Ready, set, go!
Over half the greenhouse gas emissions from the 2010 Olympic Games will come from travelling to and from the Vancouver area. While you're taking in the excitement of world class sport, you can also take responsibility for your emission contribution to the Games.
In about 3 minutes you can quantify the greenhouse gas emissions your Olympic visit will generate. You'll need basic info about your trip, like what flight path or drive routes you're taking, how many nights you plan on staying in the Vancouver area, and how many events you will be attending.
Click on the '?' button at any point for additional instructions and information about how we calculate your emissions.
Your flights
Flights are the number one source of greenhouse gas emissions for the 2010 Games. The calculator needs accurate information to estimate emissions - that's why there are so many flight options. Here's a guide to some of the terms:
"Open Jaw" means you fly into one city then fly out of another. If you're flying from London to Vancouver, then renting a car to visit friends in Calgary and flying back to London from Calgary, then enter the two flights as separate one-way flights, and record your drive from Vancouver to Calgary in the "Ground travel" section.
Many flights will have one or more "stopovers". A larger proportion of greenhouse gas emissions happen during take off and landing than while flying, so if you have any stopovers or transfers on the way to the Games, record them here.
How we calculate
Our emissions factors for flights align with the factors for aviation from the 2009 Guidelines to DEFRA/DECC's GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting, produced for the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Department of Energy and Climate Change (the report can be found here)
Our emission factors and calculator incorporate the following:
- The distance flown;
- Aviation's direct carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O);
- The other non-CO2 climate change effects of aviation (i.e. a multiplier for the altitude at which emissions are released); and
- The 9% uplift factor to take into account non-direct routes and delays/circling.
Your ground travel
To calculate ground travel emissions, enter in your point of departure (the place you're leaving from), and the mode of transportation you're using. Choose 'return' or 'one way' and the number of travelers coming with you.
We did our best to include as many drivable locations as possible in Western Canada and the United States. However, your location may not show up on our list. If it's not there, pick another place that's nearby, or contact Offsetters to calculate your specific location (info@offsetters.ca, 604 688 6791).
The emissions factors for ground transportation were taken from the latest data available from the following sources:
- Transportation in Canada 2006 Annual report
- Canadian GHG challenge Registry Guide to Entity and Facility-Based Reporting-Emission Factors, Version 5, April 2007
- NRCan Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE) website
Cheering for gold
The emissions from your trips to and from events depends on how you get there - we used an estimate that's the average between busing and driving an average sized car. We also averaged the travelling distance from Vancouver to each of the many venues for you so you don't need specifics.
Averaging still gives you a reasonably accurate estimate of your total trip because the offset costs for these trips are so low (about 35 cents Canadian per round trip). If you want to calculate your exact emissions, or see how we came up with our average, you can contact Offsetters (info@offsetters.ca, 604 688 6791).
The emissions factors for ground transportation were taken from the latest data available from the following sources:
- Transportation in Canada 2006 Annual report
- Canadian GHG challenge Registry Guide to Entity and Facility-Based Reporting-Emission Factors, Version 5, April 2007
- NRCan Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE) website
Staying
Every night in a hotel or other room results in emissions: cleaning and heating your room, washing linens, providing electricity...
To calculate the emissions from your stay, just enter the number of nights you're staying, and how many rooms you've booked.
We use a figure of 0.00205 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per night per room. This number was derived by Vanoc and is for a standard 325 square foot room using natural gas.