Calculating the carbon footprint of President Obama's Olympic trip

October 2, 4:20 PMClimate Change ExaminerTony Hake

Previous Next

11 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Climate Change Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

How much CO2 did President Barack Obama emit on a trip to
Copenhagen to try to help Chicago's bid to host the Olympics?

President of the United States Barack Obama and his wife Michelle flew to Copenhagen, Denmark to help the city of Chicago in their bid to host the 2016 Olympics. It was announced today that the bid had failed as Chicago was the first city eliminated of the four vying for the games. Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and Madrid were the other three cities with Rio de Janeiro finally being awarded the games.

The president has come under fire politically for taking the 4,050 mile trip when the nation is facing a number of pressing issues at home including a faltering economy and a heated debate about health care. Of interest to those seeking to protect our climate is the cost in terms of carbon emissions that the failed trip cost. Airplanes emit a great deal of carbon dioxide, the trace gas thought to be the major cause of global warming.

We have put together a very rough estimate of the cost in terms of carbon emissions of a trip by the President of the United States to Copenhagen.

Air Force One - President Barack Obama

• Distance from Washington D.C. to Copenhagen, Denmark, round trip: 8,100 miles
• Air Force One (Boeing 747 / VC-25A) cruising speed: 576mph
• Fuel used by Boeing 747 per hour: 3,378 gallons
• Flight time round trip: 14.06 hours one-way (assuming direct, straight-line flight)
• Fuel consumed during round trip flight to Denmark: 47,503 gallons or 296,894 lbs (6.25 lbs / gal)
• Carbon emissions of the flight: 1,031 tons of CO2 *
• Total warming effect of CO2 for flight: 2,785 tons of CO2 **

Those calculations are for one airplane however. The president always has a second, spare airplane that goes along as well therefore the total must be multipled by two.

• Total warming effect of CO2 for two Air Force One planes: 5,571 tons of CO2 *

First Lady Michelle Obama

The first lady flew to Copenhagen aboard an Air Force 737 (C40) in advance of the president.  Judging from the video of her arrival, this was a 737-800, a very fuel efficient plane by comparison to Air Force One.

• Boeing 737-800 cruising speed: 514 mph
• Fuel used by Boeing 737 per hour: 786 gallons
• Flight time: 15.75 hours one-way (assuming direct, straight-line flight)
• Fuel consumed during round trip flight to Denmark: 12,386 gallons or 77,714 lbs
• Carbon emissions of the flight: 269 tons of CO2
• Total warming effect of CO2 for flight: 726 tons of CO2

Additional aircraft

According to the White House’s website, “Several cargo planes typically fly ahead of Air Force One to provide the President with services needed in remote locations.” These include carrying the vehicles for his motorcade, Secret Service personnel, an advance scout detail and more. The exact details of the planes and the number of them is of course top secret but let’s assume there were three planes, comparable to the one Michelle Obama flew.

• Total warming effect of CO2 for additional aircraft: 3 X 726 = 2,178 tons of CO2

The Final Tally

• 5,571 tons CO2 for President Obama
• 726 tons CO2 for first lady Michelle Obama
• 2,178 tons CO2 for support aircraft

Grand Total: 8,379 tons CO2 for trip to Copenhagen

By comparison, the average American household has a carbon footprint of 19.5 tons of CO2 per year. 

Therefore, President Obama's two day trip deposited as much CO2 into the atmosphere as 430 American families do in an entire year. 

Assumptions

* Emissions based on standard rate of 6.95 lbs CO2 / lb aviation fuel

** Total warming effect based on 2.7 multipler the IPCC uses due to the fact a plane flying at altitude does more damage to the atmosphere (radiative forcing) and emits ozone and water vapor.

Editor’s note:  This is not a scientific analysis of the CO2 emissions of the president’s trip.  It is merely being done as an exercise to determine approximations of the emissions.  It uses accepted constants for the fuel emissions and the multiplier of total effect.  A full analysis would require taking into account wind speeds, takeoff and landing fuel usage and much more.  Further, this only takes into account the airplane emissions and not those of the array of ground vehicles that ferry and accompany the president.