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June 12, 2005
Calculating personal CO2 emissions
I have just estimated our annual CO2 emissions for the first time. I used the calculators on the Future Forests site (see 11 June) which are based on official figures published by DEFRA.
Here are the figures:
Air flight: 2.2 tonnes (one ticket Edinburgh/Tokyo return)
Car: 2 tonnes (1.1 litre engine/8,550 miles a year)
Home gas: 2.3 tonnes (11,900 KWh a year, at 0.19 kg CO2 per KWh)
Home electricity: 0 tonnes (green tariff, see 8 June. Non-green electricity works out at 0.43 kg CO2 per KWh)
Total: 6.5 tonnes
I was surprised to find that one long-distance flight produced more CO2 than a year’s use of the car. The good news is that planting nine or ten trees a year would neutralize the effect we are having on global warming.
Posted by Simon Holledge at June 12, 2005 12:01 AM
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Comments
The plane flight was probably twice as many miles as you drove all year, so in retrospect it shouldn't be surprising that it emitted more CO2.
Posted by: Half Sigma at June 12, 2005 07:14 PM
Thanks for your comment.
The distance from Edinburgh to Tokyo and back was about 12,000 miles but that was not by car!
However it's interesting that commercial air miles theoretically produce almost as much CO2 as private motoring.
Posted by: Simon Holledge at June 12, 2005 08:43 PM
It takes a lot of energy to defy gravity. This is partially abated by the fact that people are packed into the plane like sardines, while most driving is done with one person inside a very heavy car. (Try pushing the car a few miles and then you'll appreciate how much energy is in a gallon of gas.)
Posted by: Half Sigma at June 13, 2005 06:54 PM