PRACTICAL

AIM : To calculate individual and household carbon footprint.

What is carbon footprint?

A carbon footprint is the total set of GHGs (Green House Gases) emissions, like Carbon dioxide (CO 2),
Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O) emitted directly or indirectly by an individual or entity. It relates to the
amount of GHG we are producing in our day-to-day lives through burning fuels for electricity, heating,
transportation etc.

Carbon Footprint is measured in tCO2. tCO2eq stands for “Tonnes of CO2 equivalent” (similarly kgCO2eq
stands for “kilogram of CO2 equivalent”). It is a measure for describing how much global warming a given
type and amount of greenhouse gas may cause, using the functionally equivalent amount or concentration of
Carbon dioxide (CO2) as the reference in case of GHG other than CO2.

For instance, Methane is a greenhouse gas that has a stronger effect on Global Warming than CO2. It is found
that methane has 23 times more green house effect potential than CO2. To be able to compare it with the effect
of CO2, it is converted into CO2eq. Like this, it is possible to say that that 1t of methane has the same effect
on Climate Change as 23 tCO2.

Calculation of Carbon Footprint : Five of the most significant contributors:

• Family size: No single factor contributes more to a parent’s carbon footprint than the number of
children does s/he have, with each child adding an average of 58 tons of CO2-equivalent per year to
his/her total.
• Transportation: Cars and planes are the culprits here. Owning and regularly driving a car adds an
average of 2.4 tons of CO2-equivalent to one’s yearly footprint, while just a single transatlantic flight
adds 1.6 tons.
• Heating and air conditioning: Regularly heating and cooling home adds roughly 1.5 tons of CO2-
equivalent to annual footprint. A typical coal power plant produces about 870 grams of CO2 per
kilowatt of power (while plants outfitted with carbon-capture tech, which captures waste carbon and
stores it underground, pump out about 156 grams). Natural gas produces about 464 grams of CO2 per
kilowatt of power; for solar, it's 48 grams of CO2; and for wind, it's 11 grams.

• Food: Eating meat adds about 0.8 tons to annual carbon footprint. This has less to do with emissions
produced directly by the animals themselves and more to do with the energy required to grow and
harvest the crops that feed the livestock. But not all meats are created equal: Beef requires a lot more
feed, water and land than chicken, and therefore accounts for an additional 880 pounds of CO2-e
emitted per year.

• Laundry: Merely washing and drying clothes adds about 0.46 tons of CO2 over the course of a year
— 0.25 tons due to heating the water for the wash cycle and another 0.21 tons from drying clothes.

Carbon footprint was calculated on https://ccd.gujarat.gov.in/carbon-footprint-calculator.htm web portal.

Paste the above screenshots after calculation of carbon footprints with values.

How to reduce carbon footprint?

Carbon footprint can be reduced by changing and adopting following our lifestyle :
Reduce Waste
 According to IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), around 18% of the world’s CH4 (which
absorbs 25 times more solar radiations than CO2) emissions ranging from 9 to 70 mega tonnes annually is
generated from landfills. Reducing waste directly and indirectly helps in the carbon footprint reduction.
Recycling

Recycling conserves both raw materials and energy and reduces the amount of waste we produce. In today's
world the importance of recycling is becoming greater of a concern both for the general public and also to the
economy. All citizens of globe share the responsibility for the environmentally sound recycling of products at
the end of their useful life.
Reuse Everyday Items

The concept of reusing is undoubtedly economic and eco-friendly. Reusing things would in a straight line
decrease waste production and manufacturing demands, the processing of which increases carbon footprints.

Save Water

Water is very precious. It is important to use water as judiciously as possible. Global Warming may lead to
serious water scarcity problem. Pure drinkable or usable water is very expensive in terms of energy
requirement. Wastage of water leads to excess electricity consumption and lowering of water tables.
Save electricity
 Electricity is used every day at home, at school, at work as an inevitable part of our life. Saving electricity can
save the world's energy resources like coal, gas, oil and water and thereby saving money.
Save fuel and reduce emission

India spends maximum of its foreign earnings on importing crude oil for meeting its growing energy demand.
On the other hand, Global warming is the looming concern today. CO2 is the largest contributor to the
phenomenon of global warming and petroleum products are the largest source of CO2 emission into the
environment. CO2 cannot be stopped being emitted from burning of petroleum products, but it certainly can
be reduced to a great extent by way of efficient utilization of these products.

Save paper

It takes 17 trees and 1500 tonnes of oil to produce one tonne of paper. Thus, saving paper could thus go a
major way in mitigating Climate Change.

Result : Mention the values obtained after calculation of Carbon footprint

Conclusion : Compare it with the average carbon footprint in India which is 1.6 tCO2 e and add a short note
on what changes you would like to bring in your lifestyle in order to reduce your own carbon footprint.