Carbon Hero Will Track Your Carbon Footprint

A new innovation to help calculate your carbon footprint from travel has just moved a step closer to being released to the market. Carbon Hero is a small handheld device, resembling a mobile phone, that uses ssatellite navigation technology to determine the carbon footprint created by the travel you do.

In 2006, Andreas Zachariah gave life to the idea of a small, compact device that could track carbon emissions released into the atmosphere by measuring both the distance travelled and the mode of transport used. That idea earned him a regional prize in the 2007 European Satellite Navigation Competition and last year, Carbon Hero was awarded the British Standards Institute prize for Sustainability Design in July.

Andreas Zachariah describes reasons for using Carbon Hero like this, “If you go on a diet you want to see if all that effort has made a difference so you weigh yourself. The beauty of our system is that it’s easy; you have a ’weighing scale’ on you all the time giving you your carbon footprint. When you make the effort to walk instead of taking the car you can immediately see the result, so it feels more worthwhile doing it and you are more likely to stick with it,”

Zachariah and business partner in the project Nick Burch have filed a patent for the invention and plan to have Carbon Hero ready for beta-testing in a company in April 2008. With companies find it increasingly necessary to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and the efforts they are making to reduce their carbon footprint, they will be able to use Carbon Hero to document the carbon emissions produced from business travel.

At this stage there has been no indication on a probable price of the Carbon Hero.

Much more detail can be found her at the Carbon Hero website.

The full press release can be found at Science Daily.

Virgin Atlantic Biofuel Flight

A Carbon Footprint Step Forward, Or Not?

I think one notable point can be made from the story that has been picked up be every news agency around the globe today – Virgin Atlantic and Sir Richard Branson make great headlines.

The story is, of course, that a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 has made a test flight from London to Amsterdam powered by biofuel. At least, that’s the headline. The reality is that the plane contained a 20% biofuel mix in one of its four main fuel tanks. The biofuel was made from a mixture of coconut and babassu oil.

Sir Richard Branson, in his statement to the media (yeah, surprise, surprise, Branson talking to the media, wonders never cease) said, “The demonstration flight will give us crucial knowledge that we can use to dramatically reduce our carbon footprint.”

Colour me unimpressed because herein lies the problem. The whole biofuel continues to rage over whether biofuel actually makes any difference at all in terms of lowering carbon emission and reducing the carbon footprint of a company.

Virgin, in using coconut and babassu oil have taken the issue of using potential food source and food crops out of the equation, but studies still suggest that clearing land for these crops can generate more carbon emissions than the savings made out the other end.

Biofuels still have a long way to go before the claim that using some in a test flight will lead us towards cleaner flying has wings. Great marketing for Virgin though and considering the guy making the pretty speeches after the demonstration and the frenzy of news coverage…well, I’d just say mission accomplished.



As for the carbon footprint, I think it might be sticking around at Virgin for a little while longer.

Manage Carbon Footprint Overload

This is a short cautionary post and something of a note to myself as a reminder that all things should be done in moderation. It’s okay to take up the championing of a worthwhile cause such as reducing your carbon footprint while doing your best to raise awareness about the benefits of energy efficiency. But don’t take things too far or you’ll risk having the opposite effect on people.

They say there’s nothing worse than a reformed smoker for taking the moral high ground when around people who still haven’t kicked the habit. The same could possibly be said of people who have recently come to the realisation that we are damaging the planet with our daily lives. No one likes to have perceived faults shoved down their throat at every opportunity, and haranguing people to change their lifestyle to a more eco-friendly one could be the biggest mistake you can make.

It’s all about subtlety. People will change when they want to change. A hint here, a comment about how much money you’re saving on your energy bill there and pretty soon you’ll find that another environmentally conscious newcomer is calculating their carbon footprint.

Emissions Trading

We hear about one of the suggested solutions to manage carbon footprint growth to have come out of the Kyoto Protocol is the establishment of emissions trading schemes. Below is a brief overview of what emissions trading is and how it works to lower the production of greenhouse gases. I’ve tried to present this in layman’s terms where possible.

What Is Emissions Trading?

Emissions trading is a way in which government or regulatory bodies can control the level of carbon emissions produced, usually within a single country, although the EU trading scheme has been in place for a few years now. It's done by issuing emissions permits to companies that give them the right to produce a certain level of carbon emissions. To get emissions permits companies must earn credits and one of the ways they can get these credits is to buy them off companies who don't produce as much greenhouse gas as their limit dictates.

Emissions trading seeks to put a cap on the carbon emissions produced by rewarding those companies who have reduced their carbon emissions while creating an incentive for those who haven't.

