Long lines, security checks, baggage fees, cramped seats, broken trays, screaming babies – who doesn’t love flying? In fact, 60% of Americans don’t fly, but for the 40% who do, it’s a huge category of energy use. Just one long trip a year can be a quarter or a third of a person’s annual energy consumption! Generally speaking, fliers expend anywhere from 5% to 30% of their energy on travel annually.
 
That’s not to say that this mode of transportation can’t be relatively efficient – it can, especially when your flight is fully booked and you’re on a large, new aircraft that uses less fuel per passenger. Once you average fuel used per flight across all passengers, you’ll find that planes get an average of 50 miles per gallon per passenger on shorter domestic flights and an average of 95 mpg per passenger on international flights. (The average across all flights is 60 mpg per passenger.) But considering that planes give off about 20lbs of carbon emissions per gallon (about the same as cars) over long, long, long distances, we’re talking about a lot of C02e.

So what to do? Sometimes up in the air is the only way you can go, but it’s worth stopping to consider your options – do you really have to fly for that business meeting, or can you Skype instead? And if you do wind up braving the friendly skies, all the more motivation to save energy in other ways to offset this significant energy expenditure.

FLYING TIPS

• Skip the Trip! When you can, skip the trip. Avoid traveling when it’s not absolutely necessary. Cutting back just one flight per year can have the same impact as eliminating dozens and dozens of car trips. So set up a video chat instead of taking that plane trip for work. Once you factor in all the hours and minutes you’re saving (getting to and from the airport, checking in, going through security, and did we mention screaming babies and passengers who slam their seats back and smash your laptop – grrrrr!) you’ll find you’re conserving something just as precious as energy: your time.
• Drive vs. Fly? When you have to travel, pull out your calculator and do the math. Is it better to drive or fly (if that’s an option)? In some cases, filling up your car—with people as well as gas—may save energy. How many miles to the gallon does your car get? How many passengers will there be? Multiply them. If this number is greater than 60, save energy by driving. Visit wattzon.com/track-and-monitor#air-travel to see the energy used and the CO2 produced based on the distance and the frequency of your air travel.
• Be happy your flight is full. They may not be the most pleasant, but long, crowded flights are the most energy efficient. (So think good thoughts when it takes a looooooong time to board.) International flights use larger aircraft, which use fuel more efficiently, plus a totally booked flight means less fuel is used per passenger. So when possible, opt for the long, full flights – and try not to complain (too much).