Carbon offset dealer TerraPass (with whom we're working on our Clean Slate offsets) recently launched a new version of their flight emissions calculator. The updated calculator uses data from go-to travel resource TRX to provide a more accurate, personalized account of your flight's carbon emissions.

TerraPass VP Adam Stein blogs about the new calculator:

The new calculator … takes into account a range of factors including plane type, route anomalies such as weather detours and holding patterns, cargo loads, seat pitch and width, etc. TRX engaged an outside expert to validate their emissions methodology.

Although we don't expect the world's passengers to stop flying – after all, we've known the climate implications of air travel for years – there's something to be said for providing a clear and specific window into the impacts of our personal choices.

Because, even when buying your plane ticket, you make decisions that can affect your impact. As Stein points out in his post, your per-passenger flight emissions increase with every layover, and also with an upgrade to first-class travel. There are even varying levels of efficiency between different airlines flying the same route.

So the new and improved calculator could be a step toward increased passenger efficiency, in much the same way that mileage gauges in hybrid vehicles has helped drivers achieve "personal best" MPG – simply by, as we've called it – "making the invisible visible."

Photo by caribb, licensed by Creative Commons