Over time the carbon emissions cap is reduced which will ensure that all companies will continue to seek ways in which they can reduce the level of greenhouse gases they produce. The theory is that those who can easily reduce carbon emissions will do so at little cost allowing the focus to turn towards the larger polluters who, hopefully, will have begun to reduce their carbon emissions levels too.

Success of Emissions Trading

The success of an emissions trading scheme depends on having a tradable commodity with willing buyers and sellers. To get the buyers you need to make participation mandatory in certain sections of the economy. The ultimate success or failure of an emissions trading scheme will depend on the strength of the regulatory structure overseeing it.

Type of Emissions Trading Schemes

There are two major types of emissions trading schemes: cap and trade (e.g. the European Union’s emissions trading scheme) and baseline and credit (e.g. the NSW Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme).

Baseline and Credit schemes give credit to reductions relative to a projected future ‘baseline’ growth in emissions that in practice can become identical with business-as-usual. With this approach, there is no guarantee that emissions will ever be reduced in absolute terms. In the NSW scheme over 95% of abatement certificates issued in 2003 went to installation built prior to the commencement of the scheme. Coal-fire power stations have been the beneficiaries of payments due to minor efficiency improvements made that most likely would have been made even if the scheme weren’t in place. The fact that the major contributors to the problem are the ones receiving funds highlights a basic flaw in the system, particularly when you consider that any workable greenhouse gases solution would not involve the presence of coal-fired power stations.

Cap And Trade schemes put solid limits on total emissions in future years. Depending on how well designed, operated and regulated the scheme is, only enough permits are issued to reach that limit. Initially some of the European countries involved in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme issued more permits than were needed to cover their emissions. This is an oversight that should be corrected when phase two has been properly implemented and the provision to lower the cap will see allowable emissions levels come down regularly. As countries begin to gain control of their carbon emissions and the trading part of this scheme really takes hold we should see significant drops in emissions numbers.

A further aspect to note about the introduction of an emissions trading scheme is the allocation of emissions permits through grandfathering clauses. What this means is that existing industries, often the big producers of greenhouse gases, are allowed to carry on as before the scheme was introduced to avoid large economic losses and possible major disruption of supply to consumers. A controlled revaluation of grandfathered permits need to be regulated over a period of years.

There are actually many ways in which an emissions trading system can be designed and implemented with important choices made between schemes that:

• Either reduce emissions that can be physically measured, or include ‘reductions’ that are uncertain.
• Either allocate emission permits free of charge to industries in proportion to their current positions, or auction permits with everyone entitled to bid.
• Either define the liable parties to only those industries who directly produce the emissions, or define the consumers who indirectly produce emissions through their purchase of goods and services.
• Either focus on carbon emissions alone, or include other greenhouse gases with emissions measured in carbon dioxide equivalents.
  

Why Is Knowing Your Carbon Footprint Important?

Many of us cruise through our daily lives completely oblivious to such things as a carbon footprint and the impact we are having to the growing problem of greenhouse gases and the whole global warming crisis. This isn’t surprising, it’s just a fact of life that there are many distractions that take place and we take for granted the imprint we are leaving on the world, just by living.

Our multiple digital clocks run in our houses 24 hours a day – we’ve got one on the microwave, one on the conventional oven, one on the CD player, one on the stereo and one in each of our three bedrooms, all of them drawing passive energy and we don’t even give it a thought. It’s just one of the assumed “rights” of living in a modern affluent society, we may not use it but we don’t mind paying for it regardless. Some people might be a little bit shocked if they were to find out exactly how much carbon emissions they are producing per year, not to mention an indication of how much it’s costing them and how simple it might be to save a few bucks and the environment at the same time.

You Can’t Change What You Don’t Know

I like that sentence, it neatly sums up a whole range of human instincts and precisely describes one of the roadblocks in front of those trying to educate people on the importance of reducing our carbon footprint. It’s only when someone is shown the consequence for the actions of their daily lives that they can begin to grasp the idea that there is a need for change.

It’s not until you’re told that running your car produces around 2 ½ tonnes of carbon dioxide per year that you begin to realise that this could be a problem. It also allows you to then set a goal to lower your number for the next year. Suddenly you have a goal – a quantifiable goal – that you can set for yourself and aim for with real purpose. Without the calculation of your carbon footprint you would be resigned to stating that you produce some (or a lot of) carbon dioxide. Trying to produce less in the future would be next to impossible to gauge.

The fact that there is also a corresponding cost benefit i.e. you save money! to reducing your carbon footprint size should have people flocking to the cause. The word will continue to leak out while, hopefully, carbon dioxide doesn’t.

