This morning we had a wonderful talk with Karel Bockstael about sustainability in the airline industry. Karel was the former VP of sustainability at KLM airlines and has been in the industry for over 30 years. He brought up the importance of finding alternative energy sources for airplanes in order to preserve our planet. One of the best fuel options that Karel talked about was liquid hydrogen and keeping it in cryogenic tanks on board. This would result in a zero emission impact because the only thing that is leftover from this form of energy is water. Another interesting option was electric planes which is already being tested in a two person aircraft than can fly for 45 mins (basically a flying Tesla). As Karel was talking I thought about my own experience as we had just gotten off a flight to come here. Some questions that I thought of were: How much energy did I use? Could my consumption be more sustainable? and What other options besides flying could have been used instead? These questions all made me think about my airline related carbon footprint and how I can change to help the planet. These queries were answered when Karel mentioned how our carbon footprint would decrease significantly if planes flew at a lower altitude and speed and if passengers used more layovers because the planes would require less energy decreasing emissions. Although advancements are still years away, I can’t wait to eventually see a zero emission airline that will help instead of hurt our planet.
Our second activity of the day was a Fault In Our Stars-inspired scavenger hunt. As a long-time fan of both the book and the movie, I was very excited to see these important spots in the story. Not only was it cool to visit each spot, but it was nice to explore the heart of Amsterdam as a whole. We got to see many beautiful buildings and passed many delicious-looking restaurants to add to my bucket list. This scavenger hunt also required us to use the tram system which could have been better. There were multiple times where I missed the tram or got off at the wrong stop. On the bright side though, I got to see more of the city and we eventually found our way.
Our last activity of the day was a visit to the Anne Frank house. Ever since I first learned about WWII I have been really interested. I also read the Diary of Anne Frank years ago and it was really exciting to see where she lived during the war. As I was going through the museum I learned even more about her life and the war in general. Her father Otto was also a major contributor to the content that was later put up in the museum which is really cool to hear about how everything was for them from a first-hand perspective. It was also interesting to see how two families totaling eight people, lived in such a small space and under such intense pressure for more than two years. My favorite part of then museum was definitely seeing the original bookcase door to then annex or the original ladder up to the attic. It was cool to see the wear and tear on such old and memorable pieces that are part of such a deep story. I took a lot from seeing the house and it made me deeply reflect about how life could have been and how even when horrible situations happen, there can result in such an incredible and lasting impact that will survive forever.
above is a photo from the Rijks Museum (a stop in our scavenger hunt)