Carbon Footprint Methodologies Calculations

Carbon Footprint Methodologies &
Calculations
Carbon Footprint Methodologies
There are three carbon footprint methodologies in the public domain; these include
• Direct
• Indirect
• System Boundaries
The selection of the methodology to use is entirely dependant on the product or system
that the footprint calculation is to be performed upon. By this we mean that products or
systems can have a lot of component parts to them and all of these need to have a
carbon footprint calculation completed for them individually in order that they be added
to the overall total for the product or system. A good example of this is a car that has on
average around 15,000 parts; you can imagine the complexity of a carbon footprint for
each of these parts and adding them together to form an overall total!
Direct Methodology
This involves all the carbon consuming activities that can be directly attributed to a
product; examples of this could include:
• Manufacturing processes for production of the footprint.
• Packaging where applicable.
• Delivery of the product to the customer.
Indirect Methodology
This involves all carbon consuming activities are not attributable to a product; examples
could include:
• Extraction of ores and raw materials from the ground.
• Processing of these materials into the form supply the manufacturer uses.
• Energy generation to power the manufacturing processes.
• Extraction of oils from the ground and refining into a useable product.
• Non productive staff within the parent company (HR, payroll etc)?
System Boundary
The system boundary methodology involves all the direct and indirect carbon consuming
activities to be identified and a decision is made around which elements are in scope of
the carbon footprint calculation. An example of this shown below:
Conclusions
A company will use the direct methodology to calculate the carbon emissions as a result
of direct activities in the production of its products and services. This only considers
emissions that it is directly responsible for and as a result in control of.
A company will use the indirect methodology if it wants to add carbon emissions that it is
not in control of i.e. raw materials, energy to power the company etc. to its direct
calculations.
A company will use the system boundary approach if the direct/indirect carbon
calculations are very complex in order to reduce the calculation complexity. It must be
mentioned at this point that the dismissal of items as not in scope should be reserved to
the items that will have very little effect on the overall total. Major carbon emission
elements should not be dismissed to generate a calculation outcome that portrays the
company as having a green image.
Beware Carbon Toe-prints
The most common abuse of the carbon footprint is to miss out some or even most of the
emissions caused, whatever the activity or items being addressed.
For example many online carbon calculator websites will tell you that your carbon
footprint is a certain size based purely on your home energy and personal travel habits,
whilst ignoring all of the goods and services you purchase.
Similarly a magazine publisher might claim to have measured its carbon footprint but in
doing so looked only at its office and cars whilst ignoring the much greater emissions
caused by the printing house that produces the magazines for them.
These are more like carbon toe-prints as they don’t give the full picture!
Are the above examples direct, indirect or system boundary calculation examples?
A Simple Example?
A M10 bolt for fastening a gearbox to a car engine.
Direct Emissions
Manufacturing process to produce the bolt
Packaging the bolt
Delivery of the bolt to the car manufacturer
Simple yes or no?

Indirect Emissions
Energy consumed during manufacture

• Building the power generation station
• Building the machinery to extract the ores
• Raw materials extracted to build the power station
• Cost of building the ships etc. to deliver the raw ores/materials
• Processing the raw materials into a useable format
• Delivering the raw materials to the customer
• Cost of producing the vehicles to deliver the raw materials
• Carbon emissions from plant machinery used to the power station
• Carbon emissions from the workers travelling to and from work
• Carbon emissions of manufacturing the cars and vehicles the workers use
• Carbon emission from power generation
• Carbon emissions from removal or reprocessing waste products
• Transport of waste products to reprocessing centre
• Storage facility building for waste products
Not an exhaustive list!

Raw materials
• Building the machinery to extract the ores
• Carbon emissions from using the ore extraction machinery
• Transporting the raw ores/materials to the processing plant
• Cost of building the ships etc. to deliver the raw ores/materials
• Processing the raw materials into a useable format
• Delivering the raw materials to the customer
• Cost of producing the vehicles to deliver the raw materials
Non-Productive Staff
• Manufacturing costs of facilities used in offices etc. (PC’s, printers, furniture, telephone
systems etc.)
Not an exhaustive list!
Simple yes or no?

