With the publication of benchmark values to be used for allocating CO2 emission allowances to more than 900 aircraft operators worldwide, the European Commission has made the aviation sector’s inclusion in the EU’s emissions trading system (EU ETS) official as of Jan. 1, 2012.

Carbon Emissions

From 2013 to 2020, an airline will receive (pdf) 0.6422 allowances per 1,000 tonne-kilometres, while in 2012 it will receive 0.6797 allowances.

About 1.6 billion metric tons of these “free” carbon allowances will be handed out to airlines, which works out to about $27 billion over nine years from 2012 to 2020.

“At current market prices these free allowances represent more than €20 billion over the decade,” said climate action commissioner Connie Hedegaard. “With these potential revenues, airlines could invest in modernizing their fleets, improving fuel efficiency and using non-fossil aviation fuel.”

European Commission director-general for climate Jos Delbeke went one step further and directly suggested that airlines should fund the purchase of new planes by passing the full cost of the carbon tax on to customers, while the airlines can skip paying $27 billion of the tax.

There’s something deeply flawed with an argument where a cut in a new tax yet to be implemented is considered extra revenue. But let’s skip over that for now because the aviation sector isn’t buying it anyway.

“IATA is not opposed to emissions trading,” said IATA Director General and CEO Tony Tyler. “We support the concept as a possible mechanism for the fourth pillar of our environment strategy. But the EU’s unilateral and regional approach to ETS could not be more misguided.”

U.S. carriers have taken the European Commission to court over its inclusion in EU ETS and the U.S. government is considering legislation to prohibit its carriers from participating.

But the EU isn’t just handing out memos and rulings. It coordinated the announcement with the leak of a report prepared by the World Bank and IMF that proposes global carbon taxes on aviation and ship fuels in developed economies.

The World Bank/IMF report suggests a global $25 per ton of CO2 charge on aviation and maritime bunker fuels, which would work out to $250 billion in taxes by 2020.

Also timed to coincide with the aviation ETS announcement was a report by the European Commission’s Joint Research Center, which says that global CO2 emissions jumped 45 percent from 1990 to 2010.

Photo – said&done

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The case of the $16 muffin, not unlike a lot of other scandals in Washington, D.C., at first might seem to be a bit trivial. But the impact of “Muffingate” on conference and meetings spending by federal agencies is going to be very real and painful.

OIG report

The controversy was triggered by an audit of U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) conference planning and food and beverage costs by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The 148-page OIG report (pdf) says that DOJ spent more than $4.4 million on 10 conferences that were reviewed by OIG.

Half the conferences brought in external event planners, who ended up billing the DOJ a total of $600,000 for event-planning services. But the main focus of the report is on the $490,000 food and beverage costs.

In particular, the OIG report zeroes in on the alleged $16 muffins served at the five-day Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) legal training conference held at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C., in August 2009.

EOIR spent $39,360 on refreshments for the 534 attendees. Of this, $4,200 was spent on 250 “assorted muffins” at a list price of $14 per unit plus service charges, which put the price charged for each muffin at $16.80.

But turns out it’s not as cut and dry as it looks. First up, the 534 attendees came for two separate EOIR conferences, so the hotel gave them meeting space for free. Secondly, the hotel provided EOIR with 15 gallons of coffee, 30 gallons of iced tea and 200 pieces of fruit at no cost.

Also, the hotel followed instructions to limit overall spending on refreshments to the official $14.72 per person per day allowed. So it’s hard to argue that attendees ate $16 muffins. In a statement sent to AFP, Hilton Worldwide stressed that $16 was the inclusive price for a contracted breakfast, and not just a single muffin.

Be that as it may, the damage is done. All federal agencies have been ordered to review spending of taxpayer dollars for meetings. Pending the spending reviews, all conference activities and spending will have to be approved at the deputy secretary level.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) says he is going to introduce legislation in Congress “that cuts off the wasteful spending on conferences.” He is also calling for the Super Committee on debt reduction to “take a hard look at this report when looking for the easy cuts to make.”

Photo – justice.gov

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Feature: Google was in the dock for the Senate Judiciary subcommittee’s antitrust hearing on Wednesday, with testimony by Eric Schmidt.

Opposing testimony was provided by Yelp’s Jeremy Stoppelman and lawyer Tom Barnett for Expedia and the FairSearch coalition, among others.

