
Method of data collection- It signifies as those methods and tools which are considered
by the researcher in order to glean relevant and valuable information. There two main kind of
data collection tools such as primary method and secondary method of information gathering.
Primary methods refer to the technique by which the researcher can collect pure, fresh and
first hand information with the aim of meeting the research objectives. In order to collect
information, the researcher makes use of different tools like questionnaire, online survey,
observations and others so that the fresh data can be gleaned. While in context of gather data
from secondary source, the research use books, articles, journals, magazines, company
websites and many more. The information which is gathered by this source is already
accessible in the market and easy to collect as well as already use by others regarding their
work. Within this current investigation, the surveyor will make use of primary source of data
collection so that the individual can collect pure, deep and fresh content which is able to meet
the requirement of this document.
Research instruments- It denotes to the research tools which are considered by research
person with aim of gleaning data. There are several research instruments, like online survey,
telephonic survey, interview, questionnaire, experiments and others (Zhang and et. al., 2019).
So that the sufficient and valid information can be collect to accomplish the research
requirements and meet its demands. In this present investigation, the researcher will make
focus on questionnaire as a research instrument which support in collecting more, brief and
detailed information regarding specific research area. Questionnaires may be an effective
method of measuring the conduct, attitudes, choices, critiques and, intentions of enormously
large numbers of topics more cheaply and quickly than other techniques. Often a
questionnaire makes use of each open and closed inquiry to accumulate facts.
Sampling- It is analysed as the activity of selecting and assorting specific people from a
wide population. There are basically two kinds of sampling methods such as random sampling

and non- random sampling method. Each and every person of population has a same
probability of being selected as subject (Ritchie and et. al., 2020). Along with this, non
probability sampling, it is a method or technique in which samples are collected in an
effective process or action which does not provide an equivalent options and chances to the
responders in the population. In present study, the researcher will make use of simple random
sampling method.
Comments and agreement from tutor
Comments (optional):
I confirm that the project is not work which has been or will be submitted for another
qualification and is appropriate.
Agreed: ________________ (name)_______________ Date ______________
Comments and agreement form project proposal checker( IV sampling)
Comments (Optional):
I confirm that the project is appropriate.
Agreed /Disagree: (Name of the IV)
Date