Carbon Footprint

What is really meant by Carbon Footprint? 

​The concept of the Carbon Footprint was originated from the ecological footprint concept, which is “the amount of the environment necessary to produce the goods and services necessary to support a particular lifestyle.” The Carbon Footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that is released into the atmosphere as a result of human activities. The calculation of a Carbon Footprint is not confined to the individual; rather, we can calculate it for a country, a business, a product, etc. The idea of the Carbon Footprint was first introduced by a large advertising campaign for the fossil fuel company British Petroleum (BP) in 2005.  

Although Carbon Footprint is now a powerful calculation tool used to help reduce and offset carbon emissions from businesses and individuals, this propaganda was first designed to shift the responsibility for carbon emissions from fossil fuel companies to the public. After BP popularized this environmental concept, many other major fossil fuel companies borrowed this strategy and shifted the blame for the negative consequences of carbon emissions to individuals. Ironically, the strategy had some success, in which there were rising concerns in consumers about their own personal, familial, and community actions, as well as the creation of multiple carbon footprint calculators. However, even today, BP has not made any attempt to reduce its own carbon footprint and has continued to expand its oil drilling.  

How do we calculate a Carbon Footprint? 

Calculating a Carbon Footprint is simple and can be done through several online calculators. YouTuber Sustainability Illustrated has suggested three carbon footprint calculators you can use: 

If you are in the United States

If you are in the United Kingdom

If you are anywhere else: carbonfootprint.com

It is important to note that your total carbon footprint cannot be accurately calculated due to a lack of knowledge in academia about the complicated interactions between contributing processes from nature to our climate, including the involvement of the natural processes that store or release CO2. Therefore, environmental scientists Laurence Wright, Simon Kemp, and Lan Williams proposed the following definition of a carbon footprint: 

“A measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions of a defined population, system or activity, considering all relevant sources, sinks, and storage within the spatial and temporal boundary of the population, system or activity of interest. Calculated as carbon dioxide equivalent using the relevant 100-year global warming potential (GWP100).”

Simply speaking, Carbon Footprint is the amount of CO2 emitting either from human activities or other entities (e.g., buildings, industrial facilities, countries, etc.). It can be emitted directly from the sources to the atmosphere, such as those that result from coal-burning factories, heating, and transportation. The carbon footprint concept also often includes the emissions of other greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N₂O), or chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

How do we reduce it? 

The average global carbon footprint is approximately 4 tons, however the average carbon footprint for a person in the United States is 16 tons, one of the highest rates in the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has a goal of avoiding a 1.5℃ (34.7℉) rise in global temperatures by 2050, and in order to achieve this goal, the average global carbon footprint per year needs to drop to under 2 tons.  

To reduce a carbon footprint, the key is to cut out the largest source of global greenhouse gas emissions, which are the burning of coal, natural gas, oil, and heat. As such, energy firms should take the first step to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Clean energy should be considered a promising choice, as it emits little to no greenhouse gas emissions and includes renewable and carbon-free sources. In turn, energy firms are encouraged to displace “dirty” fossil fuels in the power sector with cleaner energies which would offer the benefit of lower or even zero carbon emissions. Examples include rooftop solar panels, solar water heating, small-scale wind generation, fuel cells powered by natural gas or renewable hydrogen, and geothermal energy. 

We, as individuals, can also contribute to fewer greenhouse gas emissions. An essential concept when discussing the way to reduce our own carbon footprint is Carbon Offset. Carbon offset means to “pay” for how much CO2 you emit to a certain environmental program/project that aims to reduce the same amount of CO2 emissions. For example, by planting more than a half trillion trees, we could reduce atmospheric carbon by about 25 percent. However, this mitigation strategy does not solve the root cause of emission problems, but rather transfers the problem to another program while keeping the same level of emissions. Therefore, Carbon Offset could be a great way to fund clean and renewable energy but should not be considered a long-term solution.  

Nonetheless, long-term solutions are not overly complicated. They can include recycling or using public transportation instead of private vehicles or turning off the water while we brush our teeth and clean the dishes.

The European Union’s European Youth Portal website offers a comprehensive list of additional tips to limit our Carbon Footprint.

Reference:

William S. (2008). Footprint. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/magazine/17wwln-safire-t.html 

Solnit R. (2021). Big oil coined ‘carbon footprints’ to blame us for their greed. Keep them on the hook. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/23/big-oil-coined-carbon-footprints-to-blame-us-for-their-greed-keep-them-on-the-hook 

Mark K. (2020). The devious fossil fuel propaganda we all use. Mashable. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved from https://mashable.com/feature/carbon-footprint-pr-campaign-sham 

British Petroleum. (2019). BP plans for significant growth in deepwater Gulf of Mexico. BP Global. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved from https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/news-and-insights/press-releases/bp-plans-for-significant-growth-in-deepwater-gulf-of-mexico.html 

Sustainability Illustrated.(2020).YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/bYb7YLsXvzg  

Wright L, Kemp S, and Williams I. (2011). "Carbon footprinting': towards a universally accepted definition. Carbon Management. 2 (1): 61–72. doi:10.4155/CMT.10.39. S2CID 154004878. 

The Nature Conservancy. (n.d.). What is your carbon footprint? Retrieved from https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/carbon-footprint-calculator/  

 Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data 

NRDC.(n.d.). Increase Renewable Energy. Retrieved from https://www.nrdc.org/issues/increase-renewable-energy 

NRDC.(2018). Renewable Energy: The Clean Facts. Retrieved from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/renewable-energy-clean-facts 

European Union. (2021). How to reduce my carbon footprint? Retrieved from https://europa.eu/youth/get-involved/sustainable-development/how-reduce-my-carbon-footprint_en