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Planes Or Cars –
Which Means Of
Transport Pollutes
The Most?
by André Gonçalves 28 JANUARY 2019

For a long time, planes have been much blamed

for greenhouse emissions and global warming.
For many years, they were considered the most
polluting way of transportation. Trains,
buses, and even cars – all vehicles were said to
perform better than planes. But is this “common
sense” still true nowadays? According to the
latest data, not really. Let’s !nd out.

Are Planes The Most Polluting

Means Of Transport?

To answer this question, we !rst need to understand

two things. First, how pollution by means of
transport is measured. And second, how
comparisons are made. Makes sense, right?

In fact, to assess the emissions of a type of transport

we must !rst know its fuel consumption per km. This
number must afterward be multiplied by a speci!c
emission factor (which depends on the fuel
used). We then need to add to this !gure the
emissions of the manufacturing and end of life
phases of the vehicle analyzed. And if it’s a plane,
radiative forcing emissions need to be accounted for
too. Afterward, the results are weighted and divided
by the number of passengers and the number of
kilometers traveled. The result will be a number
measured in g of CO2 /passenger/km. Yes, it’s long
path to get to a !nal number… are you still with me?

The “problem” is that doing these predictions means

taking (a lot of) assumptions and using numbers that
aren’t true for all circumstances. For instance, the
number of traveled kilometers, the model of the
vehicle or the number of passengers are taken as
standard values even though they’re not. In the end,
all these assumptions a"ect the !nal result. Below
we can !nd the pollution !gures (which are
assumptions) of the European Environment Agency
report (EEA):

14 g of CO2 / passenger/km for the train

42 g CO2 / passenger/km for a small car
55 g of CO2 / passenger/km for an average car
68 g CO2 /passenger/km for a bus
72 g CO2 /passenger/km for a two-wheel
motor
285 g CO2 /passenger/km for a plane

Is A Plane More Polluting Than A

Car? It Depends On The
Assumptions

Looking at the numbers above, planes seems to be

the most polluting means of transport. Nevertheless,
if we check the assumptions closer, the results might
be tricky. For instance, the !gure of 55 g of CO2
/passenger/km for an average car assumes that the
car is occupied by 4 people. But is this assumption
realistic? Not according to the Union of Concerned
Scientist who claims the average occupancy rate of a
car in the U.S is 1.54 people per vehicle per mile. The
point is that with fewer people, pollution from cars
would be up to 110g CO2 for 2 passengers or even
220g CO2 for 1 passenger. If you look up again, it’s
220g CO2 for cars driven by a single person vs. 285g
from planes: the gap is getting smaller.

Simultaneously, the 285 g CO2 /passenger/km for

the plane considers an occupation rate of 88 people.
But is this !gure true in all circumstances? De!nitely
not. Let’s examine Delta Airlines and their 717
Boeing. It has a capacity up to 134 people and the
company had an 85,5% occupancy rate in 2018. If we
do the math, it means an average of 115 passengers
instead of the 88 used in for the !gures above.
Therefore, planes would score better (lower) than
285g CO2/passenger/km as the total pollution has a
higher number of people to be split with. And of
course, if we considered a bigger plane, the !gures
would still be di"erent as they make bigger trips and
consume more fuel. But, if we consider a smaller
plane or another airline with a smaller occupation
rate, these 285g could also go up. You get now why
making generalizations can be so tricky?

In the end, if we use vehicle occupation assumptions

di"erent from EEA’s study we’ll get other !gures.
Therefore, we shouldn’t say will all certainty this
means of transport is better than that. It really
depends on assumptions such as distance,
ocuppancy rate or number of passenger. But other
variables can make a di"erence too.

Related:
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Recent Studies Say Cars Are On

Average As Polluting (Or More)
Than Planes

These studies can have more bias than the ones

mentioned above. Why? Because to have a realistic
!gure, variables like recent technical evolutions or
start and stop engines need to be considered too.
For instance, driving in the cities with the air-con on
means a higher fuel consumption. In fact, in recent
years, CO2 emissions from planes have been
reduced signi!cantly, driven by technological and
technical optimization programs such
as ACARE2020, Cleansky or SESAR projects. Because
of it, the CO2 /passenger/km emissions in #ying have
been falling much faster than those of cars. The data
from the EEA is quite old and doesn’t necessarily
consider these technological evolutions. Because of
this, it should be taken with care.

