I was reading (yet another) Patrick Smith article and found this little blurb interesting ...
Quote:
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In the United States, a round-trip domestic journey of four hours' duration will consume somewhere around 3,000 gallons of jet fuel. The typical airplane on that route has about 160 seats and, using industry-average load factors, will be about 80 percent full. Thus each passenger is responsible for 23 gallons, give or take a few.
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The next time someone tries to tell you that your husband/SO is responsible for a huge carbon foot print, show them this!
A flight of 4 hours probably equates to about a 3-day's drive, for an ambitious driver. Lets assume an aircraft that has the potential to carry 160 pax cruises at 500 kts (of course, take off and approach speeds are slower). 500 kts = 575 mph. Over 4 hours the distance covered is 2300 miles. Do you know of any car that can cover 2300 miles on just 23 gallons!?
My car, Pontiac Vibe, has a 12 gallon tank. I can get 400 miles out of each tank. Over the course of 2300 miles I will have burned through 69 gallons of gasoline (5.75 fill ups). Only if I bring w/ me 2 other people will the gallons per passenger equate to that of the plane (23). So when traveling alone, not only will an aircraft save you time and possibly money, it will also minimize your carbon footprint. Why won't Sierra Club grab onto
THAT!?
(bring it on christykay! Like katbuad, I've got too much time on my hands :-P)