The average weight of an American adult has increased 24lbs since 1960. That additional weight costs the airlines money as hauling extra weight takes more fuel. At around $3 per gallon of jet fuel, the 24 extra pounds translates into about 175 million gallons of add’l fuel, costing over $500 million per year.
How about cars? For every additional average pound of passenger weight in a car, 39 million extra gallons of gasoline are consumed in the US during the year. Given the 24 pounds of additional average weight, that translates into about a billion gallons of extra fuel consumed a year.
I think I was sitting next to the guy in the picture on my last flight…..
He might have been thinking the same thing…..
1 gallon gasoline On average, one gallon of gasoline produces a little over 18 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO 2) (BlueSky Model).
So the carbon footprint goes up 3,852,000,000 pounds per year because we all have gained a little weight do to increased air craft and automobile emissions, Hmmmm. Has this claim been offset by the improved efficiency of the airplane and automobile since 1960. The article does not seemingly address this.