Google Maps: Fuel-saving route planning now also in Austria: What is behind it?
Anyone traveling by car can contact the navigation service Google Maps In addition to the fastest route, you can also display a “fuel-saving route”. If this is already the fastest route, this is even preferred, so that the company in a mailing. With the alternative route planning, fuel and thus also CO2– Reduce emissions. In addition to Austria, the service also started yesterday in 30 other countries.
New route planning options on Google Maps
In the future, users will be shown both route options, as well as die differences in fuel consumption and the (estimated) arrival time. In the settings you can adjust whether you prefer the fastest or the fuel-saving route. You can also specify which engine your car has (petrol, diesel, hybrid or electric). In addition to the length of the route, factors such as traffic jams or the incline of the road are also included in the calculation. This is to optimize the potential fuel consumption.
in the Germany fuel-saving route planning was launched in August. In cave USA and Canada the feature has been active for several months. There are the CO2-Emissions are estimated to have fallen by more than half a million tons, according to a Google Austria spokesman Wolfgang Fasching-Kapfenberger. That equates to about 100,000 fewer fuel-powered cars on the road. These estimates are based on calculations by Google in collaboration with the US Department of Energy.
The tech giant also estimates that the new low-fuel service will save more than a million tons of CO2emissions per year – if the service were active worldwide.
“Climate-friendly” route planning: misleading term?
Even if Google mentions that not driving a car at all is often the most sustainable development, the company speaks of “fuel-saving” as “climate-friendly” route planning. When asked by the Kleine Zeitung, whether this formulation is not for users misleading and tempting to perceive driving as “climate friendly”, it says: “We believe that even small changes together make a big difference, especially when you consider the more than 1 billion users who rely on Google Maps every month. “
When it comes to Google’s data evaluations, the tech giant also wants to identify a trend towards public transport, footpaths and cycle paths. Although Google searches for car routes also increased by 25 percent from 2021 to 2022, this increase was lower than for inquiries about public transport (+ 70 percent), walking (+ 55 percent) and cycling routes (+30 Percent). On the part of Asfinag However, a possible trend away from the car cannot be confirmed, according to the press spokeswoman Alexandra Vucsina-Valla.
Google: How sustainable is the tech giant itself?
The new function in Google Maps gives reason to take a closer look at Google itself. After all, internet companies in particular need a lot of electricity. The company says it has set itself ambitious goals. Since 2007 one is climate neutral, until 2030 Wollmann CO2-free be. “We are currently two-thirds of the way to achieving the target, which means that around 66 percent of our energy requirements are covered with locally sourced carbon-free energy,” said press spokesman Fasching-Kapfenberger.
2019 Google is in the criticismbecause the company had financially supported a think tank in the past that included ex-US presidents donald trump asked to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. Google had also donated money to other lobby groups that had opposed climate change laws. After becoming public, the tech company said it did not share the agendas and views of these groups. Supporting funding has meanwhile ended.