Infographic: Ways to Cut Aviation Emissions

People love to fly to distant locales, but those flights create a carbon conundrum. A single passenger on a single flight from New York to San Francisco is responsible for nearly as much carbon emissions as a typical car produces all year—1.2 tons compared to 1.7. Overall, aviation accounts for 10 percent of transportation emissions.

Engineers in the aviation industry are working to reduce that impact. They are developing new fuels or propulsion systems that reduce or eliminate carbon emissions. While some of these new technologies are in the demonstration phase, it may be some time before we can say we’re flying the carbon-friendly skies.