Carbon Footprint Inspirations

A Canadian local community has been challenged by a local politician to leave a smaller carbon footprint on the earth. The residents of Parkdale-High Park in Ontario have embraced the carbon footprint challenge with open arms to take on a 16 point action plan which is comprised of 3 categories: Transportation, Natural Gas and Electricity.

What I like about this story, apart from the fact that an entire community is getting into reducing their carbon footprint together, is that some of the ways they are reducing their energy emissions are so simple. They’re worth noting, for sure, things like taking the car in for a tune up, washing clothes in cold water and turning off and unplugging electrical appliances that are not in use. All of these simple little things will save you money too.

(I went for a quick once over in my house and turned off the Playstation, a video recorder, a CD player, the speakers on my computer, a night light that was left on in the daytime – and that was just a quick two minute check)

There are a few interesting estimations included in the challenge information of what a few careless actions might cost you in terms of money and carbon emissions. Consider this: limiting the time you allow your car to idle to 10 seconds could save you $70 a year and 21 kilograms of carbon dioxide; reducing the speed you drive on the highway by 5 kph saves approximately $24 and 8 kilograms.

Sounds like a terrific incentive and one that more communities could take up in a bid to combine in the fight to shrink the global carbon footprint. If nothing else it will save the need to see an ecopsychologist.

* * *

Ecopsychology, according to the New York Times, is a new form of therapy that examines the normal personal relationship issues but goes on to also encourage the patient to develop a relationship to nature. Apparently there are people out there who are so anxious about the state of their carbon footprint that a trip to an ecopsychologist followed by the purchase of a solar hot water system will allay their fears and help them feel better about themselves.

For those of you who feel a little more in control of your carbon footprint, nice work. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Don’t forget to turn off the light – our session is over for the time being.

* * *

It's gratifying to read about big companies like Sony pledging to drastically reduce their carbon footprint and, not only that, urging other companies to join them. Twelve companies such as Nokia, Hewlett-Packard and Nike have all signed up to the Tokyo declaration to pledge to do their bit to limit global warming. They’ve all pledged to support a worldwide reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050.

It’s a good start and Sony is following through, having set itself a target of reducing emissions by 7% by 2010 from their 2000 levels have already cut annual carbon emissions by 9%.

* * *

Nine percent reduction is pretty good you’ve gotta admit, but UK company Totally Fitness has aimed to go a whole lot better than that with an announcement that they are working with co2balance.com to calculate their carbon footprint to take action to reduce their emissions and then offset the remaining amount. They plan to become carbon neutral very shortly.

The company provides fitness equipment to stars such as Julia Roberts and Jim Carrey as well as to hotels and hospitals. They believe that people are becoming more mindful of the environmental outlook of companies they purchase goods from.

The carbon offsets that will help take their carbon footprint down to zero will include energy efficiency projects in Kenya, renewable energy projects in East Africa and tree planting in various locations throughout Europe.

Carbon Footprint Sins

Okay, I admit it. I don’t do everything I can to reduce my carbon footprint and the reason only comes down to 1 factor, general laziness. As with most modern day, reasonably affluent suburbanites I take many things for granted, not least of which is jumping in the car for trips that take less than 5 minutes. Wanna know the worst bit? I’m a marathon runner, I’m fit, yet I will still take the kids to the park in the car, a journey of less than a kilometre.

You know it has become a bit of a habit too. My two boys’ soccer gradings were on down at the park tonight, one starting at 5:30, the other starting at 7:00. When I suggested that I walk them down rather than drive, at first there was stunned disbelief which soon turned into outraged indignation. How dare I suggest we walk to the park when we’ve got a perfectly good car sitting in the garage!

Well sins like that are going to stop and the family are going to be swung around until they’re outraged when I suggest we drive down to the park. I’ll know I’ve done my job of educating my kids about energy reduction, greenhouse gases, carbon emissions and our carbon footprint when they demand to know why we’re daring to drive somewhere when it’s only a half hour walk.

There, confession is good for the soul or so they say. Now I’ll invite you all to join me. Calculate your carbon footprint, check out ways you can reduce it and start making a difference.

Can I Make My Carbon Footprint Disappear?

That's the challenge I want to pose to myself...can I make my carbon footprint disappear. I'm certain I can make my carbon footprint smaller, actually I DID make it smaller last night when I replaced a couple of incandescent lightbulbs with energy efficient lightbulbs. That's a start, but that's all it is, the bare minimum start.

