How I offset carbon emissions

Reading time: 3 minutes. Published on 2024-04-09.

I have been on a lot of flights in my life, and I continue to fly. This page is to make transparent my efforts to offset the carbon emissions caused by those flights.

I am aware that reducing carbon emissions is vastly better than offsetting them, which is why I prefer trains and other types of public transit, if available.

The data

I use a tool to compile a dataset of all flights that I remember taking. The dataset includes at least departure and arrival airports. Other than that, the data quality varies:

Before 2015, the data is based on approximations. I am resonably sure that I have covered every flight but collected no further details (e.g. airlines and flight numbers).
Before 2019, I did not collect the airplane model.
Since 2019, I collect airplane model and airline.

Those caveats notwithstanding, the data reaches all the way back to age ten. I’m sure I was on some flights before that, but those are lost in the mists of time.

The offsetting

I started buying offsets in 2019 and use a variety of providers. The following are links to statements regarding their methodology:

To cover flights before 2019, I computed the total miles of flight until that time, which came out to 136,237 miles. I emailed atmosfair and they estimated approximately 64 t of carbon emission, based on an assumed 50/50 split of medium- and long-haul flights.

For flights from 2019, I used atmosfair’s calculator to estimate individual emissions, taking into account e.g. airplane model and seat class.

From 2024, I will switch to another set of providers, focusing on buying and cancelling carbon certificates from the European market:

I am happy about suggestions. (The listings above should not be construed as endorsements.)

From 2025, offsetting also includes some of my partner’s flights. Conversely, some work flights are excluded: they are partly compensated by my employer.

The receipts

This table lists all compensations on a rolling basis. I typically do 2–3 of them a year, batching a few past and/or future flights together.

Date	Provider	Cost (€)	Mass (kg)	kg/€
2019-03-30	atmosfair	500	21740	43.48
2019-06-22	myclimate	500	22700	45.40
2020-11-29	atmosfair	100	4350	43.50
2021-01-02	myclimate	400	18160	45.40
2022-01-30	atmosfair	200	8700	43.50
2022-09-30	atmosfair	71	2970	41.83
2022-12-10	atmosfair	92	3702	40.24
2023-03-30	Primaklima	54	2000	37.04
2023-07-19	myclimate	132	6000	45.45
2023-10-04	atmosfair	30	1047	34.90
2024-04-18	Compensators	433	5000	11.55
2024-08-27	Compensators	57	693	12.16
2024-12-07	ForTomorrow	316	4450	14.08
2025-04-29	Compensators	99	1040	10.51
2025-09-08	ForTomorrow	327	4600	14.07
2026-03-21	Compensators	275	3160	11.49
Sum		3586	110312	30.76