A Couple Of Carbon Footprint Stories

Coca Cola Looks at it's Carbon Footprint

Coca Cola has done a study on it's carbon footprint

Majority of UK Companies Believe Reducing Carbon Emissions Too Costly

For every far-sighted company CEO who can see the long-term benefits in developing a plan for reducing the carbon footprint of their company, it seems that there are more who have placed it in the too hard basket and simply assumed that it will cost them money rather than save it. Company after company have proven that by changing their way of thinking they have been able to reduce their carbon emissions while also reducing their operating expenses.

Here's the attitude that proponents of carbon reduction are fighting

South Australian Government Carbon Neutral

We've heard stories of local communities going carbon neutral and even cities heading towards a carbon neutral balance, but today, the South Australian government has announced that it promises to make the South Australian state government carbon neutral in 12 years. South Australian Premier Mike Rann outlined a timetable to offset all greenhouse gas emissions produced by government activities. He has thrown out the challenge for other industries and governments to do the same in the hope that the inspiration will cause a chain reaction of events.

The South Australian Government timetable has made provision to offset 30% of the government's greenhouse gas emissions by 2010, rising to 50% by 2014 and by 2020 be carbon neutral. The government is planning to achieve this goal by purchasing green energy or energy produced from renewable resources.

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.

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.