About Carbon Footprint

What is a carbon footprint?

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).

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. (CO2 is the chemical symbol for carbon dioxide). When you heat your house with oil, gas or coal, then you also generate 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 buy food and goods, the production of the food and goods also emitted some quantities of CO2.

Your carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of CO2 (carbon dioxide), which were induced by your activities in a given time frame. Usually a carbon footprint is calculated for the time period of a year.

The best way is to calculate the carbon dioxide emissions based on the fuel consumption. In the next step you can add the CO2 emission to your carbon footprint. Below is a table for the most common used fuels:

Examples:

• For each (UK-) gallon of petrol fuel consumed, 10.4 kg carbon dioxide (CO₂) is emitted.

• For each (US-) gallon of gasoline fuel consumed, 8.7 kg carbon dioxide (CO₂) is emitted.

• If your car consumes 7.5 liter diesel per 100 km, then a drive of 300 km distance consumes 3 x 7.5 = 22.5 liter diesel, which adds 22.5 x 2.7 kg = 60.75 kg CO2 to your personal carbon footprint.

fuel type	unit	CO2 emitted per unit
Petrol	1 gallon (UK)	10.4 kg
Petrol	1 liter	2.3 kg
Gasoline	1 gallon (USA)	8.7 kg
Gasoline	1 liter	2.3 kg
Diesel	1 gallon (UK)	12.2 kg
Diesel	1 gallon (USA)	9.95 kg
Diesel	1 liter	2.7 kg
Oil (heating)	1 gallon (UK)	13.6 kg
Oil (heating)	1 gallon (USA)	11.26 kg
Oil (heating)	1 liter	3 kg

Each of the following activities add 1 kg of CO2 to your personal carbon footprint:

• Travel by public transportation (train or bus) a distance of 10 to 12 km (6.5 to 7 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)

• Fly with a plane a distance of 2.2 km or 1.375 miles.

• Operate your computer for 32 hours (60 Watt consumption assumed)

• Production of 5 plastic bags

• Production of 2 plastic bottles

• Production of 1/3 of an American cheeseburger (yes, the production of each cheeseburger emits 3.1 kg of CO2!)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc.  The carbon footprint is a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tonnes (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent.   The pie chart above shows the main elements which make up the total of an typical person's carbon footprint in the developed world.   A carbon footprint is made up of the sum of two parts, the primary footprint (shown by the green slices of the pie chart) and the secondary footprint (shown as the yellow slices). -----Copy From: Carbon Footprint-----