What is carbon footprint?

Just as walking on sand leaves a footprint, almost all our actions-from switching on the lights
when you wake up in the morning to turn them off at night-leaves an impact on the planets
environments. Carbon footprint is a way to measure this impact .To power our lights, run our
vechicles, generates electricity for our use, run factories, and by for almost everything that
we do, we require energy. This energy is produced by burning fossil fuels.oil; gas and coal
are fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels, besides producing energy, results in the
emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous dioxide.
Greenhouse gases can be emitted through transport, land clearance, and the production
and consumption of food, fuels, manufactured goods, materials, wood, roads, buildings, and
services. For simplicity of reporting, it is often expressed in terms of the amount of carbon
dioxide, or its equivalent of other GHGs, emitted.
"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 the relevant 100-year global warming
potential (GWP100)."Is known as carbon footprint. OR in a simpler language it can also be
defined asThe carbon footprint of a person, product or an activity refers to the amount of greenhouse
gases released into the atmosphere by a particular person, product or activity, either directly
or indirectly. The term carbon footprint comes from the fact that the carbon dioxide is the
most prevalent greenhouse gas.
The concept name of the carbon footprint originates from ecological footprint,
discussion, which was developed by Rees and Wackernagel in the 1990s which estimates
the number of "earths" that would theoretically be required if everyone on the planet
consumed resources at the same level as the person calculating their ecological footprint.
However, carbon footprints are much more specific than ecological footprints since they
measure direct emissions of gasses that cause climate change into the atmosphere.

Measuring Carbon Footprints

An individual's, nations, or organization's carbon footprint can be measured by undertaking a
GHG emissions assessment or other calculative activities denoted as carbon accounting.
Once the size of a carbon footprint is known, a strategy can be devised to reduce it, e.g. by
technological developments, better process and product management, changed Green
Public or Private Procurement (GPP), carbon capture, consumption strategies, and others.
Several free online carbon footprint calculators exist with at least one supported by publicly
available peer-reviewed data and calculations from the University of California, Berkeley's
Cool Climate Network research consortium. These websites ask you to answer more or less

detailed questions about your diet, transportation choices, home size, shopping and
recreational activities, usage of electricity, heating, and heavy appliances such as dryers and
refrigerators, and so on. The website then estimates your carbon footprint based on your
answers to these questions.
The mitigation of carbon footprints through the development of alternative projects, such
as solar or wind energy or reforestation, represents one way of reducing a carbon footprint
and is often known as Carbon offsetting.
The main influences on carbon footprints include population, economic output, and energy
and carbon intensity of the economy These factors are the main targets of individuals and
businesses in order to decrease carbon footprints. Scholars suggest the most effective way
to decrease a carbon footprint is to either decrease the amount of energy needed for
production or to decrease the dependence on carbon emitting fuels.

What causes the emission of carbon dioxide

and other greenhouse gases?
Every day the choices we make about the food we eat, products we buy, what we wear and
how we travel creates greenhouse gases, directly or indirectly. Though living things emit
carbon dioxide when they breathe, carbon dioxide is widely considered to be a pollutant
when associated with car, planes, power plants and other human activities that involve the
burning of the fossil fuels. In the past 150 years, increased uses of fossil fuels and other
human activities (for example, deforestation) have led to increase levels of carbon dioxide
and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.

Emission factors of common fuels

Fuel/
Resource

Coal

Oil

Thermal
g(CO2-eq)/MJth
Grams of
CO2equivalent per
Mega joule
of thermal energy

Electric
g(CO2-eq)/kWhe
Grams of
CO2equivalent per
Kilowatt-hour
of electrical energy

Energy Intensity
Whth/Whe

B:91.5091.72
Br:94.33
88

73

B:2.622.85
Br:3.46
3.01

3.40

B:863941
Br:1,175
955

893

Emission factors of common fuels

Fuel/
Resource

Natural gas

Thermal
g(CO2-eq)/MJth
Grams of
CO2equivalent per
Mega joule
of thermal energy

Electric
g(CO2-eq)/kWhe
Grams of
CO2equivalent per
Kilowatt-hour
of electrical energy

Energy Intensity
Whth/Whe

cc:577
oc:751
599

cc:68.20
oc:68.4
_

TL01
TH91122

3
Geothermal
Power

Uranium
Nuclear power

WL0.18
WH0.20

WL60
WH65

0.046

15

Hydroelectricity(run of
river)

Conc. Solar Power

4015

Photovoltaics

0.33

106

Wind power

0.066

21

Note:3.6 MJ = mega joule(s) == 1 kWh = kilowatt-hour(s), thus 1 g/MJ = 3.6 g/kWh.