Apart from the hearing itself, there was plenty spin before and after. Both Google and Fairsearch put out guides beforehand, and afterward put out responses to statements made during the hearing.

Tom Barnett, Expedia and FairSearch: “Just last week, Google launched its own online travel search service. Notwithstanding the judicial decree and Google’s promise, the service excludes any link to online travel agencies, which are key options for comparison shopping… Further, the Google service utilizes a new version of ITA software that, now that Google owns ITA, is available only to Google, also continuing to undermine choices for consumers.”

Google’s response to Barnett: We committed to continuing to license ITA’s QPX software to airfare websites on commercially reasonable terms, and maintain that commitment. Furthermore, Kayak said just last week, “We’re confident in our ability to compete, and we believe our flight search technology is superior. We recognize Google is a formidable competitor but they haven’t been successful in every vertical they’ve entered.”

As stated by Eric Schmidt, Google “Get’s it.” But that doesn’t mean they’re hearing what Fairsearch members are saying.

Responses to Senate Hearing witness claims – Google Competition blog
FairSearch statement on Google Hearing – FairSearch.org
Seeking a level playing field – Yelp Official Blog
Kayak updates IPO filing to acknowledge Google’s entry into travel – AllThingsD

Here’s the rest of the week’s interesting news:

Grubhub gets $50 million, acquires Dotmenu – Grubhub.com
Trustyou raises $5 million, acquires Review Analyst – Trustyou.com (pr)
Zimride gets $6 million to fill seats – NYT

Texas Judge sets trial date for AA-Sabre litigation – MarketWatch
Court rules American Airlines must allow Orbitz to sell its tickets – Bloomberg

Virgin Galactic spaceships to be built at $8 million Mojave plant – SpaceRef
Space taxis move one step closer to reality – LA Times

TripAdvisor hits 50 million unique monthly visitors – TripAdvisor.com
Fodor’s and TripAdvisor Announce Partnership – Fodor’s (pr)
Android travel publication launches – Wandrous

Study finds affluent households drive the travel trade – Travel Weekly
Fly a private jet, at public prices – NYT

U.S. lodging industry fees climb to record $1.8 billion – NYU
Survey: Airline fees reach $400 mark – USA Today

Photo credit – geetarchurchy

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Hotel apps for mobile devices are so common now that smart phone and tablet users are drowning in a sea of apps put out by hotel groups and travel sites. To cut through the clutter, mobile websites and applications for hotels are now looking to develop apps that stand out in some way.

Foodler

Foodler: It started out as an online service for ordering takeouts, but after the launch of its mobile website, Foodler has now come up with a “virtual room service” concept for hotels.

If a boutique hotel without a restaurant wants to offer room service to guests, they can get a Foodler Web page specially made for the hotel that will help guests uncover cuisines from local restaurants nearby that are open and able to deliver to them.

“With Foodler at your service, we are adding value for local hotels and inns who may not have their own restaurants or kitchens, but still know that quality dining is a huge part of the lodging experience,” says Foodler co-founder John Jannotti. “Our commitment has always been focused on making online ordering easy and fast for our customers, and this new service truly simplifies the process for hotel guests who are unfamiliar with the city and need a comprehensive resource for food delivery.”

The Mirage: Need room service even if you’re not in the room? It happens in Las Vegas, at least it does at The Mirage. Its Vegas Starts Here app allows guests to order room service when they’re still in a taxi, playing poker or relaxing in a poolside cabana, with the items often ready and waiting by the time guests return to their rooms.

MGM Resorts International (formerly MGM Mirage) last year launched several other iPhone apps, including an augmented reality app called Vegas Reality that allows guests to order room service and take a tour of Vegas hotels, restaurants and attractions.

Hotels.com: Earlier this month, Hotels.com organized an “extreme” stunt by athlete and stuntman JT Holmes to show how easily and quickly users of its Smarter App can book a hotel room from almost anywhere, even at the very last minute.

JT Holmes booking hotel room up in the air

JT Holmes jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet and booked a room while hurtling down to earth in a 115 m.p.h. free fall, before landing safely on the Lake Tahoe beach of the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort with a confirmed hotel booking.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith: This Plan and Play app has a bucket-load of extras to help make a romantic boutique hotel stay even more enjoyable. The app comes with a risqué game of truth or dare, a get-out-of-work excuses generator (pick an email template, edit and send), and how-to guides for strip poker, minibar cocktail recipes and more.

Photos – Foodler, Hotels.com

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