How many tons of CO2 emits your flight by plane?

What are the most frequent flights that emit the most CO2 from Paris? Wanderlix has compiled a list of the most polluting routes

The movement flygskam (or the “honest to take the plane”), which invites citizens, on behalf of the preservation of the environment, to prefer other less polluting means of transport, makes more and more noise in the news. The flygskam , born in Sweden a few months ago, worried the air industry, in particular the airlines .

If the plane counts for “2% to only 3% of CO2 emissions” in the world by airlines, How many CO2 emissions do you fly to Bali, Los Angeles or Bangkok? To allow you to know your carbon footprint concretely when you fly, we listed in a 20-way infographic attended by French travelers.

The infographic below allows you to know the emission of CO2 in tonnes and the number of trees to be planted to compensate for this emission:

Methodology

To make this infographic, we chose the most frequent flights from Paris. Distances concern flights back-to-back. The figures on the infographic are for 1 passenger in the economic class.

With respect to CO2 emission sources, we compared two carbon footprint calculation tools for the aircraft (co2.myclimate.org and calculatorco2.org). The number of trees to be planted? to compensate for CO2 emissions was calculated on the site calculcarbone.org.

How many tons of CO2 emit the aircraft on the most frequent flights?

Among the most remote destinations in France, Sydney is first in our rankings. With an average of 33,900 km of return by air, your flight will emit 6.65 tonnes of CO2 on average. To compensate for your carbon footprint, you should plant 18 trees ! We let you imagine the impact that this can have when you leave with your family.

A/R flight Bali , tourist destination, will emit 4.8 tons of CO2 on average. Are you ready to plant the 13 trees that make up for this program?

Flights A/R to Tokyo (3.74 tons of CO2), Bangkok (3.63t), Cape Town (3.60t), Rio de Janeiro (3.52t), or Los Angeles (3.28t), are equally polluting.

Is the plane really the most polluting mode of transport?

answer to this question is yes , but it is not possible to rely on a single source of information.

Data producers do not provide the same figures. It is important to pay attention to filling rate assumptions, the type of vehicles considered (model, new vehicle or existing fleet), etc...

Also, the aircraft, the car and the train are not competing on all types of routes. You can't do your daily flights by plane and it is impossible to make an intercontinental journey by car.

By taking average occupancy rates the European Environment Agency , indicates a rate of 14 grams of CO2 per passenger per kilometre for the train (with 156 passengers inside) compared to 104 grams for the car (with 1.5 passenger) and 285 grams for the aircraft (with 88 passengers).

According the Ministry of Ecological Transition aeroplanes, depending on the models, the distance of the route and the filling rate, emit between 73 and 254 grams of CO2 equivalent per kilometer and per passenger. While according to the data collected by the Ademe , a new car in 2015, emits 110 grams of CO2 per kilometre. Both are defeated by the TGV which, with 285 passengers, emits 3.37 grams of CO2 equivalent to carry a passenger over one kilometre.

How do you reduce your carbon footprint on a trip?

For long, intercontinental journeys, no alternative to the aircraft as we know it seems effective in terms of flight speed. Neither the cruise ship nor the train can compete the aircraft at this level on long journeys. You can only choose to go on a holiday less by choosing to go by train or car.

However, for trips to France and Europe, the train is the best alternative to pollution generated by the aircraft. Also, solutions such as bus and carpooling are excellent ways to travel by polluting less.