Repeat this for 14,999 other car parts – Hence the adoption of a system boundary
approach!
Case Study – A New Car
The carbon footprint of a car is immensely complex due to the number of
different materials, processes and location of the raw materials around the
world that requires transportation. The gas and electricity consumed
accounts for around 12% of the carbon footprint alone. The input output
approach suggests that a car may have a footprint of 720Kg per £1,000
spent on it.
Calculations for carbon emissions for car are usually expressed in output per
mile over either 100,000 or 200,000 miles to produce an average carbon
emission level. A car that performs a short journey in very cold weather will
emit far more carbon than a car on a lengthy motorway journey on a warm
summers day. Who do you know keeps a car for 100,000 miles let alone
200,000 miles?
Then is the consideration of the type of car from small run around car to
Chelsea tractor and the associated fuel consumption levels for these
vehicles.
Citroen C1
Price £10,000
Embodied emissions from manufacture per £1,000 (Tonnes CO2e) = 0.6
Embodied emissions per mile over 100,000 miles (Grams CO2e) = 60
Prius hatchback
Price £23,000
Ford Mondeo
Price £28,000
Land Rover Discovery

Price £48,000
If the above vehicles were to be replaced with either a hybrid or electric car the main reduction
element in the carbon footprint would be the emissions output from the car. For an electric car the
emissions is a simple calculation as the emissions will be effectively zero. For a hybrid car the
emissions is more complex as this depends on the size of the vehicle and the ratio of usage for electric
and IC engine; this would typically be around a 70:30 split i.e. 70% IC engine and 30% electric power. It
must be noted that there is no allowance for the carbon emissions used to charge the battery on both
types of vehicle and as a result the calculation is on the optimistic side but we have to make a start
somewhere in this complex example.
1. Calculate the total carbon footprint for each vehicle type using a traditional IC engine.
2. Calculate the reduction in carbon footprint if each vehicle type was replaced by a small electric car
such as a Nissan leaf with a cost of £12,000 with an embodied emissions from manufacture per
£1,000 (Tonnes CO2e) value of 0.8
3. Calculate the reduction in carbon footprint if each vehicle was replaced by a hybrid Honda Civic
with a cost of £25,000 with an embodied emissions from manufacture per £1,000 (Tonnes CO2e)
value of 1.5. Embodied emissions per mile over 100,000 miles (Grams CO2e) = 150 when using the
IC engine.
For an electric or hybrid car that will be purchased and kept for a period that covers 70,000 miles of
use and an average annual mileage of 15,000 miles per year.
Interest rate on capital if not invested in a new hybrid or electric car is 5%.
The carbon saving of electricity generated power from a car is 1 Tonne of carbon = 10,000 miles.
The MPG of the IC engine is 30 and the cost of the fuel is £5.27 per gallon leading to a cost of 17.5p
per mile.
The current consumption for an electric powered vehicle is 34KW/h per 100 miles which results in a
cost of 3p per mile.
Calculate the following from the above

• The payback point for the initial investment.
• The payback point of the carbon usage from manufacture.
• The carbon saving resulting at the payback point for the initial investment.
Is it worth investing in an electric or hybrid powered car?

Calculate the total carbon footprint for each vehicle type using a traditional IC engine.
Citroen C1
Price £10,000
Therefore (0.6x10) + (70,000x60) =
1,000,000
Therefore 6 + (4,200,000) =
1,000,000
Therefore 6 + 4.2 = 10.2 Tonnes CO2e
Remember Units! - Grams and Tonnes

Prius hatchback
Price £23,000
Therefore (1.5x23) + (70,000x150) =
1,000,000
Therefore 34.5 + (10,500,000) =

1,000,000
Therefore 34.5 + 10.5 = 45 Tonnes CO2e

Ford Mondeo
Price £28,000
Therefore (1.7x28) + (70,000x170) =
1,000,000
Therefore 47.6 + (11,900,000) =

1,000,000
Therefore 47.6 + 11.9 = 59.5 Tonnes CO2e


Price £48,000
Therefore (2.9x48) + (70,000x290) =
1,000,000
Therefore 139.2 + (20,300,000) =

1,000,000

Notes:
Fuel emissions are optimistic as values are based on 100,000 miles. Emissions per mile
would probably be higher most likely 30% higher. For example this would make the
Citroen C1 given at 60g in the calculations more likely figure of 78g
The vast majority of the carbon footprint is from the manufacturing process which
negates the argument of buying a new car because it is more fuel efficient. It would
require many thousands of extra miles to actually recover this amount of carbon.
Values for the electric vehicle replacement basically removes the emissions element of the
calculations for mileage. If a like for like replacement was used the values would therefore
be
Citroen C1 = 6 Tonnes CO2e

Prius Hatchback = 34.5 Tonnes CO2e
Ford Mondeo = 47.6 Tonnes CO2e
Land Rover = 139.2 Tonnes CO2e
However there are as yet no direct equivalents for the above models of car as electric
vehicles are still an emerging technology. This makes the transition to an electric vehicle
more difficult to calculate!
In fact there are very few options in terms of EV’s and the predominant model out there at
present is the Nissan Leaf; the rest of the models offered by the major manufacturers tend
to be hybrid technology!
Calculate the reduction in carbon footprint if each vehicle type was replaced by a small electric car
such as a Nissan leaf with a cost of £12,000 with an embodied emissions from manufacture per £1,000
(Tonnes CO2e) value of 0.8
Nissan Leaf
Therefore 0.8x12 = 9.6 Tonnes CO2e

