Is it more environmentally friendly to drive or fly to your destination?
If we are going to answer this question, we must first define what “environmentally friendly” means. In the case of transportation, this usually refers to how much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere. When comparing greenhouse gas emissions, driving is much more environmentally friendly, especially if you have additional passengers. In fact, if you took a trip from San Francisco to Boston in a car, you would emit about 2,050 pounds of carbon dioxide. The same trip in a plane would emit 2,866 pounds of carbon dioxide per passenger. This seems to make sense given that planes travel at 550 mph at a 35,000-foot cruising altitude. So the next time you’re thinking of booking that plane ticket to Europe, be environmentally friendly and just take a car.
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