Carbon Footprinting and Trees

Objective

 To calculate one’s own carbon footprint and gauge its environmental impact.

Outcome

Students will get an idea about the most carbon intensive activities they carry out and how they can reduce their own carbon footprint.

Requirements

Electricity bill.

Prerequisites

1. Knowledge on how to read an electricity bill.
2. Conceptual knowledge of carbon footprinting.

Given Data:

1. 1 tree absorbs approximately 0.25 ton of CO₂ in its lifetime.
2. 1 ton = 1000 kg

Formula:

Carbon Footprint (kg CO₂e) = Emission Factor x Activity Data

Procedure

Step 1: Determine electricity usage for the previous month from the electricity bill (kWh).

Step 2: Estimate the number of hours of national and international air travel by all the family members in the last month (if any).

Step 3: Estimate the number of kilometres travelled in the last month through private vehicles (if any), i.e. cars or bikes by all the members of the family. 

Step 4: Estimate the number of hours travelled in the last month through public transport, i.e. trains, buses, rickshaws or taxis, by all the members of the family. 

Step 5: Estimate dairy (in litres) and meat-poultry-fish (in kg) consumption in the last month.

Step 6: Estimate the carbon footprint (kgCO₂e) of each activity. 

Step 7: Estimate the carbon footprint of your home by adding the carbon footprint (tCO₂e) of each activity.

Step 8: Estimate the number of trees required to be planted to offset GHG emissions of your last month’s consumption.

Calculations

Step 1-6:

Consumption Activity	Emission Factor (E.F.)1	Unit	Activity Data (i.e. monthly consumption)(A.D.)	Unit	Carbon Footprint = E.F. x A.D. (kgCO2e)
Electricity (A)	1.19	kg CO2e/kWh		kWh
National Air Travel (B)	190	kg CO2e/passenger-hour		hours
International Air Travel (C)	181	kg CO2e/passenger-hour		hours
Car (D)	0.1	kg CO2e/vehicle-km		kms
Bike (E)	0.04	kg CO2e/vehicle-km		kms
Train Travel (F)	0.5	kg CO2e/passenger-hour		hours
Bus Travel (G)	0.4	kg CO2e/passenger-hour		hours
Rickshaw Travel (H)	1	kg CO2e/passenger-hour		hours
Taxi Travel (I)	3	kg CO2e/passenger-hour		hours
Dairy Consumption (J)	1	kg CO2e/litre		litres
Meat-Poultry-Fish Consumption (K)	10	kg CO2e/kg		kgs

Step 7: Total carbon Footprint (t CO₂e) =$$\frac{\:\text{Carbon Footprint of (A+B+C+D+E+F+G+H+I+J+K) }}{\:\text{1000}}$$

Step 8: No. of Trees to be planted to offset GHG Emissions of your last month’s usage = $$\frac{\:\text{Carbon Footprint of own shelter (tCO₂e) }}{\:\text{Lifetime Carbon Absorption Capacity of one tree (tCO₂e)}}$$

References

Supplementary Notes Section: Carbon Footprint