CARBON FOOTPRINT
by Antonio C. Antonio
August 13, 2014
To understand carbon footprint, let us first dwell in its many
definitions and the intricate process by which carbon footprinting is
done. Carbon footprint was originally
called “ecological footprint”. As an indicator of unsustainable energy use, the term “carbon footprint”
was deemed to be more relevant than “ecological footprint”. It is important, however, to note that both
terms are measures of gas emission that largely contributes to climate change.
Carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide or carbon
compounds emitted into the atmosphere by the activities of an individual,
company or country. Historically,
however, carbon footprint is defined as “the total sets of greenhouse gas
emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person”. “Greenhouse gases (GHGs) can be emitted
through transportation, land clearance, and the production and consumption of
food, fuels, manufactured goods, materials, wood, road, buildings, and
services. For simplicity of reporting,
it is often expressed in terms of amount of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent
of other GHGs, emitted.” (Wikipedia)
Carbon footprinting is a distinct process which involves
complex calculations. The large quantity
of data required to calculate human and industrial activities makes carbon
footprinting a long process. The fact
that carbon dioxide is also caused by natural occurrences makes segregating
natural from human/industrial causes very tedious. Carbon footprint, however, refers
particularly to human and industrial causes.
Measuring carbon footprints is a process also called “carbon
accounting”.
A more practicable definition of carbon footprint is: “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 (CO2e) using relevant
100-year global warming potential (GWP100). (Wright, Kemp and Williams; Carbon
Management journal)
This is not to say that the United
States is largely to blame for the relatively high level of man-made carbon
footprint. “The average U.S. household
carbon footprint is about 50 tons CO2e per year. The single largest source of emissions for
the typical household is from driving (gasoline use). Transportation as a whole (driving, flying
& small amount from public transit) is the largest overall category,
followed by housing (electricity, natural gas, waste, construction) then food
(mostly from red meat, dairy and seafood products, but also includes emissions
from all other food), then goods followed lastly by services. The carbon footprint of the U.S. is about 5
times greater than the global average, which is approximately 10 tons CO2e
per household per year. For most U.S.
households, the single most important action to reduce their carbon footprint
is driving less or switching to a more efficient vehicle.” (Wikipedia)
Perhaps the more relevant question to
ask at this point is: “How can carbon footprints be mitigated?” The mitigation of carbon footprints may be
done through the introduction of non-gas emitting sources of energy and power
such as solar, wind and hydro-related.
Reforestation is also a major mitigation strategy. Negating carbon footprints is often called
“carbon offsetting”. It is also
comforting to note that many studies are now being conducted that are aimed at
discovering other carbon offsetting measures to minimize anthropogenic carbon
footprint.
Just my little thoughts…
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