The research team, led by ISTA Sustainability Manager Jeroen Dobbelaere and professors Paul Schanda and Georgios Katsaros, published their findings in Magnetic Resonance after launching a graduate course aimed at measuring the environmental impact of research practices. Their investigation analyzed travel options from Vienna to multiple European cities, incorporating both direct trip emissions and the indirect costs of train infrastructure. The model showed that train travel, even accounting for infrastructure, produces on average 85 percent less CO2 than flying for the same journey, although this advantage diminishes for routes beyond 3,000 kilometers.
After the pandemic, physical meetings have again become common in academia, resulting in the resurgence of high travel-related emissions. While virtual events have a much lower environmental footprint, they lack some aspects of personal interaction. "In-person meetings have a quality that online conferences simply cannot provide," said Paul Schanda. "Many of us had brilliant ideas - or thought so at the time - while having a drink with a colleague after a poster session."
The researchers also explored holding simultaneous, decentralized conferences across Europe, virtually connecting local meetings. This approach could reduce overall carbon output from travel by up to 25 percent. The course continues to investigate sustainability topics - including commuting and the footprint of scientific computing - in future sessions.
Research Report:Quantifying the carbon footprint of conference travel: the case of NMR meetings
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