Carbon footprint

A carbon footprint is the total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an organization, event or product . Carnegie Mellon, Sweden and the Carbon Trust have addressed foods at home and in restaurants. The Carbon Trust has worked with UK manufacturers on foods, shirts and detergents, introducing a CO2 label in March 2007.

If the rules of a scheme allow, the obligated entities may be able to cover all or some of any reduction shortfalls by purchasing CERs and ERUs through Emissions Trading. by technological developments, better process and product management, changed Green Public or Private Procurement (GPP), Carbon capture, consumption strategies, and others. The mitigation of carbon footprints through the development of alternative projects, such as solar or wind energy or reforestation, represents one way of reducing a carbon footprint and is often known as Carbon offsetting. Several organizations have calculated carbon footprints of products: The US Environmental Protection Agency has addressed paper, plastic, glass, cans, computers, carpet and tires.

Lastly some relatively new green renewable electricity generation methods such as wind power emit no carbon during operation, but do leave a minor footprint during construction phase using the cradle-to-grave approach of the complete production life cycle. The previous table gives the carbon footprint per kWh of electricity generated, which is about half the worlds man made CO2 output. . While some mandatory emission reduction schemes exclude forest projects, these projects flourish in the voluntary markets.

Siphoning off industrial gas for sequestration is considered picking the low hanging fruit; which is why credits generated from industrial gas projects are the cheapest in the voluntary market. The size and activity of the voluntary carbon market is difficult to measure. While local emissions reduction schemes have no status under the Kyoto Protocol itself, they play a prominent role in creating the demand for CERs and ERUs, stimulating Emissions Trading and setting a market price for emissions. A well-known mandatory local emissions trading scheme is the EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS). In contrast to the strict rules set out for the mandatory market, the voluntary market provides companies with different options to acquire emissions reductions.

As such, high quality VERs can be acquired at lower costs for the same project quality. These figures do not allow for emissions due to accidents or terrorism.

This measure has the great advantage that the projects/activities are managed according to the quality standards set out for CDM/JI projects but the certificates provided are not registered by the governments of the host countries or the Executive Board of the UNO. A major criticism concerns the imprecise nature of GHG sequestration quantification methodologies for forestry projects.

Carnegie Mellon University has estimated the CO2 footprints of 46 large sectors of the economy in each of eight countries. Accordingly, from an economic or market perspective, one has to distinguish between a mandatory market and a voluntary market.

The most comprehensive report on the voluntary carbon markets to date was released by Ecosystem Marketplace and New Carbon Finance in July 2007. ÆON of Japan is firstly approved by Japanese authority to indicate carbon footprint on three private brand goods in October 2009. Albedo · Bond events · Cloud forcing · Glaciation · Global cooling · Ocean variability (AMO · ENSO · IOD · PDO) · Orbital variations · Orbital forcing · Radiative forcing · Solar variation · Volcanism . The US Postal Service has addressed mailing letters and packages.

Australia has addressed lumber and other building materials. However, others note the community co-benefits that forestry projects foster.

Academics in Australia, Korea and the US have addressed paved roads. Industrial Gas projects receive criticism because such projects only apply to large industrial plants that already have high fixed costs.

Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) sold on the voluntary market are quite controversial due to additionality concerns. A report by Ecosystem Marketplace shows that carbon offset prices increase as it moves along the supply chain——from project developer to retailer.

However, at present VERs can not be used in the mandatory market. The voluntary market in North America is divided between members of the Chicago Climate Exchange and the Over The Counter (OTC) market. Project types in the voluntary market range from avoided deforestation, afforestation/reforestation, industrial gas sequestration, increased energy efficiency, fuel switching, methane capture from coal plants and livestock, and even renewable energy.

The OTC market does not involve a legally binding scheme and a wide array of buyers from the public and private spheres, as well as special events that want to go carbon neutral. There are project developers, wholesalers, brokers, and retailers, as well as carbon funds, in the voluntary market. The demand for the CERs and ERUs being traded is driven by: - Shortfalls in national emission reduction obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. - Shortfalls amongst entities obligated under local emissions reduction schemes. Nations which have failed to deliver their Kyoto emissions reductions obligations can enter Emissions Trading to purchase CERS and ERUs to cover their treaty shortfalls.

The CO2 footprint for heat is equally significant and is contained in the following table IT shows that using waste heat from power generation has the lowest carbon footprint. Carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, and the emissions of other GHGs, are often associated with the burning of fossil fuels, like natural gas, crude oil and coal. The Kyoto Protocol defines legally binding targets and timetables for cutting the GHG emissions of industrialized countries that ratified the Kyoto Protocol. The Chicago Climate Exchange is a voluntary yet legally binding cap-and-trade emission scheme whereby members commit to the capped emission reductions and must purchase allowances from other members or offset excess emissions.

The label is intended to comply with a new British public available specification (i.e. A solution, comparable with those developed for the mandatory market, has been developed for the voluntary market, the Verified Emission Reductions (VER).

Companies, nonprofits and academics have addressed manufacture and operation of cars, buses, trains, airplanes, ships and pipelines. The carbon footprint is a subset of the ecological footprint and of the more comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). An individual, nation, or organization s carbon footprint can be measured by undertaking a GHG emissions assessment.

Once the size of a carbon footprint is known, a strategy can be devised to reduce it, e.g. not a standard), PAS2050. The following table compares the carbon footprint of various forms of energy generation, from a study of full life cycle emissions by the Swedish utility Vattenfall of Nuclear, Hydro, Coal, Gas, Solar Cell, Peat and Wind generation technology ( and from various other studies. The Vattenfall study thus concluded that hydroelectric and nuclear power produced the least CO2 per kilowatt-hour of any of their electricity sources.

Some businesses and nonprofits in the voluntary market encompass more than just one of the activities listed above. For simplicity of reporting, it is often expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent of other GHGs, emitted. The concept and name of the carbon footprint originates from the ecological footprint discussion.

Nations and groups of nations can also create local emission reduction schemes which place mandatory carbon dioxide emission targets on entities within their national boundaries. Typical for both markets is the trade with emission certificates: To reach the goals defined in the Kyoto Protocol, with the least economical costs, the following flexible mechanisms were introduced for the mandatory market: The CDM and JI mechanisms requirements for projects which create a supply of emission reduction instruments, whilst Emissions Trading allows those instruments to be sold on international markets. - Projects which are compliant with the requirements of the CDM mechanism generate Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs). - Projects which are compliant with the requirements of the JI mechanism generate Emissions Reduction Units (ERUs). The CERs and ERUs can then be sold through Emissions Trading.