A 43-page study by the International Council on Clean Transportation found that Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, German-based Air Berlin and Ireland's national flag carrier Aer Lingus had the smallest carbon footprints among 20 transatlantic carriers in 2014.
British Airways, Scandinavian airline SAS and Deutsche Lufthansa AG had the worst CO2 performance, as measured by passenger mile per quart of fuel.
The report by ICCT, the same independent group that uncovered the Volkswagen AG diesel emissions scandal, comes two weeks before world leaders are scheduled to meet in Paris to try to nail down binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions.
Commercial aviation each year transports more than three billion passengers and 52 million tons of freight, while generating more than $600 billion of economic activity. But aircraft also produce about 770 million tons of CO2 annually.
The ICCT's study of nonstop transatlantic flights between Europe and North America found that the average round trip produces 1.1 ton of CO2 emissions per passenger, equal to the emissions of a Toyota Prius driven on a 22-mile commute each day for an entire work year.
Researchers were surprised by the 51 percent gap between top-rated Norwegian Air Shuttle and last-place British Airways, which is more than double that among U.S. airlines. They said the difference meant great potential for emissions reduction as the International Civil Aviation Organization works to finalize a fuel-efficiency standard for new aircraft in 2016.
Read more at Transatlantic Airlines Show Big Fuel-Efficiency Gaps
The Left continues their attack of mankind's technological progress, with further attacks on air travel.
ReplyDeleteThe most radical of the anti-progress activists want mankind to stop flying aircraft entirely. They want us all to go back to the 17th century, where we will rely on sailboats to make transatlantic voyages and use our feet to get anywhere on land. No rockets either, we can't possibly risk the deadly emissions created by space travel! We can't use cars or even horses, because of course the CO2 emissions from horses and other large animals would be utterly unsustainable for our planet.
Our brave new future; one where we willingly sacrifice all the modern conveniences created over the past 150 years.