Legend: B = Black coal (supercritical)(new subcritical), Br = Brown coal (new subcritical),
cc = combined cycle, oc = open cycle, TL = low-temperature/closedcircuit (geothermal doublet), TH = high-temperature/open-circuit, WL = Light Water Reactors,
WH = Heavy Water Reactors, #Educated estimate.

Why is carbon footprint a matter of concern?

Higher carbon footprint means higher levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
in our atmopsher, greenhouse gases let the suns light into the earths atmosphere, but they
trap the heat that reflects back up into the atmosphere. In this way, they act like the glass
walls of a greenhouse, causing a greenhouse effect that is necessary to keep earth warm
enough to sustain life.however, increasing levels of co2 and other greenhouse gases in our
atmosphere are causing an increase greenhouse effect. This phenomenon has resulted in
an increase in the average temperature of our planet. Rising temperatures will cause
adverse effects such as rising sea levels, submergence of low-lying islands, climate changes
and extinction of plants and animals. Therefore, the need of the hour is to cut down on our
carbon footprint.
As equal inhabitants of earth each of us have moral and social responsibilities to our
planet. One of them is to preserve its life-giving environment for the generations that
will inhabit it in the future. For that it is imperative that we adopt eco-friendly lifestyles to
reduce our carbon footprint.

Ways to reduce carbon footprint

The most common way to reduce the carbon footprint of humans is to Reduce, Reuse, And
Recycle. In manufacturing this can be done by recycling the packing materials, by selling the
obsolete inventory of one industry to the industry who is looking to buy unused items at
lesser price to become competitive. Nothing should be disposed off into the soil, all the
ferrous materials which are prone to degrade or oxidize with time should be sold as early as
possible at reduced price.
This can also be done by using reusable items such as thermoses for daily coffee or plastic
containers for water and other cold beverages rather than disposable ones. If that option
isn't available, it is best to properly recycle the disposable items after use. When one
household recycles at least half of their household waste, they can save 1.2 tons of carbon
dioxide annual.
Another easy option is to drive less. By walking or biking to the destination rather than
driving, not only is a person going to save money on gas, but they will be burning less fuel
and releasing fewer emissions into the atmosphere. However, if walking is not an option, one
can look into carpooling or mass transportation options in their area.
Yet another option for reducing the carbon footprint of humans is to use less air conditioning
and heating in the home. By adding insulation to the walls and attic of one's home, and
installing weather stripping or caulking around doors and windows one can lower their
heating costs more than 25 percent. Similarly, one can very inexpensively upgrade the
insulation (clothing) worn by residents of the home. For example, it's estimated that
wearing a base layer of long underwear (top and bottom) made from a lightweight, super
insulating fabric like micro fleece (akaPolartec, Capilene) can conserve as much body
heat as a full set of clothing, allowing a person to remain warm with the thermostat lowered
by over 5 C. These measures all help because they reduce the amount of energy needed to
heat and cool the house. One can also turn down the heat while sleeping at night or away
during the day, and keep temperatures moderate at all times. Setting the thermostat just 2
degrees lower in winter and higher in summer could save about 1 ton of carbon dioxide each
year.
Choice of diet is a major influence on a person's carbon footprint. Animal sources of protein
(especially red meat), rice (typically produced in high methane-emitting paddies), foods
transported long distance and/or via fuel-inefficient transport (e.g., highly perishable produce

flown long distance) and heavily processed and packaged foods are among the major
contributors to a high carbon diet. Scientists at the University of Chicago have
estimated "that the average American diet which derives 28% of its calories from animal
foods is responsible for approximately one and a half more tonnes of greenhouse gasses
as CO2 equivalents per person, per year than a fully plant-based, or vegan, diet."Their
calculations suggest that even replacing one third of the animal protein in the average
American's diet with plant protein (e.g., beans, grains) can reduce the diet's carbon footprint
by half a tonne. Exchanging two thirds of the animal protein with plant protein is roughly
equivalent to switching from a Toyota Camry to a Prius. Finally, throwing food out not only
Adds its associated carbon emissions to a person or household's footprint, it adds the
emissions of transporting the wasted food to the garbage dump and the emissions of food
decomposition, mostly in the form of the highly potent greenhouse gas, methane.
The carbon handprint movement emphasizes individual forms of carbon offsetting, like using
more public transportation or planting trees in deforested regions, to reduce one's carbon
footprint and increase their "handprint."
Furthermore, the carbon footprint in the food industry can be reduced by optimizing
the supply chain. A life cycle or supply chain carbon footprint study can provide useful data
which will help the business to identify critical areas for improvement and provides a focus.
Such studies also demonstrate a companys commitment to reducing carbon footprint now
ahead of other competitors as well as preparing companies for potential regulation. In
addition to increased market advantage and differentiation eco-efficiency can also help to
reduce costs where alternative energy systems are implemented.

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