We started off the day today at 8 AM for breakfast before heading out to our first educational activity of the trip: a meeting with former vice president of sustainability at KLM, Karel Bockstael. KLM is the flagship airline of the Netherlands, not to mention a front runner in sustainable aviation. Being a bioengineering major, I was slightly skeptical as to whether or not this meeting would truly be of use to me in my field; however, after listening to Mr. Bockstael’s lecture, I found that what he had to say had applications to every field of engineering.

Mr. Bockstael spoke quite a bit about the idea of intensity versus efficiency, meaning that even though flying is become more energy efficient per kilometer flown, this doesn’t change the fact that flying is a very energy intensive mode of transportation and nonetheless is still an issue when it comes to addressing climate change. In one of the graphs that was shown during the presentation, it became evident that with increasing efficiency came the ability for increased flight distance, therefore sacrificing the sustainability that comes with increased efficiency for more fuel intensive but longer and faster flights. With this came a question: “are the affordable airlines able to offer low prices due to them offering more energy efficient and sustainable flights?” The answer to this question, according to Mr. Bockstael, was not so simple. The easy answer was yes; because of the minimalistic views of affordable airlines such as Spirit, less energy is used per customer for flights. This does come with a cost, however, as cheaper tickets incentivize customers to fly more frequently, thus negating the sustainability of these airlines as a whole. The true solution is to balance intensity with efficiency, which can be thought of as a compromise of sorts.

This idea that sustainability can be thought of as a compromise is the main takeaway from Mr. Bockstael’s lecture, and one that can be implemented in every field of engineering. This paradox of increased efficiency leading to increased customer consumption, ultimately leading to less sustainable business, is one that is a struggle for engineers across the globe and one that future generations will need to address. Luckily, Amsterdam is the perfect place to start my sustainability journey. Everywhere I look, there is marketing for sustainability. Bags at shops cost extra money, everyone is either walking or biking, and parks full of greenery are everywhere. We even passed by an Apple store that had environmental sustainability advertisements on the windows!

I really look forward to learning more about sustainability in The Netherlands, as this feels like a place where everyone is environmentally conscious.