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Transport

Driving to a photo shoot (20km round trip, gasoline)

Ajaminen kuvauksiin (20km edestakainen, bensiini)

13.4
Truecost score
Data confidence: MEDIUM

Carbon well-established. Water and toxicity have significant uncertainty.

A 20km round trip in a gasoline car produces approximately 3.2 kg of CO₂ from fuel combustion alone, plus tire/brake microparticles and fuel production impacts.

Did you know? A single car trip has more impact than generating a thousand AI images.
Transparent calculation

How was this number determined?

The Truecost score is calculated from absolute physical values. Each row below shows the measured value, how it was normalized, and where it comes from.

Dimension Absolute value Score 100 = Normalized Weight Weighted Confidence
Carbon Emissions 3.2 kg CO₂e 9.5 kg CO₂e 33.68 ×0.35 11.79 HIGH
Water Consumption 60.0 liters 3840 liters 1.56 ×0.2 0.31 MEDIUM
Land Use 2.0 m²·year 51 m²·year 3.92 ×0.2 0.78 LOW
Waste 0.004 kg 5 kg 0.08 ×0.15 0.01 HIGH
Toxicity 8.0 µDALY 162 µDALY 4.94 ×0.1 0.49 LOW
Truecost score (weighted sum) 13.4

Share of your annual planetary budget

Carbon Emissions 0.34%
Water Consumption 0.02%
Land Use 0.04%
Waste <0.01%
Toxicity 0.05%
Source data by dimension

Where do the absolute values come from?

Carbon Emissions
HIGH
EU avg new car 2023: 106.6 g/km (NEDC). Real-world correction ~1.5x = 160 g/km. 160 × 20 = 3,200g = 3.2 kg
  • European Environment Agency (2023): Average CO₂ from new passenger cars
  • ICCT (2022): Real-world vs type-approval fuel consumption gap

Well-established EU fleet average. Individual cars 80–250 g/km.

Water Consumption
MEDIUM
Gasoline production: ~40 L water per L fuel (incl. crude extraction). 20km at 7.5 L/100km = 1.5L fuel. 1.5 × 40 ≈ 60L
  • Mekonnen & Hoekstra (2011): Water footprint of energy
  • Wu et al. (2009): Water consumption in oil production

Varies significantly by extraction method and region.

Land Use
LOW
Road infrastructure + parking, amortized. Conservative estimate.
  • Chester & Horvath (2009): Life-cycle assessment of transportation infrastructure
Waste
HIGH
Tire wear: 0.1g/km × 20km = 2g. Brake wear: 0.1g/km × 20km = 2g. Total 4g.
  • OECD (2020): Non-exhaust Particulate Emissions from Road Transport
  • Emissions Analytics (2022): Tire wear emissions

Tire microplastics are a major underreported source of ocean plastic.

Toxicity
LOW
PM2.5 + NOx from Euro 6 car: ~0.06 g/km NOx, ~0.004 g/km PM2.5. Population-level health impact ≈ 8 µDALY.
  • WHO (2021): Health impact of air pollution from transport
  • ReCiPe 2016: particulate matter characterization factors

Trip-level toxicity is hardest to quantify. Depends on population density along route.

Comparisons

Methodology

Direct emissions: 160g CO₂/km (EU average passenger car 2023, real-world corrected). Water footprint of fuel production via Mekonnen & Hoekstra. Tire wear via OECD data.

Sources