The Sea and the Sky

Emissions from yacht fuel contribute to global warming. For concerned crew, it may seem like we're in for a long wait before bio-fuels flow into port and save the day. But, as Alison Stodolnic explains, there is something we can do right now to reduce our environmental footprint ... and it won't cost the earth.

You are gazing out over the deck, and all you can see is the sea and the sky; miles and miles of blue and white as far as the eye can see. But what's that up there, growling down at you from the edge of space? It's the menacing spectre of global warming of course, looming large and threatening our very way of life. Climate change is the big issue of our time and, as we hurtle through 2008, the planet faces floods, droughts, storms, rising sea levels, dying coral reefs and melting ice caps.

So what can we do? We could sit and wait. Perhaps bio-fuels will eventually become widely available and straightforward to use? Bio-fuels are an environmentally-friendly alternative to oil and diesel; they come from bio-degradable waste or plant crops, don't emit greenhouse gases and, in theory, grow back and re-absorb much of the carbon dioxide emissions caused by manufacturing and transportation.

Bio-fuels are indeed a great idea. But how long must we wait for them? Last March, the EU set a goal of raising bio-fuel use in transport from 2% to 10% by 2020. Although, whilst they will surely play a part, it is uncertain how much of a contribution bio-fuels will make to the sustainability of transport. The EU is setting rigorous criteria for sustainable bio-fuel production - there are concerns about its impact on eco-systems, food production and prices, deforestation and water supply. The issues are being tackled, but there's no quick fix.

So yes, we can sit and wait for bio-fuels. But are you going to switch this summer? Or next? If, like most, you're not an 'early adopter', there is something else you can do right now to reduce your environmental footprint: Pay a little extra to 'offset' your usual fuel, and achieve carbon dioxide reductions elsewhere in the world. In effect you 'neutralise', as best you can, the carbon impact your yacht is having on the environment.

Leading environmental campaigner Jonathon Porritt backs offsetting. He says we should (1) avoid energy consumption, (2) reduce it, (3) switch to renewables, and (4) offset what remains. Offsetting was sanctioned by the 2005 UN Kyoto Protocol, the international convention on reducing greenhouse gases. Credible schemes achieve carbon reductions that wouldn't have happened otherwise, through independently verified projects overseas. Typically projects promote wind, solar or hydroelectric power, or the use of fossil fuel in a more efficient and less polluting way.

The menacing spectre of global warming is not going to stop growling at you. In fact the growl may soon become a roar. But anything you do to help reduce it, however small, is better than doing nothing.