sustain

I just came across a new website called routeRANK, which ranks a route based on transit mode (car, rail, or air), price, time and carbon dioxide emissions. It’s currently only offered in Europe (which makes good sense because train transit is a viable option to compete with short flights).

Here’s a routeRANK screenshot of Madrid to Barcelona in Spain sorted by price (the default)–click on the picture to get a higher resolution:

Here’s the same route, sorted by CO2 emissions–click on the picture to get a higher resolution:

Notice that train travel is by far the most sustainable form of travel according to routeRANK, by nearly an order of magnitude over comparable flight options. I wonder how many people would be persuaded to take a slower, but more environmentally friendly route based on this information? Another pertinent question is, how accurate are these CO2 emission estimates? According to the routeRANK website:

CO2 emission calculations are based on a model developed by the IFEU Heidelberg. They are further refined using information from the European Commission, non-profit organizations, transport providers and universities across Europe.

The calculations account for emissions generated by transport vehicles (e.g., gasoline and diesel from the vehicle’s tank), emissions generated by the extraction and conversion of energy (e.g., crude oil, coal, uranium from power plants or refineries), and emissions generated by energy distribution (e.g., tank trucks, power grid, oil tankers). They do not include emissions generated by construction, maintenance and disposal of transport vehicles (e.g., cars, planes, trains) or infrastructure (e.g., roads, airports, railway lines).

Car emissions are based on those of a mid-sized, gasoline-powered passenger car (EURO 4) with an average of 1.5 passengers. Plane emissions account for differences in capacity utilization where data is available. Similarly, train emissions account for differences in capacity utilization and consider national differences in electricity mix.

Users can customize their car by choosing the fuel type (petrol or diesel) and car type (small, medium, large, or custom car). The custom car option lets the user enter the exact fuel consumption of the car, which will then be used in the calculations.

Want to know even more?
We can provide you with a detailed sheet of CO2 calculations for the different forms of transport. Please contact us to receive this information or with any further questions you may have.

On a slightly unrelated note, when I was interning with John Krumm at Microsoft Research back in 2007, we brainstormed a research project that would rank driving routes based not just on time (i.e., the most efficient) but also on safety (e.g., reroute around dangerous intersections). In the future, I imagine such information being readily-at-hand to help us make more informed travel decisions.