Citroen C1
Therefore = 10.2 - 9.6
Therefore = 0.6 Tonnes CO2e saving

Prius hatchback
Therefore = 45 - 9.6

Ford Mondeo
Therefore = 59.5 - 9.6

Therefore = 159.5 - 9.6

Summary
The emissions saving by moving from a Citroen C1 to and electric vehicle are negligible
therefore it would take an eternity to payback the carbon savings from emissions against the
carbon manufacturing element of the Nissan Leaf.
All the others would have a substantial impact on carbon reduction through emissions savings
so would be viable options and this is more obvious for the larger vehicles. The mpg of the
larger vehicles are not considered in this calculation but it can certainly be assumed that they
would be worse than the Citroen C1 as they are bigger vehicles. Or would they make a
significant impact?
It must be noted that the majority of the emissions are produced as a result of manufacture and
not use. So the carbon savings are massively swayed because much less carbon emissions are
produced in the manufacture of the Nissan Leaf.
However caution must also be taken here as the function of the vehicle is not considered; the
owners of larger vehicles may need this size of vehicle in their lifestyles e.g. larger families,
housing location etc. Its easy to say lets all trade in our cars for a Nissan Leaf but the
calculations are not the whole story!
Calculate the reduction in carbon footprint if each vehicle was replaced by a hybrid Honda Civic with a
cost of £25,000 with an embodied emissions from manufacture per £1,000 (Tonnes CO2e) value of 1.5.
Embodied emissions per mile over 100,000 miles (Grams CO2e) = 150 when using the IC engine.
Honda Civic (Hybrid)
Therefore (1.5x25) + (70,000x150) x 0.7 =
1,000,000
Therefore 37.5 + (10,500,000) x 0.7 =

1,000,000
Therefore 37.5 + (10.5x 0.7) =

Citroen C1
Therefore = 44.85 – 10.2
Therefore = 34.65 Tonnes CO2e increase
Prius hatchback
Therefore = 45 - 44.85
Ford Mondeo
Therefore = 59.5 - 44.85

Therefore = 159.5 - 44.85

For an electric or hybrid car that will be purchased and kept for a period that covers 70,000 miles of
use and an average annual mileage of 15,000 miles per year.
Interest rate on capital if not invested in a new hybrid or electric car is 5%.
per mile.
Calculate the following from the above

• The carbon payback point for the initial investment.
• The carbon saving resulting at the payback point for the initial investment.

Nissan Leaf
• The carbon payback point for the initial investment.
Initial investment value at 5% on £12,000
Year 1 = £12,600
Year 2 = £13,230
Year 3 = £13,891.50
Year 4 = £14,586.08
Year 5 = £15,315.38
Year 6 = £16,081.15
Year 7 = £16,885.21
Pay back value difference between IC engine and electric motor (Reduced Emissions)
Electric Motor
Cost per mile 0.088x34 =

100
Therefore = £0.03 Per Mile
Electric Motor
per mile.
Cost per mile 5.27 =

30
Payback difference per mile between IC engine and electric motor

Therefore = 0.176 - 0.03
Payback per year at 15,000 mile annual mileage

Therefore = 15,000x0.146
Therefore = £2,190 Per Year
Year 1 = £2,190 Year 2 = £4,380

Year 3 = £6,570 Year 4 = £8,760
Year 5 = £10,950 Year 6 = £13,140
Year 7 = £15,330 Year 8 = £17,520
Therefore 7 Yrs 9 Months initial investment payback point
Nissan Leaf
Nissan Leaf Manufacture = 9.6 Tonnes CO2e
Therefore carbon payback point = 1x1.5 due to 15,000 miles
Therefore = 1.5 Tonnes CO2e per year based on mileage
Carbon payback point = 9.6

