Santa’s astonishing carbon footprint

On December 25, Santa Claus goes on a frantic race, which is not very ecological and very unrealistic. What is his carbon footprint for his major international tour?

I have always been fascinated by the somewhat useless calculations that make you dream. In this period of frenzied consumption, here is a statistic that answers a fundamental question: what is the bilan carbone of the distribution of gifts from Santa Claus ? Here is the behind the scenes of a logistical feat.

Santa Claus travels 149 million kilometers

To determine the CO release₂ of the distribution of gifts to all the children in the sleigh, it is necessarily necessary to make calculations that are a little simplistic, but enlightening.

More than 50 million homes for Santa to visit

Assuming that there are approximately a billion children under 9 years old (beyond that, they no longer believe in Santa Claus) we assume, with 3.5 children on average per household, that these children live in 258,714,286 different houses.

However, knowing that the Santa Claus does not visit most Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Buddhist children, but most atheist (as a precaution) and Christian children, the result is that the Christmas Eve workload is reduced to 15% of households in the world to visit, or some 51.428 million gift drops to organize.

52 million homes for Santa to visit : so many stops and starts to plan for the sled!

Real-time observation of the distribution of gifts

The Christmas night began in the East while the regions further west have not yet gone to bed, nor been visited by Santa Claus.

So, when he reached France, Santa Claus has already distributed more than 26 million giftsand there is no question of resting because the crossing of the Atlantic and the distribution of gifts to the entire American continent still awaits him!

Santa Claus is expected to travel 149 million kilometers

Santa Claus would have to visit 1.84 houses per second if he gave himself the whole year to distribute his presents. But, as he only works in December, he must work at the speed of 19.61 homes visited per second during the month of December.

In total, to connect all these homes, which are assumed to be uniformly distributed across all continents (which is not the case), it must travel a maximum total of 149 million kilometers.

Santa’s global journey

Since the 1950s, the very serious NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), American military radars, allows children to follow in real time the Santa’s journeys.

The NORAD website allows you to track Santa Claus ©NORAD

On its site, noradsanta.org, children can geolocate Santa Claus on the evening of December 24. The site also offers many games to keep children waiting before gifts are delivered. Google also allows children to follow Santa’s steps thanks to its geolocation tools… Santa, big brother is watching you ?

Is Santa Claus a big polluter?

Suppose that the Santa’s sleigh, well optimized, does not pollute more than a Clio, i.e. 117 g of CO₂ per kilometer. The distribution of Santa Claus gifts will clear 17.4 million kilos of C0₂ !

And knowing that the average number of gifts per child for Christmas is 5.5 for the whole world (much more in the USA, Europe or France: 8.4 on average), the number of gifts to be delivered to children is 707 million !

Green gifts to offset Santa’s C02 emissions? ©wavebreakmedia

Knowing that the average weight of a gift is 1.7 kilos, the charge of Santa’s sleigh exceeds 1.2 million tonnes…

Santa Claus emits so much CO₂ only 2,000 French people per year

For the record, a French household emits on average 16.4 tonnes of CO₂ each year and a French person emits on average 8.7 tonnes of CO equivalent₂ per year. Knowing that the distribution of gifts in France involves 132 million packages, and that they weigh on average 1.7 kilos, to distribute gifts in December, Santa Claus emits so much CO₂ that nearly 2,000 French people in one year.

And again: we do not take into account thecarbon footprint of gifts themselves, but that’s another story…

And the reindeer then, what CO emissions₂ ?

According to researchers at the Technical University of Norway, a moose or a chute emits around a hundred kilos of methane per year through its frequent burps and farts.

Pigs emit much less methane than elk or reindeer! This year, to make the Greener Santawe suggest he replace the reindeer with pigs on his sleigh! What do you think?

Article updated