Carbon Footprint for Google Maps™ and Others

Description

This extension automatically estimates the total CO2 emission resulting from driving on the route suggested by Google Maps and other map services. The estimated CO2 emission is inserted non-obtrusively next to the route's time and distance. Since version 5.0.0, this extension also estimates CO2 emissions for trains and flights in several search engines.

Increasing Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions into Earth's atmosphere are a primary cause of global warming. Just before the industrial revolution, CO2 concentration was below 280ppm, and now it is already above 400ppm! Moreover, in the past 400000 years prior to industrialization, the concentration has oscillated between 180ppm and 280ppm. Therefore, the current concentration level is quite alarming.

The transportation sector accounts for a large part of all greenhouse gas emissions. Every one of us may contribute to a global reduction of our emissions in this sector, if we use our cars less. In doing so, we also improve the air quality of our cities and make our streets less noisy. Furthermore, for short and medium distances, walking and cycling are much healthier alternatives to driving.

CO2 is converted into Oxygen and sugars through photosynthesis. But it takes a long time for trees to capture all the CO2 that we have been emitting. In fact, it took the Earth millions of years to generate all the fossil fuels that we are rapidly burning nowadays. To see how many trees you need to plant and how long you need to wait for them to offset the displayed CO2 emission, just hover the mouse over the estimation for a few seconds.

To improve the accuracy of the estimations, the extension can be configured through the options page, which is accesible by clicking on the "earth icon" that appears in the address bar when this extension is activated.

If you find any issues, please report them in our issue tracker (https://gitlab.com/aossie/CarbonFootprint/issues), and they will be fixed as soon as possible.

If you like this extension, please give it a good rating, like it on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carbon-Footprint-for-Google-Maps/217487891623173) and +1 it on Google+ (https://plus.google.com/b/112973863308036008385/112973863308036008385/posts).

Spread this extension and help us raise environmental awareness!
Let's preserve the environment, stop global warming and save our planet!

This extension is developed by AOSSIE (the Australian Open Source Software Innovation and Education): http://aossie.org .