Google is working to make its own operations more sustainable and less polluting, and to enable users of its apps and services to make more environmentally friendly choices. Recently, we talked about the update of Google Maps, allowing users to choose navigation routes that consume less fuel. Google has also updated its Google flight function, allowing users to choose flights based on estimated carbon emissions.
Starting today, the carbon emission estimates for most flights in the Google Flights search results are available. Google hopes that users can not only choose flights based on price and flight time, but also based on the pollution level of the flight. Google’s emissions estimates are specific to each flight and selected seat.
If someone wants to know how a flight to the same destination may be less polluting than another flight on the same route, this is mainly related to the age of the aircraft. Newer airplanes are less polluting than older airplanes. The change in pollution is based on seats, because first class seats take up more space than economy class seats and account for a larger share of the overall emissions of flights.
Google Flights will use a green badge to mark flights with lower emissions. The sorting option will also allow for sorting of flight options based on carbon impact, placing the least polluting flight at the top of the list. In order to arrive at carbon estimates for flights, Google combined European Environment Agency data with specific information about aircraft types, aircraft seats, and travel distances provided by airlines and other suppliers on individual flights.
Google believes that it is vital that people find accurate carbon emissions estimates no matter where they book a flight. To help achieve this goal, Google is helping to develop an open model for calculating air travel carbon emissions, and is working to promote the standardization of the framework for the entire travel industry.
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