Carbon Footprints

What is a Carbon footprint? Amount of carbon/greenhouse gas emissions  produced in daily life by an individual, a household, a building or a company. Carbon footprint traps heat within the atmosphere which could have a serious impact on the global climate by raising global temperatures

How Carbon Footprints Work Carbon footprints measure how much carbon dioxide (CO2) we produce just by going about our daily lives. When fossil fuels burn, they emit greenhouse gases like CO2 that contribute to global warming. Ninety-eight percent of atmospheric CO2 comes from the combustion of fossil fuels

Carbon footprint of items Leaving the lights on A forest fire A Burger A bottle of water 2.5 acres of deforestation Using a cell phone A computer International flight A pint of beer Cycling a mile Manufacturing a car A web search Walking through the door A banana Spending 1$ Road trip 10 lbs of trash

Carbon Footprint – 3 Scopes Scope 1: Direct Emissions Scope 2: Indirect Emissions (Purchased energy) Scope 3: Other Indirect Emissions Remember: there are three levels (scopes) to a green house gas/carbon footprint calculation.

Scope 1: Direct Emissions Relatively easy: Combustion Sources Site owned vehicles On site electrical generation CFC and HFC losses from refrigeration equipment Sulfur hexafluoride losses from electrical equipment

Scope 2: Indirect Emissions – Purchased Energy Relatively easy: Emissions from consumption of purchased utilities: Typically electricity Could be steam or high temperature hot water Could be negative (ex: electricity from landfill gas) June 2, 2009

Scope 3: Other Indirect Emissions Can be very difficult: Transportation of purchased material or goods Employee business travel Employee commuting impacts Outsourced work Emissions from finished products Transportation of waste Vegetation & Trees Scope 3 has various challenges Boundary issues Can be a magnitude higher than Scope 1 and 2 Costly value chain analysis

Global Warming An increase in the Earths temperature has been observed during the past decades, believed to be due to increase of Carbon dioxide (CO2)

Carbon foot prints resulting in - Global Warming Catastrophe changes in rainfall patterns (more rain in some places, less rain in others) Higher temperature on land melting of ice worldwide which could result in a rise in sea levels. Severe weather conditions, Sea level increase, Health effect, Change in agricultural pattern,

Context for numbers 1 gram of CO2e would be produced if you burned a pea sized blob of gasoline 1 Kilogram (2 lbs) of CO2e would be produced if you burned 2 cups of gasoline 1 Ton of CO2e would be produced if you burned 60 gallons of gasoline

Let’s determine your Carbon FootPrint  The smaller your footprint, the better!

Ways to reduce carbon footprints

Reducing Carbon footprints Get active, Hear it share it Know what damage you're doing and get to be an expert! Why drive when you can walk? Make your own climate! Turn the heating down in winter. If you're cold, wear more clothes! Turn the air conditioning down in summer or use a fan.

Reducing Carbon footprints Shop locally by affecting to reduce goods import  Travelling light Get your parents to change their driving habits... and their car. Solar energy is free Eating: Learn to grow and cook! Decrease using processed food, help reducing your carbon foot print  

Take the environment challenges! To make a difference Reduce Waste Reduce Energy Use Increase Biodiversity Reduce Car Travel Reduce Water Use Increase Gardening How to protect biodiversity in your schoolyard and environs Protecting and restoring native vegetation, invertebrates and animals in your school environment will help to maintain healthy soil, water and air.

Reducing Carbon footprints Reduce, reuse, recycle: Turn off and shut it! Using renewable energy sources such as solar power, hydropower and wind energy can reduce our carbon footprint.  If you don't buy so much stuff in the first place, then you don't need to reuse or recycle it. Reuse whatever you can (like plastic supermarket bags). If you can't reuse something, Recycle it!

Recycling Recycling common goods such as aluminum cans, glass bottles, plastic bottles and paper reduces greenhouse gas emissions and consumes less energy by cutting down on the amount of manufacturing required to create an object from raw materials. Reusing and recycling products reduces carbon footprint.

Methods of Reduction Unplugging appliances when not using them turning out lights when you leave the room taking a bus, train or plane instead of a car carpooling with other families and using bicycles when possible are some other methods of reducing carbon footprint to plant trees wherever possible since trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen into the atmosphere

Reduce Carbon footprints with renewable energy sources Using renewable energy sources such as solar power, hydropower and wind energy can reduce our carbon footprint. 

Alternate Energy Any form of energy that does not come from fossil fuels. Alternative energy sources produce energy without the damaging or harmful by-products common when burning fossil fuels Alternative energy sources are renewable and are thought to be "free" energy sources.

Sources of Alternative energy Tidal Energy Wind Energy Geo thermal Energy Solar Energy

Sources of Alternative energy Bio Fuel Energy Nuclear Energy Hydro electric Energy

Alternative Energy is the future of energy Alternative energy is clean, sustainable and better for our national security