Carbon footprint of a 3 weeks Antarctic expedition on Sonabia 2:
255kg CO2 per person
Antarctic expedition on Sonabia 2
Carbon footprint per person on a 3 weeks trip Ushuaia-Antarctic-Ushuaia,
255 kg of CO2 per person
diesel fuel consumption per person: 93kg, footprint 248.7 kg of CO2. 1 kg of diesel produces 2.68kg of CO2 equivalent. propane gas for cooking per person: 2kg, footprint 6kg of CO2. 1 kg of propane produces 3kg of pure CO2. TOTAL 255kg of CO2 per person Food and other personal supplies are not counted (would be the same if you stay aground). The transportation of fuel and gas to Ushuaia is not counted. Measured on 2 Antarctic expeditions, season 2023-2024.
What about a passenger ship?
The minimal carbon footprint for an Antarctic cruise on an ” ideally ecological” passenger ship is:
857 kg CO2 per person
We consider a 1500 nautical miles trip (2778 km), a fuel consumption of 320g per person and nautical mile (optimistic) and that the ship only uses light diesel fuel (whereas many ships still use heavy fuel oil, which is more polluting). We do not count the additional CO2 sources: food on board, land visit, using big outboard engines.
Air travel
Air travel to and from Ushuaia considering 3 European destinations: Madrid, Paris, London
1347 to 1580 kg of CO2 per person
Madrid: 12.427 km, 1347 kg of CO2 (Madrid-Buenos Aires-Ushuaia) Paris: 13.440km, 1437 kg of CO2 (Paris-Buenos Aires-Ushuaia) Londres: 13.669km, 1580 kg of CO2 (London-Madrid-Buenos Aires-Ushuaia) source: ICAO carbon emission calculator. Round trip, tourist class.
Total footprint of your holidays
FIRST CASE: backpackers and travelers: you are already in Ushuaia.
255 kg of CO2 per person
Second case: air travel from Madrid / Paris / London.
1602 / 1692 / 1835 kg of CO2 per person
What if you stay at home?
According to your diet, the carbon footprint of your food for a full year is:
1500 kg to 3300 kg CO2 per person
Source: Afrouzi et al. (2003), Result in Engineering Vol 18. Warning. estimates valid for the industrial food available in the USA.
