Flight Carbon Calculator Formula
Here’s the formula used by the flight carbon calculator in bullet points:
- Basic Distance Calculation:
- Uses Haversine formula to calculate distance between two airports based on their latitude and longitude
- If airports aren’t in the database, generates a random distance between 1,000-6,000 km
- Emissions Calculation Factors:
- Economy Class: 0.1 kg CO2 per passenger per km
- Premium Economy: 0.16 kg CO2 per passenger per km
- Business Class: 0.25 kg CO2 per passenger per km
- First Class: 0.4 kg CO2 per passenger per km
- Total Emissions Formula:
- Total Emissions = Distance × Emissions Factor × Number of Passengers
- For round trips, distance is doubled
- Comparison Calculations:
- Driving Equivalent (km) = Total Emissions ÷ 0.12
- Trees Needed for Offset = Total Emissions ÷ 25 (rounded up)
- Haversine Distance Formula Details:
- Earth’s radius used: 6,371 km
- Converts latitude/longitude from degrees to radians
- Calculates great-circle distance between points on a sphere