Aviation passenger carbon footprint calculator with comprehensive emissions, life cycle coverage, and historical adjustment

Abstract

Passenger aviation carbon footprint calculators often lack breadth, accuracy, transparency, and communication effectiveness, leading to underestimations of environmental impact and mistrust. This study addresses these gaps by developing a comprehensive methodology that broadens scope and improves accuracy. It incorporates nitrogen oxides, water vapour, contrail-induced cloudiness, upstream emissions from in-flight services, and life cycle emissions from aircraft and airports, offering a complete carbon footprint assessment. Accuracy is improved through detailed modelling of flight distance, fuel consumption, and emissions allocation adjusted for passenger class, luggage, and cargo. Historical adjustment factors refine pre-flight estimates by integrating real-world variations. The tool outputs a full emissions breakdown by source, offering unparalleled granularity and clarity. Validated against over 30,000 historical flights, the historical adjustment factor model achieves ~0.5% mean squared percentage error and shows current methods underestimate emissions. This study sets a standard for aviation carbon footprint calculators by enabling transparent, dynamic assessments for industry stakeholders. (Figure presented.)