On the side of more recent studies, it is generally

agreed that a plane isn’t necessarily the most
polluting means of transportation. That’s why it’s
also being said a car pollutes just as much, and often
even more than a plane over equivalent
distances. For example, a study by the University of
Michigan Transportation Research Institute states
the energy intensity of car transportation is on
average 57% higher than air transports. In other
words, a car emits more CO2 than average planes
because they consume more energy to transport the
same amount of passengers.

As well, according to the International Council on

Clean Transportation (ICCT), on average, on a long
journey, a car with 2 people emits little more CO2
than if these two people had #own. And a car with 3
people emits on average only 15% less than if the 3
had made the same trip by plane. Of course, the
analogy can only be justi!ed on comparable
distances: it is obvious no one will make New York –
Sydney by car.

Related:
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Why Flying Is (Often) Better

Than Taking The Car For Your
Holiday Trips

In addition to all we’ve been discussing, other

indirect factors need to be considered too. Let’s
think about tra$c jams for instance. A car stuck in a
tra$c jam emits 2.5 times more CO2 compared to
normal tra$c conditions. At the same time, a car
with air conditioning on emits 7 to 20% more CO2. In
this way, taking the car (with 3 people) for holidays
can mean a larger carbon footprint than #ying.
Hence, other types of emissions, such as !ne
particles, which are much higher for road
transportation, should be considered too.

In the end, a journey by plane is often

environmentally better than one by car for long
journeys (even more when at warm
temperatures). All other things being alike, choosing
the plane increases the occupancy rate of the planes
– which will take-o" anyway whether you are in it or
not. Doing it also reduces tra$c congestion and,
therefore, optimizes the overall transportation
networks. Most times, if you’re carrying less than 4
people in your car, choosing the plane will give you a
lower CO2 footprint. And the longer the distance,
the more this logic is true. Why? Because a plane’s
CO2 emissions are higher during the take-o" and
landing phases. So the longer the #ight is, more
kilometers or miles the plane will have to soften the
impact of these 2 phases.

Related:
Why Are Forests So Important And What
Can You Do To Protect Them?
How To Use Laptops In An Eco-Friendly
Way And Make Batteries Last Longer

Planes Remain A Problematic

Means Of Transport

Nevertheless, looking at planes and #ying as a trivial,

not very signi!cant is wrong and it isn’t the goal of
this piece. Admittedly, air transport represents less
than 4-5% of global CO2 emissions whereas while
road tra$c accounts for 15% of these direct
emissions.

Still, planes remain among the most polluting means

of transport, together with cars. On a journey of, for
example, 500 hundred kilometers, a plane pollutes
10 to 50 times more than a high-speed electric train
and 5 to 10 times more than a bus. Environmentally
speaking, the growth of air transport isn’t, therefore,
desirable. Although it can be good if people use their
cars less, it’s bad if it encourages them to take the
plane instead of a train or bus.

In the end, the problem is that globalization calls for

the growth of the air transportation sector. Products
travel across continents (that’s why buying local and
seasonal food is important for sustainability). People
travel too: for work, often to o"er services (such as
consultants) and for holidays. And the truth is: #ying
is faster and more a"ordable nowadays. And the
increase of middle-classes in China and India, the
two largest countries in the world, threat to only
make things worse.

Overall, reducing our transportation needs (by plane

but especially by car) is the best way to reduce our
carbon footprint. And mind taking the train
whenever possible!

Related:
What’s More Ecological? Not Flying?
Recycling? Not Driving? Bamboo
Toothbrushes?
Supply Chains Cause 90% Of Companies’
Environmental Impacts. How Can They
Be Improved?
Is Carbon Pricing And Carbon Credits
The Way To A Carbon-Neutral World?

Image credits to train on Shutterstock, holiday on

Shutterstock, plane on Shutterstock and car on
Shutterstock

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