1.5
Therefore carbon payback point = 6.4 Yrs or 6 Yrs 3 Months
Note: The carbon payback points for both will reduce if the annual mileage is increased and vice-versa!
Therefore = £2,920 as opposed to £2,190 Per Year an increase of £730 per annum on initial capital investment
which results in a payback point of 4Yrs
Therefore 9.6 = 4.8Yrs
2
Therefore = £1,460 as opposed to £2,190 Per Year an decrease of £730 per annum on initial capital
investment which results in a payback point in excess of 20Yrs!
Therefore 9.6 = 9.6Yrs
1
• The carbon saving resulting at the payback point for the initial investment?
Payback of carbon from manufacture 6 Yrs 3 Months but car is not being kept for this period of time, total
mileage suggests 4 Yrs 8 months but more than likely 5 Yrs but if annual mileage is increased to 20,000 per
year this is achieved in 4.8 Yrs.
However the payback on the initial investment does not occur to 7Yrs 9 Months far more than the
anticipated 5 years of ownership but if annual mileage is increased to 20,000 per year this is achieved in
4Yrs.
Summary
It is always ethically worth investing in an electric or hybrid car due to the reduction in emissions
going forwards. However by doing this in certain use situations it can cause an increase in the carbon
emissions due to those used in the manufacture of a new car.
If the vehicle is kept for the required financial and carbon usage payback periods it is definitely
worthwhile both ethically, financially and carbon footprint wise. However this can only be achieved
under the following conditions.
• High annual mileage
• Keeping the vehicle for a higher than average number of years
A typical candidate for the purchase of/owning an electric vehicle would be a low mileage round town
car user whose purchase was made on decisions based on the reduction of the higher smog levels; in
particular city centres and doing their bit for the environment! This is further compounded by the as yet
limited range of electric vehicles and lack of charging networks across the country. This scenario is the
worst of all for actually damaging the environment as the carbon payback point is the worst and the
financial carbon payback point from buying the new car as opposed to keeping the old car may not
ever be achieved!
Activity
A Litre of Petrol – 3.15Kg CO2e
We currently consume 50 billion litres of petrol and diesel per year; that’s four bathfuls right to
the top (Approximately 300Ltrs) for every single person that lives in the UK.
The carbon emissions from a litre of petrol is predominantly produced from burning it to power
vehicles and machinery 74%. The other 26% is caused by the supply chain of the fuel; getting it
out of the ground, flaring off the gas, shipping it around the world, refining it and getting it to
the pumps.
As the burning of the fuel accounts for approximately 75% of the carbon emissions the
extra quarter does not usually feature in car emission statistics. Think back to the direct
and indirect carbon emission methodologies earlier!
Using the figures for the IC example in previous slides
A Litre of Petrol – 3.15Kg CO2e

The user completes 15,000 miles per year
The MPG of the IC engine is 30
There 4.54 Ltrs in a gallon
Calculate:
• The total carbon footprint of using the vehicle
• The carbon footprint of using the vehicle
• The carbon footprint for refining the fuel for use (supply chain)
Remember units and answers should be given in ‘Tonnes CO2e’

Carbon Footprint Methodologies Calculations

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Carbon Footprint Methodologies &

A M10 bolt for fastening a gearbox to a car engine.

Simple yes or no?

Energy consumed during manufacture

Not an exhaustive list!

Simple yes or no?

Land Rover Discovery

Calculate the following from the above

Is it worth investing in an electric or hybrid powered car?

Therefore (0.6x10) + (70,000x60) =

Therefore 6 + 4.2 = 10.2 Tonnes CO2e

Remember Units! - Grams and Tonnes

Therefore (1.5x23) + (70,000x150) =

Therefore 34.5 + (10,500,000) =

Therefore 34.5 + 10.5 = 45 Tonnes CO2e

Therefore (1.7x28) + (70,000x170) =

Therefore 47.6 + (11,900,000) =

Therefore 47.6 + 11.9 = 59.5 Tonnes CO2e

Land Rover Discovery

Therefore (2.9x48) + (70,000x290) =

Therefore 139.2 + (20,300,000) =

Therefore 139.2 + 20.3 = 159.5 Tonnes CO2e

Citroen C1 = 6 Tonnes CO2e

Therefore 0.8x12 = 9.6 Tonnes CO2e

Therefore = 0.6 Tonnes CO2e saving

Therefore = 35.4 Tonnes CO2e saving

Therefore = 49.9 Tonnes CO2e saving

Therefore = 149.9 Tonnes CO2e saving

Honda Civic (Hybrid)

Therefore (1.5x25) + (70,000x150) x 0.7 =

Therefore 37.5 + (10,500,000) x 0.7 =

Therefore 37.5 + (10.5x 0.7) =

Therefore 37.5 + 7.35 = 44.85 Tonnes CO2e

Therefore = 34.65 Tonnes CO2e increase

Therefore = 0.15 Tonnes CO2e saving

Therefore = 14.65 Tonnes CO2e saving

Land Rover Discovery

Therefore = 114.65 Tonnes CO2e saving

Calculate the following from the above

Is it worth investing in an electric or hybrid powered car?

Cost per mile 0.088x34 =

Cost per mile 5.27 =

Payback difference per mile between IC engine and electric motor

Payback per year at 15,000 mile annual mileage

Year 1 = £2,190 Year 2 = £4,380

Carbon payback point = 9.6

Is it worth investing in an electric or hybrid powered car?

Using the figures for the IC example in previous slides

A Litre of Petrol – 3.15Kg CO2e

Remember units and answers should be given in ‘Tonnes CO2e’

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