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I think you are comparing unrelated things. The average car ride is thousands of times shorter than the average flight, and transports more than one person. You
by lovasoa 6y ago
I think you are comparing unrelated things. The average car ride is thousands of times shorter than the average flight, and transports more than one person. You cannot just compare the average emissions of cars and planes and make the conclusion that it makes sense to choose a plane over a car to reduce your carbon footprint.
And even when you make this comparison with sensible data, the car still wins: https://ourworldindata.org/travel-carbon-footprint https://ourworldindata.org/travel-carbon-footprint
- lumost 6y agowhen comparing driving to flying between destinations, it's highly likely that the flight will have a shorter duration. The big wrinkle in this comparison is that planes burn most of their energy in the ascent to cruising speed/altitude. Energy consumption per mile is likely to be much higher on a short hop flight where cruising altitude is never reached than a 12 hour transoceanic flight.
- asdfasgasdgasdg 6y agoOn the other hand short-haul flights don't climb to as high of altitudes. They only climb about 2/3rds as high. But then again the air is thicker so cruising is less efficient. Oh gosh, for want of data.
- jrockway 6y agoYou have to assume that airlines have chosen a decent compromise here. Every wasted joule of energy translates to a higher fuel cost and a lower profit margin.