TRX, Inc., a provider of transaction processing and data integration services to the travel industry, has launched a Carbon Emissions Model to provide corporations with empirical data detailing the impact of employee travel on the environment.
Corporations are able to use the Carbon Emissions Model to learn how much CO2 their specific global air travel program has emitted, as well as how their program compares to industry averages. The model also allows companies to see which carriers are the lowest CO2 emitters for their travel footprint, providing them with tools to determine how changing their preferred carriers, or modifying their travel volume, would impact the environment.
The TRX Carbon Emissions Model calculates the amount of CO2 a company produces, based on its specific corporate travel footprint. The sophisticated model matches detailed travel data from the corporation (such as arrival/departure cities, carriers, etc.) with worldwide flight schedules, and aircraft and engine information (the size, type and age of the plane, the plane's engine configuration, etc.).
"TRX Travel Analytics provides strategic airline sourcing analysis to major corporations around the world. These corporations asked us to help them understand their travel program's carbon emissions and whether or how that might impact their airline negotiations and supplier decisions," said Scott Gillespie, Vice President & General Manager, TRX Travel Analytics.
Understanding and modifying travel program decisions as it relates to carbon emissions generated from flight travel has become a hot topic for the travel industry. The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) was the first to focus on this issue and hosted the industry's first low-carbon conference last fall in Barcelona, Spain. ACTE encouraged all delegates to use low-emission transportation from the airport to the conference centre and requested they walk to event activities. ACTE airline partner, British Airways, agreed to offset all attendees' flight emissions to the conference no matter which carrier they selected.
TRX has agreed to donate fifteen percent of proceeds from sales of its Carbon Emissions Model to Native Energy, a leading national marketer of renewable energy credits (RECs) and carbon offsets. Native Energy uses companies' carbon offsets to help build wind energy projects on Native American and Native Alaskan land.
Concluded Gillespie, "TRX's Carbon Emissions Model delivers value to the industry and to the planet. Companies interested in making fact-based decisions to help protect the environment are able to do so using this unbiased tool. On a flight-by-flight basis, the decision to use one airline vs. another does not have a dramatic impact to CO2 released. However, when you look at annual airline sourcing decisions, corporate travel managers can contribute very positively to reduced CO2 emissions. Even if corporate travel managers use the tool as the tie-breaker between two competitive airlines, it's a great start."