CO2 equivalents (CO2eq) are a unit of measurement used to describe the impact of various greenhouse gases (GHGs) on the climate. The impact of a greenhouse gas is compared with the impact of carbon dioxide. In addition to carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and other hydrocarbons are further significant greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans.
For example, 1 kg of methane has the same impact as 28 kg of CO2 over a period of 100 years and therefore equates to 28 kg of CO2eq.
CarbonTracer was developed as a tool to illustrate the environmental impact in the form of CO2 equivalents for journeys made by individuals. In order to do this, the calculations in the background must be based on average values, such as average capacity utilisation figures on trains or buses. This means that the GHG emissions per vehicle can be used to calculate GHG emissions per individual.
The indicated occupancy rate is also taken into account for cars (passenger cars), which means that the GHG emissions calculated per individual are correspondingly lower for a larger number of fellow passengers.
The calculation itself is a simple one. The distance travelled is multiplied by the respective emission factor. The emission factor depicts the amount of GHG emissions generated per individual and per kilometre for a particular mode of transport. The emission factor itself includes the vehicle’s entire life cycle as well as the specific characteristics of the vehicle type. In the case of flights, the EF contains, for instance, the Radiative Forcing Index, the distinction between the flight class as well as the distinction between short-haul and long-haul flights.
Emission factors are recalculated from year to year in order to reflect the real traffic situation (e.g. average occupancy rate of trains or technological developments with passenger cars). CarbonTracer uses emission factors from mobitool (2023) as well as from Environment Agency Austria (2023).
The status of the research is reviewed by CarbonTracer’s research team and adjusted as necessary.
Yes. The integration of various routing maps enables the actual routes for train and car journeys to be mapped.
The Uplift Factor (UF) is included in the case of flights. The UF is a factor by which the great-circle distance is extended in order to map the actual flight distance. The UF takes into account take-off and landing phases, indirect flight routes, delays or airborne holding areas. Based on the latest status of the research, the UF = 1.08 [1].
The status of the research is reviewed by CarbonTracer’s research team and adjusted as necessary.
[1] Department of Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (2017): 2017 Government GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting. Methodology Paper for Emission Factors. Seite 78.
All error messages are described precisely under “API documentation”, with any potential solutions also listed.
As there are countless towns and cities with the same name, it is possible that the response does not correspond with the expected result. You can specify the location more precisely in the request, e.g. by indicating the postcode and/or the country (2-letter ISO abbreviation) (see API documentation).
The calculation of the road route is based on OpenRouteService and the underlying routing algorithm. The current road situations cannot therefore be taken into account (e.g. traffic jams, roadworks, closures, diversions, etc.). If you know that the route being used is different to the one provided by OpenRouteService, you can divide the route into several sections and calculate these separately.
In the case of routing via rail travel, no actual train connections or route closures etc. are taken into account. If the route returned is completely implausible, please contact us and let us know the corresponding query parameters in order for us to improve this service.
Please contact us for individual solutions or agreements.
No. The mapping for the greenhouse gas emissions includes the entire life cycle for the respective vehicle. In addition to direct operations (i.e. driving or flying), GHG emissions are also mapped from energy supplies as well as vehicle production, vehicle maintenance and vehicle disposals.
Different levels of electrification within the European rail networks and the different energy composition features mean that rail journeys in different countries give rise to different levels of GHG emissions per individual and kilometre.
Based on the assumption that the power supply for a railway line at a country border is provided by the new country and corresponds to this country’s electricity mix, CarbonTracer uses the actual route to ensure that the emission factor corresponds to the respective country of the journey (through) when “Train” is selected.
The difference is based on the space required per individual. In a seating carriage, and to a very similar extent in a couchette, more individuals can be accommodated in the same area than in a sleeper car. Accordingly, an individual in a sleeper car has significantly more GHG emissions allocated to them.
Yes. The Radiative Forcing Index (RFI) takes into account the increased radiative forcing of GHG emissions (CO2 and non-CO2 emissions) at flying altitude.
Research is ongoing into the quantitative value of the RFI. Based on the latest research, the greenhouse effect of flight emissions has an RFI of 2 auf [2, 3, 4] and is also included in the CarbonTracer emission calculations.
The status of the research is reviewed by CarbonTracer’s research team and adjusted as necessary.
Higher flight classes give rise to higher GHG emissions per individual due to the increased space required for each individual with a higher flight class.