The Google flight tracker app is one of the most popular flight search engines that allow travelers to see all airlines, flights, connectivity, calendars, and prices. They revolutionized the process of looking for flights that fit one’s travel plans.
Recently it added one more innovative feature in one’s trip planners – Carbon emissions.
One of the worst carbon emitters is Airplanes. They can produce carbon emissions in a single transatlantic flight that is more than what a person can create in a year
It is seen that some flights and particularly some seats produce more carbons than others. The newer planes are more energy-efficient than, the older ones; they emit less carbon. Also, economy seats create fewer carbon emissions than premium and business class seats as they occupy less space.
Google carbon footprint calculator does calculation of carbon emission after combing the data provided by the European Environment Agency. The information is flight-specific such as total seating capacity, aircraft model, and configuration. Also, the speed of aircraft, altitude, and distance between origin and destinations all combine to determine the emission.
Impact of one’s lifestyle on the environment
The new feature from Google flights updates travelers on accurate carbon emissions caused by their travels, accurately and consistently. This responsible update on Google Flights is one of the new and innovative ways that help people make environmentally sustainable choices in their day-to-day lives.
A similar feature that was environment-conscious was introduced before this by Google. The new tools allowed travelers to search for eco-friendly hotels. All these efforts are part of Google’s plan to move towards a carbon-neutral environment by 2030.
Google has been continuously introducing a host of tools that include purchasing appliances that produce lower carbon footprints or the Google map with eco-friendly routes.
How to use the new feature?
One can take advantage of the new Google flights feature by clicking on Google flights and searching for relevant flights. One needs to click on the “CO2 Emission” tab and determine how much carbon emission each flight emits. The carbon emissions calculator uses measurements in kilograms.
Each flight’s color code analysis of carbon emission can put the numbers in proper context for viewers.
Naturally, lower emissions will be dependent on the flight distance, size, and vintage of the plane. They are hard to get, even though google tries to make things easier by putting lower emission flights and seats in green texts.
It becomes easier to choose eco-friendly flights by booking those which display -10% emissions. This means that the flight will generate 10 % less carbon than a similar flight traveling the same distance.
Conclusion
It is not possible to avoid air travel completely even though flights are heavy carbon emitters. The contribution at every level helps to make the environment more sustainable in the long run. Google plays a crucial role in ensuring people make, wherever possible sustainable choices, starting from air travel and eco-friendly hotels.
