Google unveils new feature to allow users to select flights with low carbon emissions

American search engine giant, Google has rolled out a “greener” way to let its users search for flights. On Wednesday, 6 October, Google unveiled a brand new feature that informs the users about which flights have lower carbon emissions providing them with a choice to select the flights based on the environmental impact, similar to how they choose between price and number of layovers. In a statement, Google introduced a number of new features aimed at tackling the issue of climate change. 

Now, with the Wednesday feature, a simple search for flights on Google will give its users an estimate of how many kilograms of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, the flight will pump out into the atmosphere from its start to finish. The Google users can prioritise their search of flights with the number of emissions, just like they were previously doing for the prices, if they wish to. Google said that the flights with emissions below the median are highlighted in green. 

How did Google get its information?

The flights in the search results are labelled as “higher, typical, lower or unknown emissions.” In an official blog post, Google also informed that it has assembled the information for its newest feature by the data provided by third parties including the airlines. Moreover, other estimates are shown by Google even include the data from the European Environmental Agency. The additional information regarding the flights can also list the age of the aircraft, model and configuration, its speed and even the latitude that it flies. The information could also include the distance between the flight’s origin and the destination.  

Google has explained, “Typical emissions are the median carbon emissions for your searched route. The median is calculated as the middle value amongst all the possible carbon emissions per route, and considers all available dates and flights.”

“Carbon emission estimates for each flight are compared to the route's median. This is how Google identifies flights with higher, typical or lower emissions,” it added. 

Not just the search results for flights, Google CEO Sundar Pichai had announced on 6 October that the American tech giant would be giving greener options to most of its products including Google Maps that would provide users with a ‘green route.’ Both iOS and Android users of Google Maps in the United States will get the option to select eco-friendly routes. 

Pichai said in a statement on Wednesday, “So today we’re sharing several new ways people can use Google’s products to make sustainable choices. Among them, we’re introducing new features to book flights or purchase appliances that have lower carbon footprints, a Nest program to support clean energy from home, and eco-friendly routing on Google Maps — which is rolling out today.”

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