Sustainable participation to QoMEX 2023

Travel

A roundtrip transatlantic flight accounts for about 1.6 tons of CO2 per passenger. That’s an immense number, considering that e.g. the German Government has set its target to reducing the carbon footprint per capita to less than 1 ton CO2. Sure, when attending the conference in person, long-haul flights cannot be replaced without major restrictions in comfort. But, looking ahead, can this trip to QoMEX include multiple academic stops to avoid future trips? Some sites, such as skyscanner, can be used to identify flights with a lower carbon footprint. Typically, it's win-win: the shorter the flight, the less impact to CO2-emissions. For short-distance, we have the option to reduce emissions dramatically through simple actions. If we take the journey from Frankfurt to Brussels as an example, then train travel has a savings potential of 89% compared to a short-haul flight, with a medium train load factor (flight: 113,2 kg CO2, 3h 10min vs. train: 12,5 kg CO2, 3h 52min). At high seat occupancy rates, the savings potential is as high as 95%.

Accomodation

From an ecological point of view, we recommend staying in private homes, such as Airbnb and ideally sharing your room. Hotel overnight stays were found to cause CO2 emissions ranging from 8.25 to 34.32 kg CO2 per person and night (3-star hotel, UK) e.g. due to high energy consumption and large amounts of waste. Green Key, Green Globe, and ISO 14001 certifications help identify environmentally friendly hotels. If you choose to stay at a Hotel in Ghent, these are our recommendations:

• Ibis Centrum (St. Baafs & Opera): 650 and 750 m distance to De Krook, certification: ISO 14001)

• Yalo Urban Boutique Hotel Ghent (450 m to De Krook, certification: Green Globe)

• Novotel (900 m, ISO 14001)

• NH Gent (950 m, Green Key)

Meals

Plant-based options are usually the best choice when it comes to carbon footprint. To give the two opposite poles: Vegan dishes tend to account for considerably less than 500 g CO2 per serving, while red meat dishes usually generate between 1500 to 2500 g CO2 per serving. One could say we're lucky: Belgium's national dish, French fries, happen to be vegan and so are Cuberdons, a sweet specialty from the City of Ghent! But that’s not as easy as it gets: A typical serving of french fries (300 g and deep-frozen) can account for about 1,7 kg CO2. Rule-of-thumb: the more regional and seasonal and the less processed, the smaller the carbon footprint.