Carbon emission calculations

Modified on Tue, 3 Dec, 2024 at 12:16 PM

Carbon emission (CO2) calculations

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Carbon emission (CO2) calculations

Overview

Controlling, tracking, and reporting on carbon emissions is an important theme in travel. Many companies and travelers monitor CO2 emissions because they are a significant driver of climate change, and contribute to adverse environmental impacts such as rising temperatures, sea level rise, and extreme weather events. There is a growing awareness of the need to reduce carbon footprints and mitigate the impact of human activities on the planet.

As a result, Spotnana provides tools for travelers and companies to monitor the carbon emissions associated with their travel.

CO2 emission calculation partners

Spotnana's travel platform integrates with multiple CO2 emissions partners to help you and your travelers make informed, sustainable, travel decisions. For each partner listed below, we state the travel mode (air, rail, etc.) for which we offer their emissions data.

Atmosfair (air only)

A German non-profit organization specializing in carbon offsetting for air travel. They provide detailed carbon emission calculations based on comprehensive flight data and scientific methodologies.

For more details, see Atmosfair's methodology.

ATPCO (air only)

A global airline pricing and data solutions provider that offers standardized carbon emissions calculations for air travel. Their data is widely used across the travel industry for consistent emissions reporting.

For more details, see ATPCO's carbon methodology.

Google Flights (air only)

Provides carbon emissions data for air travel integrated into their flight search platform. Their calculations help travelers understand the environmental impact of their flight choices.

Spotnana has integrated with Google Flights to provide carbon emissions data to our APIs. This can be enabled upon customer request.

For more details, see Google Flights' carbon methodology.

Thrust Carbon (air, hotel, rail, and car)

Offers comprehensive carbon emissions data across multiple transportation modes. They provide detailed emissions calculations using a variety of data sources and research methodologies.

For more details, see Thrust Carbon's carbon methodology.

Where are CO2 emissions displayed

CO2 emissions values are displayed to travelers within the following locations in the Online Booking Tool:

Seach results pages
Checkout pages
Email notifications
Trip detail pages

Default settings

Spotnana uses Atmosfair as the default CO2 emissions calculation provider for air bookings. If you would like to change that, please contact Spotnana. If you require CO2 emission calculations for hotel or car bookings, you will need to use Thrust Carbon and have an existing contact with that provider.

For air travel

Atmosfair is the default CO2 emissions partner for air bookings on the Spotnana travel platform. In some cases, if Atmosfair values are not available for a flight, Spotnana will use the median values per kilometer to calculate the estimated carbon emissions.

To switch to a different emissions calculation provider, TMC partners and organizations must contact their Spotnana Account Manager.

While Atmosfair strives to be as precise as possible, we recognize that it’s only possible to calculate the probable consumption of a flight. For example, if an aircraft has to be diverted because of weather, this will affect fuel utilization in a way that isn't part of the calculation.

For rail travel

Spotnana works directly with rail suppliers to capture data on carbon emissions from rail trips.

For Amtrak: The calculations are based on miles traveled. The exact multiplier value is provided by Amtrak.
For all other rail suppliers: Spotnana exposes CO2 emissions data from each rail operator that supplies it to us. However, rail operators usually do not share their calculation methodology with us.

For hotel and rental car bookings

Support for calculating CO2 emissions for hotel and car rental is provided by Thrust Carbon. Access to this data requires a contract with Thrust Carbon. To enable CO2 emissions calculations for hotel and car, contact your Spotnana Account Manager.

Reporting

Spotnana provides several emissions-related reports within the Online Booking Tool. To access these reports, select Company reports from the Analytics menu. Then expand the Emissions section on the left. CO2 emissions data in reports is currently limited to air and rail bookings.