Flight: TIM

💡 High-Level Description:

The Travel Impact Model (TIM), developed under the aegis of Google and its independent Advisory Committee, revolutionizes the carbon footprint estimation for air freight, employing a cutting-edge, comprehensive methodology. Drawing from public and licensable datasets, TIM meticulously calculates per-seat or per-passenger CO2e emissions by considering a range of variables including flight details, aircraft specifics, and load factors, ensuring a robust and transparent emission estimate. Notably, TIM's methodology stands apart for its dedication to accuracy, validated against real-world data, and its ambition to cover the complete climate impacts of aviation, making it a future-proof tool that evolves alongside aviation technologies and practices.

By focusing on the precise calculation of emissions and offering these insights through a freely accessible API, TIM empowers stakeholders across the aviation sector—from airlines to passengers—to make informed decisions regarding their carbon footprint. The model's governance structure, featuring a mix of industry, academic, and policy experts, guarantees that TIM remains at the forefront of scientific advancement, maintaining its relevance and utility in facilitating sustainable aviation practices.

API Request

{
    "expand": [
        "items"
    ],
    "items": [
        {
            "type": "flight",
            "methodology": "TIM",
            "origin": "SYD",
            "destination": "MEL",
            "number_of_travelers": 1,
            "booking_class": "economy",
            "airline": "QF",
            "flight_number": "QF0479",
            "aircraft_type": "73H",
            "external_reference": "test"
        }
    ]
}

• Default Values

  • "booking_class": "economy"

API Request Items

• "type": "flight" (required)

• "methodology": "TIM" (required)

• "external_reference": A unique identifier that helps you link the resulting emissions to the requested item. Especially useful if multiple items are requested since SQUAKE cannot guarantee to keep the same order. The maximum length is 128 characters.

• "number_of_travelers": Minimum value is 1. The default value is 1.

• "origin": SQUAKE will try to resolve the origin/destination regardless of its format. Ideally, for addresses use the Post standard, for airports use IATA/ICAO code (format: ^[A-Z]{3,4}$, e.g. "MUC"), for other locations used in trade and transportation use UN/LOCODE codes (format: ^[A-Z]{2}\W?[A-Z2-9]{3}$, e.g. "DEHAM"). You can also pass lat/long (format: ^[-+]?\d{1,3}\.\d{1,10}\s?,\s?[-+]?\d{1,3}\.\d{1,10}$, e.g. "+40.712,-74.006").

• "destination": SQUAKE will try to resolve the origin/destination regardless of its format. Ideally, for addresses use the Post standard, for airports use IATA/ICAO code (format: ^[A-Z]{3,4}$, e.g. "MUC"), for other locations used in trade and transportation use UN/LOCODE codes (format: ^[A-Z]{2}\W?[A-Z2-9]{3}$, e.g. "DEHAM"). You can also pass lat/long (format: ^[-+]?\d{1,3}\.\d{1,10}\s?,\s?[-+]?\d{1,3}\.\d{1,10}$, e.g. "+40.712,-74.006").

• "booking_class": If you don't pass a booking_class, then fare_class and airline are required. SQUAKE will then automatically resolve the correct booking_class. For TIM, economy is the default.

• "aircraft_type": Aircraft type in the IATA or ICAO format.

• "fare_class": The combination of fare_class and airline is mutually exclusive with booking_class. This is a single letter, e.g., Y, J, etc.

• "airline": The IATA Designator of an airline, e.g., LH. Airline names are also supported, SQUAKE will then automatically resolve it. The combination of fare_class and airline is mutually exclusive with booking_class.

• "flight_number": Flight numbers should include the airline designator, e.g., "BA115".

• "departure_date": The departure date in the format YYYY-MM-DD, which is aligned with ISO 8601

• • "sustainable_fuels": Indicates the usage of sustainable fuels. This lowers the computed emissions in SQUAKE but is not part of the current official emissions frameworks.

• "carbon_reduction_percentage_of_total": The percentage of emissions reduction through the usage of sustainable fuel. The minimum value is 0, and the maximum value is 1. Default value is 0.

Sample API Response

{
    "carbon_quantity": 81870,
    "carbon_unit": "gram",
    "items": [
        {
            "carbon_quantity": 81870,
            "carbon_unit": "gram",
            "external_reference": "test",
            "type": "flight",
            "methodology": "TIM",
            "distance": 806.0,
            "distance_unit": "kilometer"
        }
    ]
}

Bibliography

• [External] Travel Impact Model Emissions Data (Oct 27, 2022). TIM Team. For more details, check: https://github.com/google/travel-impact-model