Fractional aircraft provider NetJets has established themselves as one of the leading lights of the private aviation industry. Not surprisingly, the company’s large profile has landed it in the crosshairs of environmental activists who are increasingly targeting private jets for their heavy carbon footprint. With pressure on regulators to reign in heavy emitters, NetJets is taking a proactive approach to mitigating the environmental effects of private jet travel, as they recently shared with the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania’s business journal, Knowledge.

Private aviation’s status as an expensive privilege of the very wealthy has led to a fair amount of envy and resentment. Because of this, regulators could easily look to NetJets as a convenient target, one unlikely to inspire much sympathy from the general public. NetJets realized that if they didn’t address the environmental issue, Washington would likely do so for them, and in a way that might cut into the bottom line.

To a certain extent NetJets’ greening efforts are limited by the nature of its business. Jets burn a lot of fossil fuel, after all, and, until manufacturers come up with a major breakthrough, they are bound to pollute. In the absence of a “magic bullet,” NetJets has chosen to employ a portfolio approach, relying on a number of initiatives instead of one sweeping effort.

NetJets offers customers the option to purchase carbon offsets for each flight they take. Running at around one percent the cost of a flight, the offsets are an inexpensive way to purchase a clean conscious, and to ensure a clean atmosphere as well. According to NetJets, around seven percent of their customers currently purchase offsets. NetJets has been careful to present the program as voluntary to its customers, pursuing a low-key approach for now. Nevertheless, the purchase of offsets is up six percent from when it was first instituted. As awareness of global warming spreads, NetJets expects its customers to purchase more offsets.

With the company’s recent expansion into Europe, NetJets has decided to roll the purchase of offsets into the operational costs of the jets for all new contracts signed there, including renewals. Tighter European regulations and broader public awareness of global warming may have influenced this decision. NetJets expects to be carbon neutral in Europe by 2012.

NetJets is also working to help the environment by investing in clean jet fuel technology. As a major buyer of aircraft, the company also holds sway over manufacturers, and can help influence greener aircraft construction through their purchasing decisions. The next generation Gulfstream G-650, of which NetJets is expected to be a major buyer, is said to have incorporated ample amounts of green technology.