Google’s Maps app is to start directing drivers along routes estimated to generate the lowest carbon emissions based on traffic, slopes and other factors, the company announced on Tuesday.
Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, said that the feature would launch later this year in the US and eventually reach other countries as part of its commitment to help combat climate change through its services.
Unless users opt out, the default route will be the “eco-friendly” one if comparable options take about the same time, Google said.
When alternatives are significantly faster, Google will offer choices and let users compare estimated emissions.
“What we are seeing is for around half of routes, we are able to find an option more eco-friendly with minimal or no time-cost tradeoff,” Russell Dicker, a director of product at Google, told reporters on Monday.
Google said that it derives emissions relative estimates by testing across different types of vehicles and road types, drawing on insights from the US government’s National Renewable Energy Lab.
Road grade data come from its Street View vehicles, as well as aerial and satellite imagery.
National Renewable Energy Lab mobility group manager Jeff Gonder said that the lab, which developed a tool known as FastE to estimate vehicles’ energy usage, reached a deal this month to get funding from Google and study the accuracy of its estimates.
The potential effect on emissions from the feature is unclear.
A study of 20 people at California State University, Long Beach, last year found that participants were more inclined to consider carbon emissions in route selection after testing an app that showed estimates.
Google’s announcement included additional climate-focused changes.
From June, it is to start warning drivers about to travel through low emissions zones where some vehicles are restricted in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.
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