Carbon Footprint

Rajbeer Malhotra IX-D

 What is carbon?

• Everything that grows is built out of carbon.

• Carbon is also stored in great quantities in all fossil fuels.
• When Carbon is in its solid form, it is harmless, and in fact profoundly helpful and supportive of
life as we know it.
• When these source of carbon are burned, carbon is transformed into a gas known as Carbon
dioxide.
• Increasing accumulations of Carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere coupled with increasing
emissions of other greenhouse gases is responsible for the global warming crisis we now face as
a global community.
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 What is carbon footprint?
• A Carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the
environment, and in particular climate change.
• It relates to the total greenhouse gas emission produced directly and
indirectly in our day to day lives through burning fossil fuels and electricity,
heating and transportation etc.

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 Global CO2 Emissions

Countries by carbon dioxide emissions in thousands of tonnes per annum, via the burning of
fossil fuels (blue the highest and green the lowest). Based on levels in 2006.
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Comparison in yearly CO2 Emissions

TAIWAN INDIA
Yearly Change Yearly Change
+1.91% +4.71%
Global Share Global Share
0.77% 7.09%
Tons per capita Tons per capita
11.72 1.91 5
 CO2 emissions of Taiwan by Year(tons)

2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
0 50000000 100000000 150000000 200000000 250000000 300000000

Buildings Transport Other Industrial Combustion

Non Combustion Power Industry

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 CO2 emissions of India by Year (tons)

2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
0 500000000 1000000000 1500000000 2000000000 2500000000 3000000000

Buildings Transport Other Industrial Combustion

Non Combustion Power Industry

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 Secondary Carbon Input
An individual’s carbon footprint is the direct effect their actions have on the environment in
terms of greenhouse gas emission. In general, the biggest contributors to the carbon
footprints of individuals in industrialized nations are transportation and household
electricity use. An individual’s secondary carbon footprint is dominated by their diet,
clothes and personal products.

Sales
5%
9% 7% 4%
6%
3%
14% 10%

3% 15% 12%
12%

Clothes And Personnel Effects Food And Drinks Holiday Flights

Public Transport Private Transport Electricity
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Gas, Oil and Coil Share of Public Services Financial Services
Recreation And Leisure Household(Buildings and furnishings) Carbon in Car Manufacture
 • One cause for the emission of CO2 is population
Population growth and growth. Since the world population increases, there
increase in consumption is an increasing demand for material things.
levels • These things have to be produced by industries. In
this production process, large amounts of CO2 are
emitted into the air.
• Thus, population growth contributes to the
emission of CO2 and the adverse consequences.

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 Deforestation
• Deforestation can be regarded as another
cause for the emission of CO2. Since trees
are a natural storage space for CO2,
cutting down forests leads to the release
of large amounts of CO2 which in turn will
contribute to the global warming
problem in a serious way.

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Agriculture • Agriculture is another significant contributor
to the emission of CO2. In the production of
meat, plenty of CO2 and other greenhouse
gases like methane are released into the air.
• With rising income levels, people are likely to
consume more material things and also
increase their consumption of meat.

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• Many cars and other vehicles are based on
the combustion of fossil fuels. In the Vehicles
combustion process, plenty of CO2 is
released into the air. In our current Western
society, almost everyone has at least one car.
• This behavior is extremely harmful since it
implies the emission of large amounts of CO2
and therefore significantly contributes to an
increase in the carbon footprint.

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 • In order to get rid of the vast amounts of
Waste disposal waste that are produced on a worldwide
scale each year, large amounts of waste are
burned. This combustion of waste also leads
to an emission of harmful gases, including
greenhouse gases like CO2.
• Due to population growth and increasing
worldwide consumption levels, the emissions
that are due to waste disposal are likely to
increase in the future since the total amount
of waste is likely to increase as well.

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• Our consumption behavior has a significant
Lack of education
impact on the emission of CO2. However,
many people may not even be aware of this
fact due to a lack of education.
• These people are likely to pay no attention at
all to their consumption behavior since they
simply do not know the consequences and
the adverse effects that they can cause to our
environmental system.

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