Private Jets and the World Economy
Introduction
Taylor Swift's private jet usage 2022 amounted to an estimated 22,923 minutes in the air, which is about 15.9 days, with an average of 80 minutes and 139.36 miles per flight. "Quite a large amount considering that she was not touring then." In the year 2022, she had a total of 8,293.54 tonnes of flight emissions, which is 1,184.8 times more than the average person's total annual emissions. (1)
Good luck drinking from paper straws to save the planet.
What is the problem?
An airplane is the least environmentally friendly way to travel. According to Carbon Independent, CO2 emissions from aviation fuel are about 3.15 grams per gram of fuel, giving CO2 emissions from a Boeing 737-400 at 115 g per passenger per km. At a cruising speed of 780 km per hour, this equals 90 kg of CO2 per passenger per hour. Further allowance is needed for fossil fuel energy used in :
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extraction and transport of crude oil
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inefficiencies in refineries (around 7%)
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aircraft manufacture and maintenance, and staff training
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airport construction, maintenance, heating, lighting etc.
Factoring for this, we get the rounded-up CO2 emissions as 250 kg, i.e., ¼ tonne of CO2 emission per person per hour flying. (2)
Private Jets
Even though traveling by aircraft is significantly harming the world, the harm is still reduced due to the number of passengers on a packed flight.
Celebs, however, won’t have that.
“CO2 Emissions vary considerably depending on size, occupancy levels and efficiency. Private jets generally produce significantly more emissions per passenger than commercial flights.” (3)
According to Yard, celebs emitted an average of 3376.64 tonnes of CO2 emissions in just their private jet usage in 2022. That's 482.37 times more than the average person. Yard prepared a list of celebs with the worst private jet C02 emissions; a list which includes Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Kim Kardashian and Travis Scott. (1)
And it’s not just the singers and rappers. An analysis published by environmental campaign group Greenpeace showed the number of private jet flights in Europe in 2022 rose by a whopping 64% to reach a record high of 572,806. “The alarming growth of private jet flights is entirely at odds with all the climate science that tells us to bring down CO2 emissions immediately in order to avert total disaster,” said Klara Maria Schenk, transport campaigner for Greenpeace’s Mobility for All campaign. (4)
Even world leaders and some very vocal advocates from around the world use private jets. The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, saw footfall from many world leaders, presidents, and prime ministers, who came to discuss enhanced commitments towards mitigating climate change. Ironically, they all used their high CO2-emitting private jets to come to Glasgow, Scotland, where the meeting was taking place. (5)
Business has been booming for some time for major private jet manufacturers, to the extent that firms have been unable to keep pace with skyrocketing demand since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Aviation data research firm Wingx recorded 3.3 million business jet take-offs in 2021, the most for a single year and 7% more than the previous high in 2019. (6)
What can be done about it?
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) could contribute to the reduction in emissions needed by the aviation industry to reach its goal of net zero CO2 emissions by 2050, requiring a massive increase in production to meet the demand. By the 2030s, SAF is expected to compete with fossil kerosene, thus helping reduce global warming.
What is SAF? IATA defines SAF as “a liquid fuel currently used in commercial aviation which reduces CO2 emissions by up to 80%. It can be produced from a number of sources (feedstock) including waste oil and fats, green and municipal waste and non-food crops”. (7)
A United Nations report was published in March 2023, which warned governments and leaders all over the globe, urging them to take action on the rising threat of Climate Change.
The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said the unprecedented challenge of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels had become even greater in recent years due to the relentless increase in global greenhouse gas emissions. (8)
What does keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius mean? According to BBC, it means that by the year 2100, the world's average surface temperature will have risen to no more than 1.5C (2.7F) warmer than pre-industrial levels. (9)
Conclusion
To conclude, while it is easy to blame celebs, we all need to focus where we should, be on reducing polluting activities and safeguarding our shared future. Even though it may not seem much based on the data we received, using paper straws instead of plastic can really help if done on a larger scale. To learn more about the role of economics in climate change, sustainable finance, and impact investing, check out our articles, “Rise of Sustainable Finance” and “Impact Investing: Foundations of Clean Energy in the Market” on our website.
Further Resources:
https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2024/02/13/taylor-swift-and-the-top-polluters-department/
https://youtu.be/WghnrlL_2qk?si=UvfuULsFk-EfUDjd