Taylor Swift Bought Carbon Credits for Her Private Jet. Do They Work?

09.02.2024 - 11:34 / skift.com / Taylor Swift / Travis Kelce / Meghna Maharishi

Will Taylor Swift make it to the Super Bowl on time to see boyfriend Travis Kelce play? Swifties are counting on it and the Japan Embassy in the U.S. says yes. 

But doing so means using a private jet — and a lot of carbon emissions.

A private jet emits at least 10 times more carbon emissions compared to a commercial jetliner, according to a study from the Institute of Policy Studies, a progressive think tank based in Washington, D.C. 

Swift just sold one of her jets, a Dassault Falcon 900. That leaves her Falcon 7x, which uses around 394 gallons of fuel per hour, according to Jet Advisors, a firm that helps people sell and acquire private jets.  

A Boeing 777 burns more, around 2,500 gallons per hour, but carries up to 368 passengers. That’s around seven gallons burned per hour for each passenger.

Swift’s travel between Los Angeles, Tokyo and Las Vegas on the Falcon 900 could have released up to 200,000 pounds of carbon emissions, according to an estimate by the Associated Press. The estimate is based on the assumption that she’d be flying 19,400 miles.

To help reduce the environmental burden, Swift’s team purchased double the carbon credits to offset the emissions generated by her Eras Tour, a spokesperson told the AP. 

But these green initiatives aren’t popular with everyone and its benefits are a source of intense debate.

Carbon credits and carbon offsets are terms that are often used interchangeably. Essentially, they are used to compensate the emissions generated, according to the London School of Economics. 

Common examples include replanting trees in the rainforest or introducing energy-efficient methods to impoverished communities. Swift’s spokesperson did not share additional details of the carbon credits used. 

The effectiveness of carbon offsets and credits is unclear. An investigation from ProPublica found that many of the organizations that spearhead these carbon-reducing projects overstated the impact of their emissions reductions.

Meanwhile, an analysis from The Guardian and Corporate Accountability, a non-profit watchdog, concluded that the vast majority of carbon reducing projects — 78% — could be “categorised as likely junk.”

And this doesn’t just apply to private jet owners. Commercial airlines often offer carbon offsets that customers can buy when purchasing airfares. These typically go towards projects in developing countries, according to Michael Schneider, the assistant director of aviation environment at the International Air Transport Association. 

“I can, as a project developer, sell those to organizations that have, maybe, difficulties to reduce themselves,” Schneider said. “And the aviation sector is a hard-to-abate sector.”

However, airlines have faced criticism for their