Make more informed commute decisions with Google’s new feature!

As driving and flying are huge contributors to climate change, Google is releasing features on Google Maps and Google Flights to show how travel plans may contribute to it.

In addition to showing drivers the fastest way to get to their destination, Google Maps will now show the route that’s most fuel-efficient.

To provide the new feature, Google incorporated data from the United States Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which estimates that eco-friendly routing has the potential to prevent more than one million tons of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere per year. It is the equivalent of removing 200,000 cars from the road, Google claims.

On the Google Maps app, the most eco-friendly route will display with a small green leaf next to it. The route option will also include information about how long the trip will take and how much fuel the driver could save.

Alongside price and trip duration information, Google Flights users will now be able to see carbon emissions estimates for nearly every flight in the search results. The estimates are “flight-specific” and “seat-specific,” Google said.

“Newer aircraft are generally less polluting than older aircraft. Emissions increase for premium economy and first-class seats because they take up more space and account for a larger share of total emissions,” the company stated.

Source: Agencies