What is carbon footprint and how to reduce it? Carbon footprint calculation technique

Individual carbon footprint 👥

What is a personal carbon footprint? Our individual carbon footprint is based on our consumption habits.

Individual carbon footprint, means of transportation, use of electricity to heat and cool the house, eating habits, consumption of artifacts, recycling habits, etc. associated greenhouse gas emissions.

Product carbon footprint 🍱

The carbon footprint of artifacts is the accepted method for determining the climate impact of an artifact. Climate-related influences emerge in the form of greenhouse gas emissions throughout the entire life cycle of an artifact (from raw material extraction to recycling or waste). The trace carbon footprint helps to identify and analyze these influences and to reduce or completely prevent these influences with real measures.

Apart from the carbon footprint associated with the product, there is also a corporate carbon footprint that takes into account the impact of the company. There are standards and norms that are constantly being developed for determining the trace carbon footprint and corporate carbon footprint. A decarbonized world is targeted by 2050; For this reason, all works and services should be evaluated according to their effects on the climate.

The product carbon footprint calculation requires separation in the middle of direct and indirect emissions (Scope 1-3). Scope 1 includes all emissions directly caused by the company (combustion of fossil fuels, emissions from chemical and physical processes, etc.). Scope 2 analyzes indirect emissions produced by electricity, heat, cooling or steam providers. Scope 3 is all other indirect emissions that occur in the upstream supply chain or during trace use.

Carbon footprint of companies 🏢

Many companies are condemned for the impact of their activities on climate change due to the large amount of greenhouse gas emissions they release into the atmosphere. Today, companies of all sizes have the opportunity to lead real change in a carbon-neutral society.

The company carbon footprint calculation includes an inventory of sinks and greenhouse gas sources resulting from activities performed by the company. The carbon footprint of the companies, the total greenhouse gas resulting from their activities ( GHG) provides a numerical value of its emissions.

Digital carbon footprint 🌐

What is a digital carbon footprint? Emissions generated by our devices, the internet, and the systems that support them are referred to as digital carbon footprints. Together, these emissions make up about 4% of our global carbon footprint. We can divide our digital carbon footprint into three categories: First, digital technology production. The second is to turn on our personal devices. Third, connect to the internet.

When you think of Internet power use, you probably think of WiFi and electricity that powers your personal devices. But the internet is a vast physical electronic network of laptops, mobile phones, servers, modems, and other hardware. It also takes a lot of power and resources to manufacture these devices. According to the Shift Project, production accounts for about 45% of the total power consumed by the electronic devices we use to access the internet.

When we plug in our personal devices, greenhouse gas emissions are produced. According to research by the Shift Project, TV usage accounts for 44% of total lifetime power consumption. This rate is 11% for laptops and 6% for smartphones.

Surfing the Internet, viewing images, does not happen in a carbon-neutral space. Physical servers in huge data centers around the world store and process our online activity. Information centers are interconnected by thousands of kilometers of undersea cables, switches and routers. Data centers require a lot of power to operate. Most of this power comes from fossil fuels. Studies show that data centers alone generate about 1% of global emissions.

The technology division is growing rapidly. As our world becomes more and more digital, we will need more devices, servers and data centers. If it goes this way, it is claimed that digital technologies will produce 8% of global emissions by 2025. As digital transformation continues, companies building the internet must commit to a zero-emissions future. Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Google, Amazon, promised to reach net zero by 2040 under the Paris Agreement.

Countries’ carbon footprint 🌏

What is a carbon footprint? It is a measurement of the total greenhouse gas emissions caused by an individual, community, activity, organization, service, artifact or country. Greenhouse gas (GHG) is a gas that absorbs and emits thermal radiation, trapping heat near the Earth’s surface, eventually warming the planet, creating a greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gases are valuable in maintaining the Earth’s habitable temperature. Large amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere can disrupt the Earth’s carbon cycle and accelerate global warming.

