Thursday, March 13, 2008
Carbon Footprint: How could we reduce
A carbon footprint is a "measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide".[1] It is meant to be useful for individuals and organizations to conceptualize their personal (or organizational) impact in contributing to global warming. A conceptual tool in response to carbon footprints are carbon offsets, or the mitigation of carbon emissions through the development of alternative projects such as solar or wind energy or reforestation. A carbon footprint can be seen as a subset of earlier uses of the concept of ecological footprints.
Carbon footprint of Christmas
An analysis of the carbon footprint of Christmas in the UK shows that consumption of items such as food, travel, lighting and gifts at Christmas produces as much as 650 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per person - equal to 5.5% of the UK annual carbon footprint. Over Christmas, the average person could produce as much as:
• 26 kg of CO2 from Christmas food
• 96 kg of CO2 from Christmas Car travel
• 218 kg of CO2 from extravagant lighting displays
• 310 kg of CO2 on Christmas Shopping
Christmas carbon emissions could be reduced by up to 60 per cent to about 250 kg
Reducing a carbon footprint
The carbon footprint can be efficiently and effectively reduced by applying the following steps:
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to accurately determine the current carbon footprint
Identification of hot-spots in terms of energy consumption and associated CO2-emissions
Optimisation of energy efficiency and, thus, reduction of CO2-emissions and reduction of other GHG emissions contributed from production processes
Identification of solutions to neutralise the CO2 emissions that cannot be eliminated by energy saving measures.
The last step includes carbon offsetting; investment in projects that aim at the reducing CO2 emissions, for instance biofuels or tree planting activities.