With a long list of possible options that will help me to reduce my carbon footprint, I should begin to see more obvious signs that my carbon footprint is beginning to disappear.

I've already begun to look at options like changing energy suppliers to someone who can supply green energy without significantly raising the costs. I'm also checking out the cost and suitability of putting a solar hot water system in.

We've been planning to install insulation in the roof of our house for some time now and doing this will also make significant energy savings as we find it easier to heat and cool the house.

So, can I make my carbon footprint disappear? I still don't know, but I can definitely shrink it down by a good proportion just by trying.

A Brief Introduction to Greenhouse Gases

Greenhouse gases are the collective chemicals that make up the Earth’s atmosphere that help keep the temperature of the Earth’s surface relatively constant. This is done by maintaining a balance between the sunlight that is reflected from the Earth’s surface and the infrared radiation that is absorbed by the greenhouse gases and trapped in our atmosphere. The process of absorption is what we refer to as the greenhouse effect.

Many gases contribute to the greenhouse effect, some of them are naturally occurring such as water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone. Others are exclusively man-made such as chemicals from aerosols.

The Carbon Cycle

Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are controlled in nature by a process known as the “carbon cycle”. The movement of carbon is controlled between the air, land and water by natural processes such as photosynthesis, respiration and decay. While natural processes can handle some of the anthropogenic (caused by humans) carbon dioxide emissions produced each year, there is an estimated 3.2 billion metric tons added to the atmosphere annually. It’s this growing imbalance between emissions and absorption that is attributed to the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Carbon Dioxide

Carbon Dioxide is the most prominent greenhouse gas in the Earth’s atmosphere. It has been made even more abundant through the human process of removing the naturally occurring carbon from the earth in the form of coal, oil and natural gas, and burning it for fuel, releasing it into the atmosphere in incredible quantities.

When we talk about anthropogenic carbon emissions we are referring to such things as burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) and clearing of forests which removes large swathes of potential sources of photosynthesis…and human exhalation. At a time when it is becoming increasingly imperative that we reduce our carbon emissions, the evidence points to the fact that they are still increasing.

Methane

Another greenhouse gas that is contributing to the problem of global warming is methane. High levels of methane are produced from landfills when open dumps and waste decomposes under anaerobic conditions. It is also released as part of the coal mining process when trapped methane is released into the atmosphere. Significant amounts of methane are also naturally produced by livestock as part of their digestive system. Rice cultivation produces quite high levels of methane due to the flooding process which promotes anaerobic decomposition or organic matter in the soil.

Each year around 350-500 million tons of methane from human related activities are released into the atmosphere adding to the greenhouse gases. The problem lies in the fact that methane is 20 times effective at trapping in heat than carbon dioxide.

Nitrous Oxide

Better known to most people as laughing gas, this is the stuff that we use as an anaesthetic but it’s a naturally occurring gas and one of our greenhouse gases. It is released naturally from the ocean and by bacteria in the soil. Humans add up to 15 million tons into the atmosphere through nitrogen-based fertilizers, sewerage treatment and car exhausts. Nitrous oxide emissions need to be reduced because it stays trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere for a long time.

Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming

Future carbon dioxide levels are expected to continue to rise due to fossil fuel emissions and destructive land use changes. Possibly one of the saving graces will be the limited availability of fossil fuels but until then it’s up to us to change our pattern of daily energy consumption and look to alternative energy sources, changed transport patterns and more responsible land use practices.

I'll be revealing my own plans for how I will be reducing my impact on greenhouse gases over the coming months. I intend to track the size of my carbon footprint and will try to cut it in half so stay on the lookout for a regular series of posts that will regularly update my progress.

InterfaceFLOR Australia : A Carbon Neutral Example

I’ve talked about ways we, as individuals, might reduce carbon emissions and the impact we might make with carbon offsets and reducing our personal carbon footprint. It’s a much more daunting task for a big company to make a significant reduction in its carbon emissions, but for InterfaceFLOR Australia, the progress in the goal of achieving a carbon neutral position is almost within reach.

InterfaceFLOR Australia is a modular carpet manufacturer and is the Australian subsidiary of United States company Interface. The company has managed to eliminate all carbon emissions completely from the production of its carpet tiles. Carbon offsets are being used by the company for unavoidable carbon emissions that are not able to be eliminated by operational or technical changes.

It’s all part of an ambitious program embarked upon by the parent company called “Mission Zero” which seeks to eliminate all harmful effects to the environment caused by its commercial activities by 2020. This will include the elimination of greenhouse gas emissions, waste, a reduction in the consumption of non-renewable energy and eliminating the use of toxic substances.

Chief executive Rob Coombs has pointed out that the company has demonstrated that it is possible to practice environmental sustainability and still run a business profitably. Popular belief is that the two concepts are mutually exclusive. But over the last 5 years InterfaceFLOR Australia reduced carbon emissions by 25% and has averaged profit growth of 25% for the last 3 of those years.

InterfaceFLOR has benefited from its reduced energy usage, water consumption and waste:

• By streamlining its operations.
  
• By improving innovation and product design by forcing people to think creatively outside the box.
  
• By attracting new customers, drawn by the environment friendly philosophy and products.
  
• By attracting new production partners.
  
• By attracting and retaining quality employees.

The measurement of InterfaceFLOR's impact on the environment does not stop at the factory door, it also covers the complete lifecycle of its products from raw materials to supply chain store activity right through to it’s removal and disposal.

The Spread of Carbon Emission Consciousness

What this amounts to is encouraging suppliers and distributors to reduce their carbon emissions and paying to purchase the carbon offsets associated with any remaining emissions. All tenders for new contracts with InterfaceFLOR has sustainability as a key component of the evaluation process, a great way to spread the concept that it is beneficial on more than just the environmental level to reduce carbon emissions.

For example, when Border Express bid for the InterfaceFLOR freight contract, the sustainability clause acted as a catalyst for the company to review its own ecological footprint. The company engaged an environmental consultant to conduct an audit on the effect it was having on the environment and will implement changes to make it a more sustainable business. Changes to fuel and engine efficiency, the age of the fleet and driver training will be key areas where changes can be made.

Since 1994, InterfaceFLOR Australia has:

• Saved more than $25 million through waste elimination activities.
  
• Reduced waste cost per unit of production by more than 90%.
  
• Reduced manufacturing emissions in water to zero.
  
• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 12%.
  
• Reduced total energy consumption in Australia by 36% per unit of production.
  
• Installed skylights in facilities to save on lighting energy consumption.
  
• Been the first carpet manufacturer to use fibres made from polylactic acid, a commercially viable plastic made from corn starch.
  
• Introduced a Cool Fuel™ Program which aims to "zero out" the carbon dioxide caused by the company's car travel with carbon offset packages for employees - more than 3,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide have been offset since its inception in 2002.
  
• Diverted nearly 30 million kilograms of carpet from landfills globally through recycling.
  
• Introduced Cool Carpet™ the first "climate neutral" carpet option. "Climate neutral" means that the greenhouse gases emitted during the carpet's lifecycle are balanced by InterfaceFLOR's investments in carbon emissions offsets.

If a global company such as Interface can make this kind of commitment to reducing carbon emissions and greenhouse gases, perhaps a few more businesses can take up the challenge. It's an inspirational story and one that could be repeated throughout the business community.

Offset Carbon Emissions

When talking about trying to reduce your carbon footprint the argument is pretty compelling when suggesting small changes to your lifestyle, particularly when many of the changes will save you money. The thing is though, we all have a carbon footprint, we all contribute to the ever-increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and no matter how diligent you are at reducing it, you won't lower it completely to zero. The answer is to offset your carbon emissions and this could be a little harder to sell because people won't see an immediate tangible benefit to their way or life. It doesn’t necessarily have to but it may also cost you money.

What Is Carbon Offsetting?

Carbon offsetting is a process of purchasing carbon credits to help fund reduction projects that have been put in place to remove or reduce carbon dioxide around the planet. The idea is, you calculate, say, the emissions produced driving your car for a year and then purchase the credits equal to that amount of carbon emissions that have been reduced by that project. These projects might involve the establishment of renewable energy resources in developing countries or a tree-planting project. Carbon credits can also be attained through energy efficiency projects.

So, as an example, say you own a small 4 cylinder 1.8litre car and drive around 10,000km in a year, this would emit around 1.87 tonnes of carbon. To offset this, it would cost you AUD30.86 in credits.

Carbon Offsetting Businesses

Businesses can significantly reduce their carbon footprint by having a carbon assessment done which will highlight the areas in which immediate improvement can be made and then offsetting those emissions which are unavoidable with the aim of becoming a carbon neutral business.

Organisations might offset their carbon emissions by purchasing carbon credits to neutralise its carbon impact on the planet. Carbon credits could be purchased by replacing incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL). A CFL uses up to 80% less electricity than the old conventional bulb and when replaced building wide in large installations will make a huge impact on energy consumption.

I’ve found a directory of low carbon businesses in Australia. Using these services or buying products manufactured by these companies will reduce your own carbon footprint and will reward these companies for making the effort for our planet.

It’s All About Awareness

Naturally, offsetting won’t completely solve the problem of global warming and climate change, but by simply being aware of the effects of your activities by calculating your emissions, some sort of progress might be made. By making the production of carbon emissions more quantifiable, individuals can begin to set themselves goals in reducing the greenhouse gases they produce and hence, lower their carbon footprint numbers.

There are many organisations devoted to the greenhouse effect by reducing carbon emissions through offering carbon offsets. In fact, I daresay there’s a link or two at the top of this page that will take you to one of them.

Biocrude: Fuel From Waste

I don’t think there’s much doubt that first generation biofuels are not the answer to solving the carbon emission problems that stem from burning fossil fuels. However, it looks as though there may just have been a major breakthrough in the search for a viable second generation solution with a biocrude that has been produced from green waste and paper.

Developed by the CSIRO and Monash University in Australia, the Furafuel process uses green waste such as forest thinnings, household waste and crop residues as a source for a biocrude which is said to be more stable than any being produced around the world. Dr Steven Loffler of CSIRO Forest Biosciences says, “the oil that we've made is both stable and also PH neutral, so the advantage of that is that it can be held in storage for as long as it needs to before further processing”. This is compared to other second generation biofuels which, when left in storage begin to thicken after only a short time into a gum.

Lignocellulose

The plant wastes being targeted for conversion into biofuels contain chemicals known as lignocellulose, which is increasingly favoured around the world as a raw material for the next generation of bio-ethanol as they are renewable and potentially greenhouse gas neutral. Materials such as lawn clippings, tree trimmings and other materials that households already put in their green bins for removal by local councils.

The Advantages of Biocrude Are Many

Some of the big disadvantages I noted in my earlier discussion about biofuels would be addressed with the development of this biocrude. Issues such as the food vs fuel crops debate and forest clearing for agricultural crops, both of which have the potential to be more harmful than the fuel they’re replacing, would no longer be an issue.

The development of this biocrude would also put another couple of entries into the advantages column. The source of biocrude could come from household green waste and paper, of which there is between 1 and 2 million tonnes going into landfill in Australia alone.

Add to this the plan to operate from small regional facilities close to the source of the bio-material converting it into the crude oil and then shipping the crude which would be much more efficient and would produce much less greenhouse gas emissions than moving the bulkier solid material to a large central facility.

Cost of Biocrude

It’s still very early days in this process and one of the unanswered questions that will be a huge factor towards the success or failure of the project is how much the biocrude will cost to produce. At this stage no cost analysis has been performed although Dr Loffler believes that it will at least be as competitive as current crude production.

Biofuels

We've had a look at the carbon footprint and ways in which we can reduce our personal carbon footprint. On a global scale, one of the proposed solutions to the problem of carbon emissions from transportation has been the growing biofuel industry. The question of whether biofuels are contributing in the fight against increased greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect and are really the saviour we hope they'll be still rages.

What Is Biofuel?

Man has been using biofuels for millenia for heating and cooking purposes. Throwing a branch on a fire and huddling around it for warmth is an example of biofuel use in its simplest form. It’s only relatively recently that biofuels have been developed in a liquid form which may be used in petrol and diesel engines giving us our first sign that we are well on our way to replacing high polluting fossil fuels as our energy source in transportation. The issue of whether the production of biofuel as a liquid fuel is a more greenhouse friendly solution than using the traditional fossil fuels has become a hotly debated topic and later on there are a list of the pros and cons of biofuels.

Types of Biofuels

Firstly, though a little bit of a distinction should be made between two types of biofuels that are currently in the spotlight. First generation biofuels have been available for years now while second generation biofuels are close to becoming a reality.

First generation biofuels are made from food crop feedstocks while second generation biofuels are made from agriculture and forestry waste such as the straw left over after havesting a crop.

When looking at first generation biofuels there are two that are used commercially: ethanol and bio-esters.

Ethanol is made from sugar crops and corn / maize crops by fermenting the sugars produced in the plants. The ethanol is distilled out of the resultant solution. The way current gasoline specifications are regulated, ethanol can only be blended with standard fuel up to 10% in the US and 5% in Europe. Additionally, ethanol has lower fuel economy performance than gasoline so, although producing ethanol is cleaner than fossil fuel, more is needed to run your car.

Bio-esters are produced by a chemical reaction between vegetable oils from products such as rapeseed and soyabeen oil and alcohol. The result is a liquid which can then be blended with diesel to create biodiesel. Bio-esters can be used in low concentrations in current vehicles or in a pure form in modified vehicles.

