Posts

Showing posts from October, 2020

Individual Carbon Footprint

  What is a carbon footprint? According to Wiedmann and Minx (2008), “There is no consensus on how to measure or quantify a carbon footprint. The spectrum of definitions ranges from direct CO2 emissions to full life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions and not even the units of measurement are clear.” The authors test the concept with a series of questions, asking whether greenhouse gases other than CO2, such as methane, can be components of a carbon footprint, and even those which, like nitrous oxide, contain no carbon. They question whether the carbon footprint of a “product, process or person” should be confined to direct emissions, or whether it should “reflect all life-cycle impacts of goods and services used”. After illustrating a range of definitions found in publications in 2006-7 the writers propose their own: "The carbon footprint is a measure of the exclusive total amount of carbon dioxide emissions that is directly and indirectly caused by an activity or is accumulated ove