Developed countries, mostly to higher carbon footprintsand CO2 emissions has. This is largely due to more powerful energy industries that burn large amounts of fossil fuels to provide electricity, and a large number of car owners who contribute heavily to emissions. Industries such as manufacturing and meat production also contribute to carbon footprint production. The carbon footprint countries ranking for 2020 is as follows:

1. China – 11680.42 Mt CO2
2. America – 4535.30 Mt CO2
3. India – 2411.73 Mt CO2
4. Russia – 1674.23 Mt CO2
5. Japan – 1061.77 Mt CO2
6. Iran – 690.24 Mt CO2
7. Germany – 636.88 Mt CO2
8. South Korea – 621.47 Mt CO2
9. Saudi Arabia – 588.81 Mt CO2
10. Indonesia – 568.27 Mt CO2

Here are the 10 countries that emit the most CO2 in the world. According to TUIK information, total greenhouse gas emission in Turkey was equivalent to 523.9 Mt of CO2.

Countries can reduce their carbon footprints in many ways; Generating electricity from renewable power sources (solar, wind, hydroelectric) instead of fossil fuels, increasing power efficiency, switching to biofuels in transportation, reducing CO2 emissions from vehicles, recovering greenhouse gases such as methane from landfills and chimneys, levying carbon tax in greenhouse gas-emitting industries, reducing forests. to be preserved. Many countries, zero carbon footprint He began to take these and other steps for it. This means that countries will eliminate as much CO2 as they emit. There are things we can do individually to reduce our carbon footprint; to prefer walking, cycling or public transportation instead of driving, using reusable containers or bottles instead of plastic containers, reducing overall electricity use and eating less red meat.

Ecological footprint 🌿

The ecological footprint measures the measure of biologically productive land or water that allows a population to sustain itself. This measure takes into account the resources a population needs to produce artifacts, assimilate or clean up their waste. It can include parts of the sea that contain biologically fertile soil and water, arable land, pastures, and marine life. Ecological footprint units are global hectares (gha), which measures the measure of biologically productive land with productivity equal to the World average. This land area is measured in hectares, each representing 10,000 square meters of land.

Ecological footprint and carbon footprint are two ways to measure the impact of something on the environment. A carbon footprint measures the total greenhouse gas emissions caused by a person, organization or activity. Carbon footprint, carbon dioxide equivalent units or CO2e measured in . This measures how much a certain amount of greenhouse gas can affect global warming compared to carbon dioxide. Therefore, the carbon footprint focuses on activities related to greenhouse gas emissions, rather than considering the entire life cycle as in the ecological footprint calculation. For example; A carbon footprint is used to determine the impact of burning fossil fuels or electricity consumption on the environment.

We can list the ecological footprint components as carbon sequestration footprint, agricultural footprint, forest footprint, grassland footprint, built area footprint and fishing area footprint.

• Carbon capture footprint: Calculation of forest area required to capture emissions from fossil fuel consumption, land use changes and chemical processes, as well as CO2 emissions captured by the oceans.
• agricultural soil footprint: Calculation of the area used for the production of nutrients and fiber for human consumption, animal feed, oil crops and rubber.
• forest footprint: Calculation of forest area required to meet the measure of timber, pulp, wood artifacts and firewood consumed.
• grassland footprint: Calculation of livestock farming area for meat, milk, leather and wool artifacts.
• Built-up footprint: Calculation of the area covered with infrastructure and superstructure related to meeting human needs, including housing, transportation, industrial structures and power plants.
• fishing area footprint: Calculation of marine and freshwater area required to supply fish and marine artifacts consumed.

water footprint 💦

The water footprint measures the measure of water used to produce each of the works and services we use. It can be measured for a process (like growing rice), an artifact (like jeans), the fuel we put in our car, or an entire multinational corporation. The water footprint can also tell us how much water is consumed from a particular basin or aquifer around the world or by an obvious country.

The water footprint can be measured in cubic meters per tonne, per hectare, per currency unit or other units of production. The water footprint helps us understand the purposes for which our limited freshwater resources are consumed and polluted. Its effectiveness depends on where and when the water is taken. Where the water is limited, the results may be valuable and require action.

The water footprint has three components; green footprint, blue footprintand gray footprint . Together, these components provide a comprehensive picture of water use, describing the source of consumed water as precipitation/soil moisture or surface/groundwater, and the volume of freshwater required to assimilate pollutants.

Water footprint looks at both direct and indirect water use of a process, product, company or industry and includes water consumption and pollution throughout the entire production cycle, from the supply chain to the end user. An individual can use a water footprint to measure the amount of water needed to produce all the works and services consumed by the community, country, or all humanity.