NHL postponement has prevented 200 tonnes of CO2 in carbon emissions

• Damage done to the environment by the NHL has declined
• Lockdown results in 200t CO2 saved from being released
• 31 NHL teams produced 1,430 tonnes CO2 emissions in 2019 through flights alone
• Each team produced an average of 46t CO2 emissions per player travelling to and from matches in 2019

The postponement of the NHL has already saved more than 200 tonnes of CO2 in carbon emissions, a new study has found.

The NHL season, like most other sporting events, has been put on hold following the global outbreak of the coronavirus, resulting in a large proportion of the campaign remaining up in the air – while keeping every side grounded.

The NHL features one of the biggest carbon footprint in world sport, with the NHL Emissions Report revealing that it produced more than 1,430 tonnes CO2 in carbon emissions in 2019 in travel to and from away fixtures, but recent development show just how the global lockdown has had a positive effect on the environment.

Latest research shows that due to the games postponed by the league – which started on March 12 – means that 206t CO2 has been saved from being spread into the environment by the 31 teams in the NHL, after calculating the average CO2 produced by each side in their remaining fixtures.

That 206t CO2 saved is the equivalent to driving 463,722 miles in a car, or 22 homes’ energy use for one entire year.

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NHL Emissions Report, produced by SpinSports, looks into the amount of travelling done by each team in the NHL to expose how the league is producing far more in terms of emissions than is normal, and the damage the regular league season is doing to the environment.

Last year saw a total of 1,430t CO2 produced with the LA Kings the worst offenders, covering 210,600km and producing 67.7t CO2. The average amount produced by the average person in the world stands at just 8.4t CO2, making NHL players on average eight times worse than the average person in 2019.

Commenting on the results of the study, Andrew Welfle from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester told the NHL Emissions Report: “The carbon footprint of all major sports teams and its players is often several magnitudes higher than that of other people. In the majority of cases, the majority of the blame cannot be justified by the focus on specific teams and players – they have to travel to attend fixtures and keep to schedule.

“It is the wider sports organisations that need to rethink the design of leagues and schedules, as this will be the only way to reduce the emissions of sports from an aviation perspective.

At the minute sports teams do get away with the amount of travel they do both nationally and internationally. However with climate change and emissions rapidly rising up the agenda and with many countries developing tough emission reduction targets, the time rapidly coming when sport has to do its bit.

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“Sport is still coming to terms with what needs to be done and have not yet grasped that they may need to make some hard decisions to decarbonise once all the ‘low hanging’ actions have been achieved.”

For more information and quotes from Andrew Welfle, view the full study here: https://www.spinsports.com/blog/nhl-emissions/