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According to a recent study by Yard digital marketing agency, published on Friday, July 29, Taylor Swift topped the list of celebrities with the most CO2 emissions from private flights. As per the agency's claims, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter accumulated 8,293 tonnes of CO2 emissions this year from January 1 to July 20.
According to the study, Swift's shortest distance on her private jet (as of July 20) was just for 36 minutes. Yard's study further mentioned that the "All Too Well" singer's CO2 emissions are around "1,184.8 times more than the average person's total annual emissions."
However, following these allegations, Swift's representative told TMZ that the 32-year-old pop star had loaned out her private jet and claimed that the number of trips done by the aircraft was not attributed to the singer alone.
Taylor Swift's representative claims that the singer loaned out her private jet
Amid the controversial allegations against Taylor Swift about the seemingly excessive usage of her jet, a spokesperson told TMZ:
"Taylor's jet is loaned out regularly to other individuals. To attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect."
As per the report by Yard, Taylor Swift reportedly flew 170 times over 200 days from January 1 to July 20. She also had an average flight time of around 80 minutes, while the total airtime was pegged at 22,923 minutes. However, as per the claims of the representative, a portion of these flights were when Swift had loaned out the aircraft. It must be noted that the number of flights in a similar 200-day period is likely to increase if the singer and actress has an ongoing international tour. After Swift's representative responded to Yard's claims, the agency updated the original report and added her spokesperson's clarification.
The claim of the representative cannot be confirmed as Yard's report was clearly based on the publicly accessible data from the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) tracking database. The data set, which has been recorded since January 1, will only show stats like location and destination of flight, altitude, and airspeed. Thus, it is impossible for the general public to determine whether Swift was in her private jet for the 170 trips as mentioned above.
According to the ADS-B tracking data of Swift's 2009 Dassault Falcon 7X, on July 29, the aircraft was seemingly headed towards Buffalo and then returned to Nashville. As of publishing, the aircraft is in the hangar at the Nashville International Airport. It is also possible that a significant number of her private jet trips are to the UK, where her partner Joe Alwyn resides.
A possible way Taylor Swift can reduce her private jet's CO2 footprint
The singer's reported usage of her private jet and the consequent CO2 emissions have resulted in much online criticism for Taylor Swift. The 2009 Dassault Falcon 7X is a long-range, large-cabin jet, which reportedly consumes around 380 gallons of aviation fuel in an hour, as claimed by GuardianJet.
However, Swift can always opt for a VLJ (or Very Light-weight Jet) like the Cirrus Vision SF50 or the more premium HondaJet, both of which are extremely efficient. According to AV Buyer, the Cirrus VLJ can consume around an average of 80-85 US gallons per hour. However, AINonline claims that the jet can only consume 42 gallons per hour while cruising at best-economy speed. According to Business Insider, the Vision jet costs around $3-$3.5 million.
Meanwhile, Altitudes Magazine reported that the HondaJet can consume around 90 gallons per hour while cruising at Mach 0.70 to 0.72. The six-seater HondaJet Elite would cost around $5.25 million. Thus, Taylor Swift can possibly reduce her CO2 emissions by a significant margin if she uses a VLJ for national or close-range air trips. As per Yards, the 32-year-old's average distance covered per flight was around 139.36 miles. This is easily achievable using the aforementioned VLJs.
Amid the controversy, numerous Swifties adopted questionable means to defend the star. In a recent attempt, a Taylor Swift admirer on Twitter, whose account goes by Britt (@taysrep89), falsely claimed that the singer donated $10,000 to an environmental charity. However, TMZ has claimed that the National Environmental Protection Agency (not to be confused with an actual agency, EPA, aka Environmental Protection Agency) cited by the fan account does not exist. Later, the fan account also admitted to falsifying the the donation claims.
Similarly, some tweets had alleged that Yard's report was fake. However, Yard's report was based on ADS-B, which clearly showcases Taylor Swift's private jet's flight history.
