PLANE RIDE
Paris–New York
Emissions
2 000
kg CO2e
FOLLOW OUR CALCULATION
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To calculate the greenhouse gas emissions of a round-trip flight between Paris and New York, the following data have been used:
- Flight distance between Paris and New York, one way: 6 000 km
- Energy consumption for the flight: 0.89 MJ per seat and km (estimated based on data from ICCT, ifeu, and SAS CO2 calculator).
- Average occupancy: 80% (referring to the average occupancy on international flights to and from the EU based on statistics from ifeu, 2016).
- Emissions from jet fuel combustion (kerosene): 88 g CO2e per MJ
- Amplification factor for increased climate impact due to emissions at high altitude: 70% (Lee et al., 2021)
The energy use per seat for the entire journey is calculated by multiplying the total flight distance by the energy use per seat and kilometer. The calculation shows that the energy use amounts to 10 680 MJ per seat (6 000 km × 2 × 0.89 MJ per seat and km).
Note that the energy use per seat and kilometer varies depending on the flight distance. Since takeoff and landing require the most energy, shorter flights have higher energy use per seat and kilometer.
The energy use per passenger is calculated by dividing the energy use per seat by the average occupancy, which represents how full the plane is. An 80% occupancy means an average of 0.80 passengers per seat. The calculation shows that the energy use amounts to 13 350 MJ per passenger (10 680 MJ / 0.80).
The greenhouse gas emissions from jet fuel consumption are calculated by multiplying the energy use by the emission factor for jet fuel combustion. The climate impact caused by these emissions is called direct climate impact, as opposed to the indirect climate impact caused by emissions at high altitudes. The calculation shows that the round-trip from Paris to New York causes a direct climate impact of 1 175 kg CO2e (13 350 MJ × 88 g CO2e per MJ).
When emissions occur at high altitudes, the climate impact is enhanced compared to emissions at ground level. The extent of the climate impact amplification depends on the altitude where the emissions take place, which, in turn, is influenced by the distance traveled (the greater the distance, the higher the aircraft flies). In this case, the climate impact is enhanced by 70%. To include the high-altitude effect, the direct climate impact is multiplied by a factor of 1.7. This results in a total climate impact of 1 997 kg CO2e (1 175 kg CO2e × 1.7), which has been rounded to 2 000 kg CO2e on the card.
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