Calculating Your Travel GHGs

Private Transport

Public Transport

Figuring Out Your Travel C02 Emissions

How much C02 do you emit when you go to school or take a trip? Here’s a table to help you figure it out. Just follow these steps:

1. Choose the type of transport that is closest to what you travel in.
2. Figure out approximately how many km you travel in the time-period you have chosen.
3. Use the table above to find out how many grams of C02 is emitted by the vehicle per km.
4. Multiply (b) by (c) to get the total C02 emissions.
5. Write in the number of people in the vehicle. Only include the people who actually need to be transported. (For example, if your mother is driving you to school, and then going home again, the number would be 1. If you mother is driving 3 students to school, the number will be 3. If your mother works at the school, then the number would be 4.)
6. Divide (d) by (e) to get the per person emission of C02.

Take it Further

To get the total kilograms of C02, divide (f) by 1,000. (1,000 grams = 1 kg)
Keeping in mind that 1,000 kg = 1 tonne, think of ways you could reduce your travel GHGs by part of one tonne. In the small pick-up example below, the total kg would be 7.14. And, if you divide 1,000 kg (1 tonne) by 7.14, it would take 140 if these trips to make up one tonne. However, you could also reduce if you drove in a smaller vehicle, or took more passengers. There are lots of ways to reduce your GHG emissions.

Key Driving Facts

1. One litre produces a lot of CO2: Just one litre of gasoline, which weighs 0.75 kg, can produce 2.4 kg of CO2 (in the engine, the carbon in the gas combines with oxygen from combustion air when it burns). Driving and flying less means you are reducing the amount of fossil fuels burned. Reducing fuel use means reducing the production of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted into our atmosphere, a major greenhouse gas linked to climate change.
2. Keep tires at the right pressure: For every 14 kPa (two pounds per square inch) of under-inflation, fuel consumption is increased by one percent.
3. Avoid unnecessary idling: If you idle your vehicle your vehicle for more than 10 seconds, you use more fuel than it would take to restart your engine.
4. Keep your car properly maintained: A poorly maintained car can consume between five and fifty percent more fuel than one that is properly maintained.
5. Monitor your driving speed: Driving 90 km per hour rather than 100km per hour can reduce fuel consumption by 10 percent. Driving 100 km per hour rather than 120 km per hour can reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent.