Most people are shocked when they see the amount of CO2 their activities create! If you personally want to contribute to stop global warming, the calculation and constant monitoring of your personal carbon footprint is essential. The carbon footprint is a very powerful tool to understand the impact of personal behaviour on global warming. Why you should calculate your carbon footprint See my comment to the article about personal responsibility for global warming. You can always convert kg carbon dioxide in kg carbon by multiplying with a factor 0.27 (1’000 kg CO2 equals 270 kg carbon). They are converted into the amount of CO2 that would cause the same effects on global warming within a certain time frame, usually 100 years (this is called equivalent CO2 amount).įew people express their carbon footprint in kg carbon rather than kg carbon dioxide. These greenhouse gases are normally also taken into account for the carbon footprint. Other greenhouse gases which might be emitted as a result of your activities are e.g. To calculate the above contributions to the carbon footprint, the current UK mix for electricity and trains was taken into account.Ĭarbon dioxide is a so called greenhouse gas causing global warming. Production of 1/3 of an American cheeseburger (yes, the production of each cheeseburger emits 3.1 kg of CO2! It has a very large carbon footprint).Production of 5 plastic bags (see article about carbon footprint of plastic bags).Operate your computer for 32 hours (60 Watt consumption assumed).Fly with a plane a distance of 2.2 km or 1.375 miles.Drive with your car a distance of 6 km or 3.75 miles (assuming 7.3 litres petrol per 100 km or 39 mpg).Travel by public transportation (train or bus) a distance of 10 to 12 km (6.5 to 7 miles).Below is a table for the most common used fuels:Ī carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of greenhouse gases (usually mainly CO2)Įxamples for carbon footprint contributions: fuel typeĮach of the following activities add 1 kg of CO2 to your personal carbon footprint: In the next step you can add the CO2 emission to your carbon footprint. The best way is to calculate the carbon dioxide emissions based on the fuel consumption. Usually a carbon footprint is calculated for the time period of a year. Your carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of CO2 (carbon dioxide), which were induced by your activities in a given time frame. When you buy food and goods, the production of the food and goods also emitted some quantities of CO2. Even if you heat your house with electricity, the generation of the electrical power may also have emitted a certain amount of CO2. When you heat your house with oil, gas or coal, then you also generate CO2. (CO2 is the chemical symbol for carbon dioxide).
In other words: When you drive a car, the engine burns fuel which creates a certain amount of CO2, depending on its fuel consumption and the driving distance. A carbon footprint is defined as the total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).
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