Plane

The category /transport/plane contains data and methodologies for calculating greenhouse gas emissions associated with aviation. The category is primarily organised into categories representing generic, representative aviation scenarios (Generic plane transport) and those reflecting specific aircraft types (Specific plane transport). The generic subcategory contains several types of resources including per passenger emissions calculations, air-transported freight, and a geographic dataset of 3000 world airports from which flight distances are calculated. A brief summary of each subcategory appears below.

Specific plane transport

The Specific plane transport category contains data on the greenhouse gas emissions associated with over 140 specific jet, turboprop and military aircraft types. The data and calculation methodology are sourced from the EMEP/CORINAIR Emission Inventory Guidebook (2007) and provides a calculation of CO₂ emissions on a per aircraft basis, dependent on flight distance.

Users may specify flight distances in several ways (including nominating departure and destination airports), may set the duration time for discrete phases of the landing-take off (LTO) cycle, and also incorporate a radiative forcing weighting to emissions calculations if required.

Generic plane transport by DEFRA

The DEFRA plane category contains emissions data for flying on a per passenger basis, sourced from the UK Government's DEFRA/DECC agency. The methodology uses distance-based emissions factors (i.e. kg CO2 per km per passenger), with users able to specify flight distances in several ways, including nominating departure and destination airports or by using 'typical' domestic, short- and long-haul distances of 463 km, 1108 km, 6482 km respectively.

In addition, distinct CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O emissions factors for each passenger class (economy, economy plus, business and first) are provided, and users may incorporate a radiative forcing weighting to emissions calculations if required.

User-defined plane emissions

The User defined plane emissions category allows users to specify their own landing-take-off cycle and cruise phase emissions factors for air transport, following a methodology proposed by the GHG Protocol. Default emissions factors are included reflecting those derived by the GHG Protocol from earlier DEFRA data. Users must specify the distance travelled and the number of passengers under consideration, which results in a per passenger emissions calculation according to the data provided.

Plane freighting

The Plane freighting category contains data on the greenhouse gas emissions associated with plane transported freight, sourced from DEFRA and the WRI Greenhouse Gas Protocol. These methodologies use per distance per mass emissions factors, requiring the user to provide distance and mass values for the transported freight.

Global airports

This category Global airports includes data on the names, locations (latitude and longitude, country) and IATA codes of 3000 world airports. This data provides a reference for calculating flight distances for the Specific plane transport and Generic plane transport categories. Airports are searchable by either name or IATA code. This category also contains a smaller subset of 500 world airports - with major cities and travel destinations represented.