Silver Spring, Maryland (AP) — Searching for flights on Google is now “more environmentally friendly”.
A new search feature launched on Wednesday will let users know which flights have low carbon emissions and will be able to select flights based on carbon emissions, as well as price and number of connections.
A basic search for a flight can estimate how many kilograms of carbon dioxide a flight emits from start to finish. Users can prioritize searches by emissions, as well as by price, if desired. Flights with emissions below the median are highlighted in green.
Google quotes Data combination From flight-specific information obtained from the European Environment Agency and from airlines and other providers. The data may include the age of the aircraft, model and configuration, speed and altitude at which the aircraft flies, and the distance between the origin and destination of the flight.
According to Google, some flights may not have a quote, for example due to lack of data on a particular aircraft. The company added that it has not yet taken into account which direction the plane is heading. It is a potentially important factor when flying towards or with a jet stream, or whether the flight uses biofuels or other alternatives.
With the new tools, the cleanest flights from the Washington DC area to Chicago are all United Airlines using Boeing 737s. 128 kilograms of carbon dioxide is 21% below the median. The other end of the list (the largest pollutant) is the Frontier Airlines Bombardier regional jet, which departs from Baltimore and stops in Miami and Las Vegas, emitting 779 kilograms of carbon dioxide.
Airplanes make up a small portion of climate change-causing emissions (about 2% to 3%), but their share is growing rapidly and, with the global growth of travel, about by the middle of the century. It is expected to triple.
According to the airline industry group Airlines for America, US airlines have more than doubled the fuel efficiency of fleets since 1978 and plan to further reduce carbon emissions. However, according to the independent International Clean Transport Council, passenger transport is increasing almost four times faster than fuel efficiency, with emissions increasing by 33% between 2013 and 2019.
The new emissions tool follows Google’s introduction last month on how people find “eco-certified” hotels. Also on Wednesday, Google introduced technology that allows drivers to find more fuel-efficient routes from Google Maps and Google’s Nest Thermostat. Wind and sun.
The new features are part of Google CEO’s Sundar Pichai Sustainability Initiative, which was highlighted on Wednesday.
“Climate change is no longer a distant threat — it’s becoming more and more local and personal,” Pichai wrote in a blog post. “To meet this pressing challenge, we need an urgent and meaningful solution,” he added, promising that the company will operate its data centers and campuses on carbon-free energy by 2030.
Owned by Alphabet Inc., Google is based in Mountain View, California.
Copyright 2021 AP communication. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.
Google: Flight Search Tools can help you fly “more eco-friendly” | Lifestyle
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