From Ecopedia

Overview

Carbon Footprint is a measure of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emissions produced by an organization, product or an event. Carbon footprint is calculated in units of kg (or tonnes) that are equivalent to Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

Carbon footprints would aid in demonstrating the impacts of human activities on the global environment such as fossil fuel combustion, that may lead to a severe climate change on the earth.

The concept of carbon footprint originated from ecological footprint. Carbon footprint, in fact, forms a subset of ecological footprint as well as the highly comprehensive assessment called the Life cycle Assessment (LCA).

Commonly, a carbon footprint is composed of a primary footprint and a secondary footprint. The primary carbon footprint measures direct emissions of CO2 caused due to fossil fuel combustion, including domestic consumption of energy as well as transportation including plane or car. Primary footprints could be directly controlled by humans.

Secondary footprints on the other hand, measure the indirect emissions of carbon dioxide accumulated over a product’s life stages, including right from the manufacturing stage to the eventual breakdown phase.

Environmental Information

Carbon Footprint Calculation

First and foremost, the data used for calculating the carbon footprint is required to be complete, consistent, relevant, accurate as well as transparent.

A Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emissions assessment is undertaken for calculating the carbon footprint of either a nation, organization or an individual. Once a carbon footprint’s size is known, strategies such as enhanced process and product management, technological developments, carbon capture, altered Green Public or Private Procurement (GPP) and consumption strategies could be devised to minimize the footprint.

Carbon Footprints of Products

Several organizations including the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) addressed the measurement carbon footprints of products such as plastic (primarily candy wrappers), paper, computers, glass, tires, cans as well as carpets.

Australia chiefly addressed lumber and related building materials, while the Academics in Korea, Australia and the US addressed the carbon footprint of paved roads.

On the other hand, several nonprofit organizations, companies and academics estimated carbon footprints of production and operation of buses, cars, airplanes, pipelines, ships as well as trains.

Carbon Footprints of Electricity

Many peer-reviewed studies assessed the carbon footprint of several energy forms including, hydro, solar cell, coal, wind, nuclear and gas generation technology.

The studies concluded that wind, nuclear and hydroelectric power consistently resulted in the production of least carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour as against other electricity generating sources.

Study observations also revealed that although certain renewable electricity generation sources such as wind power produce no carbon emissions during operation, a minor footprint is left behind during construction stage.

Some commonly employed assessment methods include:

-Basic Method (covering direct emissions as well as electricity emissions)

-Process based Lifecycle Assessments (PALCA) Method

-Environmental Input-Output (the EIO) Method

-Hybrid Method

Reducing Carbon Footprint

Once the carbon footprint of a nation, organization, product or an individual is determined, appropriate mitigation strategies could be developed to realize a smaller footprint.

Recycling, reuse, organic production, composting, virgin tree protection and carbon offsetting are some efficient ways of achieving reduced carbon footprint on earth.

The Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997 is one such attempt by global nations to achieve a smaller carbon footprint on a global scale. The international agreement committed all the member countries to set binding targets for minimizing carbon dioxide gas emissions by about 5% against the levels recorded in 1990.

To achieve the target level, the protocol set a time period of five years, from 2008 to 2012. The rules set for the implementing the protocol, known as “Marrakesh Accords”, were finalized and adopted at COP7 in the year 2001, in Marrakesh.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_footprint http://www.humana-india.org/Articel.asp?NewsID=72 http://www.thehindu.com/op/2008/11/09/stories/2008110952711600.htm http://green.wikia.com/wiki/How_to_reduce_your_carbon_footprint http://www.carbonfootprint.com/minimisecfp.html http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php