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Comparing the Carbon Footprint of Transportation Options

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Carbon footprint of transportation

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The Briefing

  • Flying domestically and driving alone are the most carbon-intensive travel methods
  • Taking a train instead of a short flight could reduce your emissions by 84%

The Carbon Footprint of Transportation

As concern about climate change has grown, individuals are becoming increasingly conscious of their impact on the environment.

Transportation emissions often make up the largest portion of our individual carbon footprints. For that reason, evaluating transport options is a natural place to start, whether it is for a daily commute or a leisure trip abroad.

So, what’s the most eco-friendly way to go from one place to another?

The above infographic charts the carbon footprint of transportation per passenger-kilometer for different vehicles based on data from the UK Government’s methodology paper for greenhouse gas reporting.

Editor’s note: Because the original labels in the study are very UK-specific, we have changed the copy of some of the labels to better suit an international audience.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles: How Carbon Footprints Compare

The carbon footprint of transportation is measured in grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents emitted per person to travel one kilometer. This includes both carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Here’s how the carbon cost of travel compares for different means of transport:

Means of TransportCO2 equivalent emissions per passenger km
Short Flight ✈️ 255g
Medium Car (Gasoline) 🚗 192g
Medium Car (Diesel) 🚗 171g
Medium Flight ✈️156g
Long Flight ✈️ 150g
Bus 🚌 105g
Medium Motorcycle 🏍 103g
Gasoline Car (Two Passenger) 🚘 96g
Medium Electric Vehicle 🚙 53g
National Rail 🚂 41g
Ferry ⛴ 19g
Eurostar (International Rail) 🚞 6g

Flying on a short flight or driving alone are the most carbon-intensive travel methods. However, adding one more passenger to your car ends up cutting the emissions in half, making driving more efficient.

Specifically, it’s worth breaking down categories of flights more, as their emissions depend greatly on their route length:

  • Short Flights: For example, domestic flights within a European country, or flights within a U.S. state have the highest individual carbon footprint.
  • Medium Flights: For example, international travel within Europe, or between U.S. states, have a significantly lower carbon footprint per person.
  • Long Flights: Flights over 3,700 km (2,300 mi), about the distance from Los Angeles to New York, have the lowest carbon footprint per person.

Why are longer flights far more eco-friendly than short-range flights? It’s because take-off uses much more energy than the ‘cruise’ phase of a flight. For short flights, the efficient cruise phase is relatively short-lived.

Shrinking Your Travel Footprint

As the world works to mitigate the impact of climate change, people may want to identify and potentially reduce their daily carbon footprint. And choosing your method of transportation is one way to do so.

Of course, walking, biking, or running are the lowest-carbon ways to go from one place to another. But car-sharing can also reduce emissions, as can switching to electric vehicles or public transport.

Over medium-to-long distances, trains are the most eco-friendly option, and for short-range domestic travel, driving is better than taking a flight. But as some countries are bigger than others, always consider the total distance you need to travel, and the breadth of options you have available.

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Datastream

The Link Between Entrepreneurship and Mental Health Conditions

Research explores the link between entrepreneurship and mental health conditions such as ADHD and bipolar disorder

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The Briefing

  • Prevalence of ADHD, substance use disorders, and mood disorders appears to be higher in entrepreneurs than in the general public
  • One-third of entrepreneurs reported two or more co-occurring mental health conditions

The Link Between Entrepreneurship and Mental Health Conditions

Entrepreneurship has long been associated with traits like risk-taking, persistence, and creativity. It’s no surprise, then, many of the world’s most successful companies were brought to life by neurodivergent founders.

Neurodivergence refers to natural differences in brain function among individuals with conditions such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and bipolar disorder. As this 2019 study demonstrates, entrepreneurs appear to experience mental health and addiction issues more frequently than the general public, and tend to have families with these illnesses at a higher rate.

Nearly half of entrepreneurs included in the study have one or more mental health conditions. Below the are the numbers for four of the conditions studied.

EntrepreneursGeneral Sample Group
ADHD29%5%
Depression30%15%
Bipolar11%1%
Addiction12%4%

The research also looked at anxiety, but found that levels were similar between entrepreneurs and the sample group.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), dyslexia, and Asperger’s Syndrome, which are not included in this research, are other noteworthy conditions that are sometimes connected with entrepreneurship.

Asperger’s, in particular, is present in a number of successful founders, including Elon Musk and Bill Gates. Peter Thiel, billionaire investor and serial entrepreneur, has argued that this mild version of autism could be an asset in founding successful companies.

An Open Question

There are two competing ideas around the link between entrepreneurship and mental health conditions.

First, some posit that traits associated with mental health conditions (e.g. hyperfocus for ADHD, or attention to detail for Asperger’s) are assets in the startup world.

Secondly, it is also thought that because neurodivergent individuals have more trouble succeeding in conventional frameworks in academia and business, they are more likely to forge their own path by founding companies and pursuing self-employment.

It’s entirely possible that both these ideas are true. The more research that is published around mental health and entrepreneurship, the clearer view we have on the traits associated with creating successful businesses.

The more open the conversation is around mental health, the more we can create conditions in the workplace that empower neurodivergent individuals.

Source: Freeman, M.A., Staudenmaier, P.J., Zisser, M.R. et al. The prevalence and co-occurrence of psychiatric conditions among entrepreneurs and their families. Small Bus Econ 53, 323–342 (2019).

Data notes: Data was analyzed from 76 MBA student and faculty pool participants, 149 psychology students, and 110 entrepreneurs not affiliated with the university. Participants from either recruitment group who reported a history of self-employment or founding or co-founding a for-profit or non-profit business were categorized as entrepreneurs (n = 242).

Hat tip: We discovered this research via The Generalist who published a fantastic post on who becomes an entrepreneur.

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