Medioimages/Photodisc
READ MORE ABOUT:
Which is greener: Flying or driving? That's a no-brainer. Individually speaking, airplanes produce scads more CO2 emissions that cars. Are there any cases where flying is better than driving? Yes, there are. Let's look at some of these instances.
I am using two carbon calculators for these numbers. The calculator that I am using for flights is the TRX flight calculator. The calculator for driving was provided by the US Department of Transportation.
- Driving Ridiculous Distances.
The distance, as the crow flies, between New Delhi and Paris is 4,077 miles. A person flying roundtrip from Paris to New Delhi would emit 5,563 lbs of CO2.
Driving 4,077 miles in a 25MPG car burns 3190.5 lbs of CO2. The driver won't be able to drive in a straight line. He or she will end up driving way more than 4,077 miles. You also have to factor in emissions from all those peripheral things a driver traveling that long will have to consume.
Unfortunately, I am unable to find a road map of this journey. 4,077 is too low of a number. (Roughly, 4,300 by measuring straight lines across the land area on a map) Still, 8144 miles = 6, 381 lb of CO2. - Save Money, Offset Emissions
Driving across the country or even for a few days may prove more expensive than flying in a plane when you factor in hotel costs and meals. Save your money and your time, book a flight and use the savings to pay for carbon offsets. - Driving Where Inappropriate and Impossible
You can't drive across the ocean. Furthermore, there are places that you can't get to at all without an airplane, like these island locales that could be gone in the future due to global warming. And there are places where you shouldn't drive. For example, a fragile nature preserve may employ helicopters to survey their land or take aerial photographs. An ATV or Jeep can disrupt rare animal habitats. - Driving a Car that Gets Under 16 MPG
Most experts agree that driving a fuel-efficient car (25-30 MPG) produces fewer CO2 emissions than flying. However, poor gas mileage can really make a flight look attractive.
It is 392 miles from Los Angeles, California to Reno, Nevada by airplane. If a person flies American or Alaskan Airlines in economy class, they will produce 947 lbs of carbon. (round trip.)
By car, the distance 518 miles. That’s 1036 miles for the whole trip. A car that gets only 21 MPG will emit 965 pounds of CO2. - Take a Biofuel Plane
Biofuel jets are in the experimental stage right now. Virgin, Continental, Japan Airline and others have been making strides in the biofuel jet race. Critics have called it a publicity stunt. If it works, algae-based planes will reduce their carbon emission by 40%.
- Winter Weather
And if you don’t like #5, I’ll give you an alternative instance. Flying is safer than driving. Flying may have a high emission cost, but driving through a blizzard in the Rockies has a high human cost. During winter storms, it is definitely safer to fly over trouble spots.
For more, sign up for our newsletter.
Follow @PlanetGreen on Twitter.
More on Green Air Travel
Book a Direct Flight and Reduce Emissions
Choose a Green Airline
Pony Up for Carbon Offsets When You Book Flights Online
-
- {}