The carbon emission reduction generated from the use of these two types of biofuels comes in at around 3% and 2.5% respectively.

We’ll turn our attention to second generation biofuels which are made from agricultural and forestry waste. A process has been developed to make a product known as cellulose ethanol from straw using enzymes. Potentially, the use of cellulose ethanol solves many of the problems that have arisen during the creation of the first generation biofuels, such as using a potential food source.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Biofuels

When discussing the pros and cons of biofuels, it’s probably fairest to concentrate solely on first generation biofuels because that’s what’s currently in commercial use.

Advantages

• Biofuels lower the use of unrenewable resources such as coal and oil.
  
• Power levels of carbon emissions are produced when measured from well to wheel. The greatest benefit will come from locally grown product.
  
• Air pollutants when burning biofuel blended products are greatly reduced.

Disadvantages

• Rainforest clearing has proceeded in order to create large scale agricultural land devoted to biofuel crops.
  
• A potential source of food is being used for food when world wide starvation continues to be a problem.
  
• Carbon emissions generated harvesting and hauling biofuel crops, particularly internationally, largely negates the carbon emission savings.
  
• Even greater levels of greenhouse gas is produced by clearing of tropical forests to plant sugar cane crops. Soil degradation, peat drainage and waste burning create even greater levels of carbon emissions.
  
• Large scale biofuel plantations in countries such as Indonesia and Brazil are unsustainable.

As can be seen, the idea that biofuels are the clean, green and sustainable answer to the growing oil shortage and emissions of greenhouse gases problem is premature at this stage. More definitive studies must be undertaken if the first generation biofuels are going to be a successful option, for the sake of the industry and the planet. It appears that there has been an initial grab for cash with little regard to the environmental consequences, in fact the very problems that are supposed to be solved.

Fortunately there is a lot of research and development going into the production of second generation biofuels with a very interesting breakthrough made in the creation of biocrude. This is an area that we will look at in a little bit more detail.

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Once you have understood that greenhouse gases are accumulating to cause a dangerously high greenhouse effect and that we are all partly to blame and how you calculate your carbon footprint, or even the fact that you have a carbon footprint (go back and read my piece on What Is A Carbon Footprint) we can now discuss ways we can begin to reduce our carbon footprint.

There are two main ways that you can attack the size of your carbon footprint. You can make plenty of lifestyle changes that directly affect the amount of energy you use. Here are a few suggestions, some of which we are all familiar with, others may not have occurred to some people. The crazy thing with a lot of these tips are that they will actually save you money…and not just a little bit of money in some cases but significant chunks of the stuff.

• When you leave a room, turn off the light.
  
• Turn down the central heating by 1 degree.
  
• Hang your washing on the clothesline rather than use your clothes dryer.
  
• Every once in a while (or even every day) do the washing up in the sink rather than running the dishwasher.
  
• Turn the water heating setting down by 1 degree.
  
• Organise to car pool to work with someone who lives nearby.
  
• Walk the kids to school if you live locally.
  
• If you don’t do it already, recycle all of your cans, bottles, PET plastic and paper.
  
• Eat fruit and vegetables you've grown yourself.
  
• Buy locally grown fruit and vegetables.
  
• Buy fruit that is in season.
  
• Use recycled copying paper.
  
• Reuse a canvas shopping bag each time you go shopping.
  
• Cut your shower time by two minutes.
  
• Replace light bulbs with energy efficient fluorescent bulbs.
  
• Unplug your stereo if you're not using it.
  
• If you're not using your iPod charger or cell-phone charger, unplug them.
  
• The next time you buy a car, make it a hybrid.


• Switch to green electricity if it's available.
  
• Keep your tyres properly inflated.
  
• Buy products with minimal packaging.
  
• Install a low-flow showerhead.
  
• Insulate your home - walls and ceilings.

There are over 20 tips on how you might reduce your carbon footprint here, but it is by no means exhaustive. We live in an increasingly throwaway society and this fact leds us to becoming increasingly wasteful which only adds to the problem.

At the start of this post I mentioned that there were 2 ways we can reduce our carbon footprint. I have only given you the way it may be reduced immediately in your personal life. The second way is to offset your carbon footprint, possibly a concept that will be a harder sell to the general population because most people would see it as having to pay for something in which they will get nothing back, which is of course a completely wrong attitude to take. The level of greenhouse gases will not be reduced without everyone's help and even the smallest change in lifestyle will have a global impact on the greenhouse effect.

The subject of offsetting your carbon footprint will be the subject of another post but if you check some of the links at the top of this post you should be able to find some more information about calculating and reducing your carbon footprint.

