Above announced a new app feature that provides drivers with facts and figures about the carbon emissions they reduce when they choose to drive electric or hybrid vehicles.
The new feature shows riders an estimate of the emissions they save when they ride Uber Comfort Electric or Uber Green, hybrid and electric vehicles, by comparing the CO2 savings compared to riding the same distance via UberX or Uber Calculate Uber Comfort.
From an environmental perspective, ridesharing can have mixed effects – but it is one of the more conscious forms of transportation for people who find a balance between private and public transportation.
Uber, what first started In 2009, ride-sharing platforms were popularized around the world, with benefits such as increased transportation availability in remote areas and, as most people who missed their morning train to work can relate, convenience.
Accordingly Yahoo NewsUber has about 60,000 electric vehicles in use each month and in North America about 1 in 20 miles are traveled by an electric car.
Above plans The aim is to convert hundreds of thousands of drivers to electric vehicles and to aim for 50% of kilometers driven in key European cities to be electric vehicles by 2025. By 2040, the company plans to make 100% of its trips with zero-emission vehicles.
But ridesharing is not as environmentally friendly as one might think. According to a 2020 study report According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, ridesharing produces about 69% more emissions than the types of rides they replace. For example, if you take an Uber to the grocery store and that car drives off to pick up another passenger and take them to another destination, that Uber car’s entire trip produces more emissions than if both people in this example had driven their own Cars. This is called “deadheading” and generally produces around 50% more emissions than the same trip in a private car.
There are a few reasons why ridesharing isn’t great for the environment, including how much it contributes more traffic jamsthe platform’s tendency to displace other lower-carbon modes of transport such as cycling or public transport, and the aforementioned “deadheading”.
On the other hand, ridesharing can help People give up owning a car (although Studies let’s say it’s by a minimal amount), reduce traffic congestion through trip sharing – and it also seems to complement and encourage Train ride.
The concept of individual carbon footprint has a few problems, the biggest of which is accuracy And reliability. Greenhouse gas emissions are categorized by three areas: direct emissions, indirect emissions and value chain emissions (also called total emissions). All of them are difficult to measure, but especially Scope 3 emissions. A Studied at Harvard Law School noted that “measuring, targeting and managing Scope 3 is a mess” and that the “wide range of uncertainties” in these emissions can cause an organization’s numbers to be “absurdly off.”
Measuring a customer’s carbon footprint is nothing new for large companies, but in the past companies have used these measurements to blame customers rather than motivate them to use their services. ExxonMobilfor example, was called out for trying to shift the brunt of environmental responsibility onto us Individuals through carbon footprint measurements starting around 2005. Carbon footprints have been criticized as a way for companies to avoid responsibility for their emissions by making the public feel responsible for them Reports have shown that just 100 companies are responsible for the majority of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Recently, however, there has been a wave of companies trying to be more transparent about their own emissions. In 2020, Chipotle Mexican Grill announced It will measure its gas emissions in all three areas. Mars, which makes chocolate and pet food, measured its Emissions since 2009. P.S publishes carbon footprint Reports for a list of their products, such as laptops and tablets. Still just about 10% of companies around the world comprehensively measured their emissions in 2022, an increase of just 1% compared to 2021.
To view your carbon footprint when using hybrid or electric vehicles on Uber, simply tap the “Estimated Carbon Emissions Saved” button in the account section of the app. The app records all emissions that customers save by choosing more economical vehicles.
Next, Uber plans to add the impact of the use of e-bikes, e-scooters and UberX Share rides booked through the app, it says Axios.