New eco-friendly routes will be available on Google Maps, including updates to biking directions and bike and scooter share information. A new routing model has also been implemented for cars which is designed to help lower fuel consumption to save on carbon and petrol money.
While the new routes are only rolling out in the US at the moment, Google said it plans to expand this to “Europe and beyond” next year. It said the routing options could help to save over one million tons of carbon emissions per year, equivalent to removing about 200,000 cars from the road.
The search firm has also implemented new carbon features into its flight comparison tools that let users see the emissions per flight. The information will be displayed next to the price and flight times in order to help users factor carbon emissions into their purchasing decisions.
These emission estimates are both flight and seat-specific so that the lower fuel usage of newer, more efficient...