What Is A Carbon Footprint?

I had a bit of fun mentioning that the word (or phrase, to be more specific) Carbon Footprint "won" an honourable mention in the Macquarie Dictionary 2007 Word of the Year. Now we'll look at the greenhouse effect that the carbon footprint concerns as we use it as a way of measuring the carbon emissions that makes up just one of the greenhouse gases that we humans are pumping into the atmosphere at a frightening rate.

I decided to investigate and found out quite a bit about what's being attempted around the world to try to offset and reduce greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect.

So on to the question that adorns the title of this post: What Is A Carbon Footprint?

A carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide emitted through the combustion of fossil fuels. It is measured in tonnes and can be calculated on a personal, business, country-wide and global basis.

A carbon footprint is made up of two parts:

the primary footprint which involves all the things we use that directly burn fossil fuels such as electricty use, driving a car, travelling by plane,

the secondary footprint which involves all the manufactured things we buy and use - food, clothes, sport and leisure.

My Carbon Footprint

Naturally enough, I calculated my personal carbon footprint by visiting the Carbon Footprint site and going through the Carbon Footprint Calculator. The calculator takes you through a series of questions after you've entered your home country. You answer questions in categories such as Home, Flight, Car, Motorbike, Bus & Rail and Secondary. Having a rough idea of how many kWh of electricity you burn in a year and how many kilometres your car does annually will enable a more accurate calculation.

So how did I do? Well, I suppose like the majority of us I could do with some work but I was surprised that I was well under the national average for Australia. My Carbon Footprint came in at 9.224 tonnes while the country average is at 16.3 tonnes. The carbon footprint calculator goes on to say that, in order to combat climate change the worldwide average needs to drop to 2 tonnes and it is currently at 4 tonnes.

The idea behind learning about your carbon footprint are twofold. First, if you're aware of the extent of the damage you're doing you're more likely to actively try to make your footprint smaller. Second, there are initiatives and strategies in place that allow you to offset your carbon footprint. If you take up some of these initiatives you are effectively reducing your footprint.

This is a seriously worthwhile exercise so in the next couple of posts I'll have a closer look at the two ways we can go about slashing the size of our carbon footprints. In the meantime, it might be a good idea to calculate your carbon footprint and perhaps become a little more aware of the greenhouse gases you produce and the part you play in the greenhouse effect.

Carbon Footprint Pipped by Pod Slurp

Here are a few words for you. Pod slurp. Infomania. Carbon footprint. Password fatigue. Pretty impressive, huh? Know what they’ve got in common? Well, up until now none of them appeared in the Macquarie Dictionary, but that will soon change. But that’s not the complete story, these words are all winners, award winners in fact.

The winner of the much coveted and very prestigious 2007 Word of the Year is pod slurp. I’m not sure if there is actually a little statuette to go with the award or whether pod slurp was there to accept it (come to think of it, I don’t even know if there was a ceremony to celebrate).

Whether or not there was a red carpet to parade down along with all the hoop-la that goes with award ceremonies, the Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year Committee (yes there is such a thing) also handed out some honourable mentions. This year’s honourable mentions were taken out by infomania and carbon footprint. There was also a People’s Choice Award which went to the ever popular password fatigue.

All of these words – plus a bunch of losers – will be added in the annual update of the Macquarie Dictionary Online.

We could wait until they make their big debut in the new Macquarie Dictionary to find out the definitions of each of the award winning words, but we’re not going to. I’m going to reveal their true identities right now.

Pod Slurp : n. - to download large quantities of data to an MP3 player or memory stick from a computer.

Infomania : n. - the tendency to give immediate attention to incoming messages such as email and text messages, resulting in constant distraction and a corresponding drop in the recipient's attention levels and work performance.

Carbon footprint : n. - the carbon dioxide emissions for which an individual or organisation can be held responsible as a result of their travel, fuel consumption, diet and energy requirements.

Password fatigue : n. - the level of frustration caused by having too many different passwords to remember, resulting in an inability to remember even those most commonly used.

To view all of the category winners (categories such as fashion, sport, social scene, business, politics, etc.) check out the Word of the Year site.

Previous Word of the Year Winner

2006 - muffin top : The fold of fat around the midriff which spills out over the top of tight-fitting pants or skirts on the overweight

In this day and age of warnings about global warming, greenhouse gas emissions and the necessity of recycling and reusing, carbon footprint interests me and has prompted me to look a little further into it. I will investigate how to calculate a carbon footprint and how to reduce it and will report what I've found in another post.