Let’s consider a thought experiment: how many trees would it take to offset the carbon emissions from a flight between San Francisco and Denver?
First, we need to estimate the carbon footprint of the flight. A one-way flight from San Francisco to Denver is approximately 1,000 miles. A typical commercial airplane emits about 0.5 kilograms of CO2 per mile per passenger. For a single passenger, this means the flight would produce around 500 kilograms of CO2.
Next, let’s think about trees. On average, a mature tree absorbs about 22 kilograms of CO2 per year. This varies depending on the type of tree, its age, and the climate it’s in, but 22 kilograms per year is a useful average.
So, to offset the 500 kilograms of CO2 from the flight, you would need about 23 trees (500 ÷ 22 = 22.73). These trees would need to grow for a year to fully absorb the CO2 emitted by your flight.
However, this thought experiment reveals an important truth: offsetting aviation emissions with trees simply isn’t a scalable or long-term solution. The sheer volume of emissions produced by global air travel far outstrips what can be reasonably absorbed by trees. Even if millions of trees were planted, they couldn’t fully counteract the growing environmental cost of aviation. Ultimately, addressing aviation emissions requires systemic changes–like transitioning to cleaner fuels or more energy-efficient technologies–rather than relying on offsetting alone.