The carbon footprint of a Paris–Marseille trip
Submitted by Camille Démo ✓, Collège Jean-Moulin, Paris · published on September 17, 2026
Compare the CO₂ emissions of the train, the car and the plane using percentages and proportionality.
Exercise
For a trip from Paris to Marseille (about 750 km), the average emissions per passenger are:
High-speed train (TGV): 1.8 kg of CO2
Car (1 person): 145 kg of CO2
Plane: 190 kg of CO2
How many times more does the car emit than the train?
Express the emissions of the train as a percentage of those of the plane.
A family of 4 travels by car. Calculate the emissions per person and compare with the train.
By what percentage do emissions fall if the plane is replaced by the train?
Show the answer key
145 / 1.8 ≈ 80 times more.
1.8 / 190 ≈ 0.95 %.
145 / 4 ≈ 36 kg per person, still 20 times more than the train.
(190 − 1.8) / 190 ≈ a 99 % drop.
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