Flying can actually be more green than driving – especially if the load is light (1-2 people) and the distance is great.
Our new calculator is at:
https://theenergyprimer.com/should-i-drive-or-should-i-fly-which-is-more-efficient/
FAQ
Q: Why only up to 1,500 Miles
A: This covers most Flights where folks might consider driving as an alternative. Also, longer driving distances start really adding up in terms of costs for food and hotels and in “lost” days. A
Q: What about my EV? Aren’t I getting almost free Miles and using Renewables?
A: Sadly, not in the USA where only 20% of our Grid is Renewable. Also, as you can see in our other articles and calculators, an EV is roughly equivalent to a decent Hybrid in overall efficiency when charging from the US Electric Grid – so choose the higher MPG – perhals 45 would be safe. Note: this is NOT an exercise in cost. But you can use our upcoming “cost per mile” calculator to compare $$.
Q: What about all the extras like Airport Parking, transport to the airport and back, etc. ?|
A. Yes, both flying and driving have “extras” in cost and energy use attached to them, however for simplicity we will assume they are similar for both transport types (more Hotels and Food with driving, more Paid parking and ground transport with flying).
Q: Are you pro-Aviation? I always thought Airliners were terrible in terms of “green”.
A. This is exactly the reason we did this calculator! Modern Air Travel, with the improved airliner design (Example, Airbus 220) get as much as 110+ MPG per seat! In fact, using the average car load for the USA (1.5 persons per trip), newer Airliners win the efficiency contest in most comparisons.
Q: Hmmm….I never really thought about it that way….
A. That is the goal of this site! To make us THINK about our choices. In fact, here is another interesting mind experiment. If we had to set up transport for distances over 500 miles – not only would Airliners be more efficient in the simple transport, but no infrastructure has to be built between the two points! So if we were starting today we could, in theory, save trillions of dollars and vast amounts of resources by not having the vast ribbons of concrete and blacktop and the services needed to keep our cars and us going. It’s similar to the Mobile Phone revolution – countries that skipped the landline ended up not having to wire every building in their state or nation! Newer nations and newly developed areas would be very smart to limit car infrastructure in favor of Electric Trains and Airliners – thereby preserving much more of the natural landscape.