Accusations of unscientific research
But pointing out
a big industry like commercial aviation as a major polluter isn't somehing that will
be done in silence. The
Swedish aviation sector accused Jörgen Larsson and his colleagues of
conducting unscientific research. It
went to the point where the presidents at Chalmers and KTH wrote a joint debate
article where they called for better manners in the debate about the aviation
industry and it’s environmental effects. At a meeting in spring 2018, the
researchers met representatives from the industry to clear the air. Today,
the researchers have initiated cooperation with Swedavia which owns and
operates Arlanda and Landvetter, among other airports, and has gained access to
large amounts of data that they can use in the ongoing research.
Not only the
aviation sector has paid attention to the report. Still
more than two years after it was published, Jörgen Larsson is contacted several
times a month by individuals and organizations who want to talk about the report
or interview him.
"In those
situations it's important to be careful with what one says. In
some interviews they would like me to say "stop flying", but there are
also other organizations with different agendas. As
a researcher, you have status and authority, and one have to be careful so that
one doesn’t get used by any side in the debate.”
Jörgen Larsson
and his colleague's ambition is to broaden the perspectives. The
debate about the control of the aviation industry has often been centered on
passenger taxes, and Jörgen Larsson thinks that we also need to discuss other
additional instruments. He
thinks there is a striking lack of action preparedness, both in terms of
international and national instruments.
"A sharp increase in emissions"
"The
aviation area is a sector with a sharp increase in emissions. Nevertheless,
the controls are super weak in comparison to what is needed, and even efforts
that would reduce emissions just a little bit are met with protests. A
lot of people want to reduce our impact on the climate, but when it gets to
close to their reality they become resistant. For me personally, it feels
meaningful to conduct this research. If
there is a will to prioritize this issue in the future, it is important that researchers
have the knowledge.”
Kristina Graner
is a librarian at the Department of Communication and Learning in Science, and
works with Open Access publishing. She
is not surprised that Jörgens Larsson's report has been downloaded that many
times in the past year.
"Last year,
there was a publication about textiles' life-cycle analysis that was the most
downloaded, and it was also very accurate in time," she says. “One
conclusion that one can make is that the publication needs to have something
that people can understand and relate to, and that was more the case with this
publication than with many other publications published at Chalmers. But
one also needs to remember that this report is written in Swedish, thus making
it available to a limited audience only.”
Publications with the most unique
downloads from research.chalmers.se
2016-2018