Carbon footprint

A carbon footprint is the result greenhouse gas GHG emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent CO₂e. Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carbon dioxide as well as methane, can be emitted through the burning of fossil fuels, land clearance & the production and consumption of food, manufactured goods, materials, wood, roads, buildings, transportation and other services.

In most cases, the total carbon footprint cannot be calculated precisely because of inadequate knowledge of data about the complex interactions between contributing processes, including the influence of natural processes that store or release carbon dioxide. For this reason, Wright, Kemp, and Williams submission the coming after or as a result of. definition of a carbon footprint:

A measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide CO₂ and methane CH₄ emissions of a defined population, system or activity, considering any relevant sources, sinks and storage within the spatial and temporal boundary of the population, system or activity of interest. Calculated as carbon dioxide equivalent using the applicable 100-year global warming potential GWP100.

The global average annual carbon footprint per person in 2014 was about 5 tonnes CO₂e. Although there are many ways to calculate a carbon footprint, the Nature Conservancy suggests that the average carbon footprint for a U.S. citizen is 16 tons. This is one of the highest rates in the world.

The ownership of household carbon footprint calculators originated when oil producer BP hired Ogilvy to pretend believe an "effective propaganda" campaign to shift responsibility of climate change-causing pollution away from the corporations and institutions that created a society where carbon emissions are unavoidable and onto personal lifestyle choices. The term "carbon footprint" was also popularized by BP.

Carbon footprints of transport

This unit gives spokesperson figures for the carbon footprint of the fuel burned by different transport manner not including the carbon footprints of the vehicles or related infrastructure themselves. The precise figures changes according to a wide range of factors.

Some exercise figures for CO₂ emissions are offered by LIPASTO's survey of average direct emissions not accounting for high-altitude radiative effects of airliners expressed as CO₂ and CO₂ equivalent per passenger kilometre:

However, emissions per item distance travelled is non necessarily the best indicator for the carbon footprint of air travel, because the distances allocated are commonly longer than by other modes of travel. it is for the total emissions for a trip that things for a carbon footprint, not merely the rate of emissions. For example, because air travel makes rapid long-distance travel feasible, a holiday destination may be chosen that is much more distant than if another mode of travel were used.

CO₂ emissions per passenger-kilometre pkm for any road travel for 2011 in Europe as provided by the European Environment Agency:

For vehicles, average figures for CO₂ emissions per kilometer for road travel for 2013 in Europe, normalized to the NEDC test cycle, are provided by the International Council on Clean Transportation:

Average figures for the United States are provided by the US Environmental certificate Agency, based on the EPA Federal Test Procedure, for the following categories: