Europe Airports -

Carbon offseting, or just being aware of how much Carbon Dioxide is entering the atmosphere and the effect that may or may not have on global warming is a very topical subject at present - flights account for around 2% of the UK C0₂ emissions.

We have calculated that this flight (one way) would produce 0.18 Tonnes of C0₂ per person, based on figures published by the National Energy Foundation of 0.18 Kg per Km or 0.29 Kg per mile.

This will be an approximation and the following should be taken into account:

• This figure is likely to be under estimated on very short flights due to the extra fuel used in take-off and landing.
• Lower passenger densities (ie business class) will result in a higher figure per person.
• The figures will be lower where the passenger numbers are nearer to the aircraft maximum (it could be argued that budget airlines rely on a greater occupancy level making their carbon emisions per person lower).
• The type of aircraft- some will be more efficient than others. According to IATA, new aircraft are 70% more fuel efficient than 40 years ago and 20% better than 10 years ago

The CO₂ produced per person on this flight would be equivalent to that resulting from a 100 electric light being left on for 25 weeks, or for the average television being left on standby for 4.8 years.

The term Carbon Offseting refers investing money into projects that either remove CO₂ from the atmosphere (by planting trees for instance) or reduce CO₂ emissions else where (eg by promoting or subidising renewable energy sources).
Those wishing to offset the CO₂ produced on this flight would be looking at a cost of between 1.08 to 3.6Pounds (figures vary between different companies and according to how much you are spending).