These Are The American Weapons That Cause The Most Pollution

A report from Durham and Lancaster universities describes the US military as “one of the largest climate polluters in history, consuming more liquid fuels and emitting more CO2e (carbon-dioxide equivalent) than most countries.”

The report estimates that, if the US military were a nation, it would rank 47th in the world for greenhouse gas emissions. According to the book The Pentagon, Climate Change, and War: Charting the Rise and Fall of US Military Emissions, the military accounts for almost 80% of the US government’s total energy consumption. Given the footprint of its bases, tanks, aircraft, ships, and personnel, these figures should not come as a surprise.

Some of the largest weapons systems in the US military, however, produce very few greenhouse gas emissions. The biggest ship in the arsenal, the Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier, runs on nuclear power, as do all of the Navy’s submarines.

The weapons systems that emit the most CO2 by weight are military aircraft, led by heavy bombers and cargo planes.

No single source tracks fuel consumption or CO2 emissions per weapon. The data is scattered across media reports, media which covers the military exclusively, academic research papers and reports, the Congressional Budget Office, the Department of Defense, and think tanks. The table below compiles approximate figures from these sources.

Aircraft	Fuel burn (gallons per hour)	CO2 per hour (US tons)
B-52H bomber	~3,300	~35
B-1B bomber	~2,700–3,300	~29–35
C-17 cargo plane	~2,200–3,000	~24–32
F-35A fighter	~1,500	~16
KC-135R tanker	~1,300–1,500	~14–16
F-16 fighter	~900	~10
C-130 cargo plane	~750	~8