More than 1.5M tonnes of carbon saved by airline grounding

19 April 2010, source edie newsroom

Estimates show Europe may have reduced its carbon footprint by more than 1.5M tonnes due to the grounding of aircraft.

Volcanic ash pouring out from Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano has meant planes have not been allowed to fly since last week.

On average experts from the European Environment Agency believe aircraft emit 350,000 tonnnes of CO2 a day across Europe.

But, while Britain and many other countries airports are closed some European countries are only partially closed.

Taking the best figures available, with flight grounded until at least this evening (April 19), a potential 1,750,000 tonnes of carbon has been saved in the past five days including today.

The volcano is estimated to have admitted around 40,000 tonnes of carbon during the same time.

Airlines are also estimated to be using £130M a day due to the closures.

Luke Walsh

Tags

air quality | aviation

Topics

Energy efficiency & low-carbon
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