Carbon Emissions Per Passenger Calculator

Work out carbon emissions per passenger instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Carbon Emissions Per Passenger Calculator

Burning one kilogram of jet fuel produces about 3.16 kg of carbon dioxide, fixed by the carbon content of kerosene. Allocating that between passengers and freight, then dividing by passengers, gives the per-passenger figure; dividing again by distance gives the grams per passenger kilometre used in emissions reporting.

Formula

Aviation CO2

CO2 = fuel (kg) x 3.16; per passenger = CO2 x (1 - cargo share) / passengers

Worked example

With the default values below, Carbon Emissions Per Passenger Calculator returns CO2 per passenger of 90.19. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Trip fuel burnt: 4,800 kg
Passengers carried: 148 pax
Sector distance: 1,450 km
Share of payload that is cargo: 12 %

Results

CO2 per passenger: 90.19 kg
Total CO2 from the sector: 15,168 kg
CO2 per passenger kilometre: 62.20 g/pax-km
Fuel per passenger: 28.54 kg

Step by step

1Values used
2Aviation CO2
3CO2 per passenger= 90.19 kg
4Total CO2 from the sector= 15,168 kg
5CO2 per passenger kilometre= 62.20 g/pax-km
6Fuel per passenger= 28.54 kg

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why 3.16 kg per kg of fuel?

Each carbon atom in the fuel combines with two oxygen atoms, so the mass of CO2 is about 3.16 times the fuel mass for typical kerosene composition.

Does this include non-CO2 effects?

No. Contrails, water vapour and nitrogen oxides add further warming effect; some schemes apply a radiative forcing multiplier of around 1.9 to account for them.