Do you know the biggest CO2 emitter when traveling?
Do you know the biggest CO2 emitter when traveling? Do foreign tourists know what activity contributes the most to CO2 emissions while traveling in Japan? It’s air travel. While it’s not surprising that airplanes emit a lot of CO2, it often goes unnoticed that luggage (20kg) can contribute to emissions four times higher than an entire week’s stay in Japan. For example, a round trip from Narita Airport to New York, Singapore, and Taipei produces CO2 emissions of 942kg, 594kg, and 147kg for a passenger. The average for these three cities is 612kg. In contrast, the CO2 emissions for luggage (20kg) for these cities are 244kg for New York, 114kg for Singapore, and 55kg for Taipei, making up 18-26% of the total emissions from passengers (data sourced from ICAO’s “CARBON EMISSIONS CALCULATOR”). The average for these cities’ luggage emissions is 138kg. Source: ICAO’s “CARBON EMISSIONS CALCULATOR,” National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan On the other hand, the CO2 emissions for a 7-day stay in Japan are only 34kg. This figure is calculated based on the average household CO2 emissions of 4.9kg per day by the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan. The average luggage emission of 138kg for