Electric vehicles!! We are not done with you yet!! In the recent year, Singapore has jumped on the electric vehicle bandwagon in a bid to GO-GREEN, towards a cleaner transport system. But how much of this is actually cleaner? Let’s find out!

https://threezeros.unc.edu/news/2018/01/08/nissan-leafs-wrapped-three-zeros/

The electric vehicle (EVs) has boasted to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and many have even tried selling it as “zero-emission”, a very bold statement to make. Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said that the vision was to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles and have all vehicles run on cleaner energy by 2040, placing a significant bet on EVs.

Here comes the main consideration in implementing EVs, which are the power generation sources. In Singapore, 95% of its electricity is generated by natural gas, which releases 40-45% less carbon dioxide than coal, and 25-30% less than oil. Singapore is also looking to increase solar energy power production to 4% of Singapore’s total electricity demand. Thus, the EVs in Singapore is justifiable in reducing overall carbon emissions in the future, tying in with the goals in introducing greener energy sources into Singapore’s power grid. In comparison, countries/regions that rely heavily on coal for power generation, would be better-off adopting efficient internal combustion engine vehicles, such as hybrid vehicles would fair better than EVs, if the EV would have to rely on energy from coal energy sources.

In other interest news, the worlds best-selling EV, the Tesla, was unwelcome by Singapore government, with Singapore’s environmental minister Masagos Zulkifli stating that the country is more keen on environmental solutions rather than a lifestyle. Besides, think about the carbon footprint from importing a fully assembled Tesla from America or Shanghai (one of it’s manufacturing plants) to Singapore.

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Thanks to Mengli for giving us the direction for this post (:

References

https://threezeros.unc.edu/news/2018/01/08/nissan-leafs-wrapped-three-zeros/

https://www.eco-business.com/news/wheels-in-motion-singapore-joins-global-movement-to-phase-out-fossil-fuel-vehicles/ 

https://youmatter.world/en/are-electric-cars-eco-friendly-and-zero-emission-vehicles-26440/

“Protect our planet – fly with Vietjet”, doesn’t this statement sound a little contradicting? It is personally a challenge for me to understand how choosing a certain airline could help protect the environment, if i truly wanted to “protect our planet”, i should consider not flying at all, as carbon emissions from flights continue to damage the atmosphere. Before we get overly critical, let’s explore what Vietjet has to offer in their marketing and sales promotion that takes advantage of environmental issues.

Having officially announced their expansion of 5 new direct routes from Vietnam to India, Vietjet has offered “50% discount special promotion” appealing to environmentally conscious travellers through its “Protect our planet – Fly with Vietjet” program. According to Vietjet’s official website, the Fly with Vietjet program “involves a series of meaningful activities, such as “let’s clean up the ocean”, “Take action against plastic waste”, as well as charity activities in India, and much more”. Although the efforts taken seem to target ocean plastics (yes, we are thankful for that), there does not seem to be initiatives targeted towards carbon emissions. It is also worth noting that the planes used by Vietjet are the Airbus Sharklet A320 and A321, which are known to be relatively more environmentally-friendly as compared to other jetliners due to its efficiency in carrying capacity.

Multiple Vietjet promotional image seen above promotes flights through an environmental cause, however, alongside provides no information with regards to how consumers can feel less guilty travelling with them. What gets me most is how these terms like “Fly Green” and “Protect our Planet” are used on such a groundless basis without much justification or information, solely intended to market their flights. Although we do not discredit the efforts that Vietjet are making towards a greener environment, its promotional efforts may be quite misleading and disingenuous.

The environmental impacts caused through flying are detrimental to the environment, thus, Vietjet’s promotion of protecting our planets does only only seem disingenuous but may actually promote further negative implications to the environment. The promotions provide a false sense of security, making travellers feel as if they are “benefiting” the environment. As cliche as it sounds, everyone has a part to play in affecting the environment, corporations may attempt to greenwash, thus, as consumers we need to equip ourselves with the knowledge as to make the informed decision. Let’s all be environmentally woke consumers!

 

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References

VietJetAir. (2018). Vietjet officially announces five direct routes to India, linking Vietnam with the world’s third largest market of 1.3 billion people. Retrieved from https://www.vietjetair.com/Sites/Web/en-us/NewsDetail/news/%204201/vietjet-officially-announces-five-direct-routes-to-india-linking-vietnam-with-the-worlds-third-largest-market-of-13-billion-people

VietJetAir. (2020). Immense Vietnam Fly Green With Vietjet. Retrieved from https://www.vietjetair.com/Sites/Web/en-US/NewsDetail/hot-deals/%204359/immense-vietnam-fly-green-with-vietjet

VietJetAir. (2020). Protect Our Planet, Fly With Vietjet. Retrieved from https://www.vietjetair.com/Sites/Web/en-US/NewsDetail/hot-deals/4241/protect-our-planet-fly-with-vietjet

Hicks, R. (2020, February 26). Vietnam airline called out for greenwash promotion: ‘Protect our plant – fly with Vietjet’. Eco-business. Retrieved from https://www.eco-business.com/news/vietnam-airline-called-out-for-greenwash-promotion-protect-our-planet-fly-with-vietjet/?sw-signup=true