How Much Carbon Will My Flight Emit? We May Soon Be Told Upfront
By
4 months ago
The UK Civil Aviation Authority is lobbying for the change
Ever wondered how much carbon your flight will cost? It can take a bit of maths and Googling, but it’s not impossible to work out your flight’s carbon footprint. Crucially, though, the information is only available if you go looking for it. As part of its Environmental Sustainability Strategy, the UK Civil Aviation Authority is lobbying for this information to be made clear and obvious upfront, empowering consumers to make informed decisions when booking flights to, from or within the UK. The organisation is setting out plans to also make this data accessible, standardised and comparable across booking sites.
‘Providing consumers with accessible, transparent, and accurate environmental information is essential to making more informed travel choices,’ says Tim Johnson, Director of Policy at the UK Civil Aviation Authority. ‘Our new proposals aim to standardise this information across all platforms, enabling passengers to more easily compare the environmental impact of their flights. This initiative is a significant step towards greater transparency and improved sustainability in the aviation industry.’
‘All of us want to do our bit to lower our environmental impact, but making informed choices is difficult to do when the data is not available,’ adds Harry Armstrong, Head of Sustainability at the UK Civil Aviation Authority. ‘That is why we’ve put forward proposals to ensure that consumers can make decisions about their travel plans by having environmental data available at the point of booking.’
How Much CO2 Is Produced By A Flight?
Based on standard aviation fuel, commercial flights emit approximately 3.15 grams of CO2 per 1 gram of fuel, equating to around 30,000 kilograms of CO2 every hour. For comparison, the average UK car emits 4,600 kilograms of CO2 every year.
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