Carbon footprint: Regional jet versus turboprop, how large is the difference?

Subscription Required

By Bjorn Fehrm

Introduction

January 27, 2022, © Leeham News: Last week, we kicked off a series of articles where we will measure what difference our choice of flying makes to the primary Greenhouse gas emission, CO2.

We have upgraded our airliner performance model for the series to give a direct output of the CO2 emissions for the flights in different phases.

We start this week by comparing a typical domestic feeder flight of 300 nm, with an example route of Cleveland to Chicago O'Hare. What will be the time differences? And the fuel burn and CO2 emission difference?

To make it a fair comparison, we’ll use present generation aircraft flying on the US market, the Embraer E175 and De Havilland's DH 8-400. We will fly the DH 8 at a high-speed cruise to keep the flight time differences within 10 minutes.

Horizon Air DH 8-400. Source: Wikipedia.

Summary
  • As expected, the turboprop is the more efficient mode of transportation on the route. It consequently emits less CO2 per transported passenger.
  • With new, more comfortable turboprops in the works, the drive for sustainability could see a return of the turboprop to the US market.

To read the rest of the article Login or Subscribe today.