Carbon Footprint
The story so far
 The Carbon Cycle
 Graphing CO2
 Alternative energies
Where does the CO2 from the Carbon
Cycle go?
Carbon sink: is a reservoir of carbon that
accumulates and stores carbon for an indefinite
period. The main sinks are:
Absorption of carbon dioxide by the oceans
Photosynthesis by plants and algae to turn the carbon
into plant matter
Injection of CO2 emissions deep into geological
subsurface
Before 1960?
Mauna Loa, Hawaii
What is a Carbon Footprint?
 A carbon footprint is a
measure of the impact
our activities have on the
environment, and in
particular climate
change. It relates to the
amount of greenhouse
gases produced in our
day-to-day lives through
burning fossil fuels for
electricity, heating and
transportation etc.
 The mitigation of carbon
footprints through the
development of alternative
projects, such as solar or wind
energy or reforestation, represents
one way of reducing a carbon
footprint and is often known
as Carbon offsetting
 The main influences on carbon
footprints include population,
economic output, and energy
and carbon intensity of the
economy.
How the US Compares
• The average
American has a
carbon footprint of
28 tons CO2/year
• The global average
carbon footprint is
~6 tons
CO2/year/person
How the US Compares
Brainstorm
 What are some ways that you cause carbon to be released every day?
CO2 emissions
•
Google estimates 0.2 g CO2 for
the electricity it uses when you
enter a search term
•
0.1g CO2 for 20 seconds of use
from an efficient 20 watt laptop
•
Local network and servers would
use 0.1 g CO2 Maintenance on
the whole system (replacing parts
ect.) doubles the above figures
•
Total = 0.8 g CO2
A web search
•
Searching the web non-stop for a
year
– 5 tons CO2
•
Does not include
– Wearing clothes
– Keeping warm
– Burning calories
– Getting closer to your next need for
medical attention
– Living in a building that needs
maintenance
– Ect.
Spending 1$
14
 In our current energy system it is very
difficult to spend a dollar without it
adding to your carbon footprint
Spending $1
15
Exception would be
spending on something
that reduces net
emissions
Minus 220 kg (485 lbs)
CO2 on a well
executed rainforest
preservation project
Minus 2 kg (4.4 lbs)
CO2 on solar panels
Spending $1
16
In the middle of the
spectrum would be
spending on groceries
620 g (1.37 lbs) CO2 per
$1
Flying is among the worst
activities for carbon
emissions
10 kg (22 lbs) of CO2 per
$1
10 lbs of trash
17
•
The average US citizen sends 1,250 lbs of garbage
to landfills each year
•
The average US citizen recycles 640 lbs of garbage
each year
•
Landfill emissions are produced when the garbage
decomposes (methane)
•
Sending metals, glass, plastics and paper to
landfills (rather than recycling them) forces new
materials to be produced for future products
– It takes much more energy to make a new product
from raw materials than it does to make one from
recycled materials
10 lbs of trash
18
 Garden waste
 910 g (2 lbs) CO2
 Average trash contents
 3.1 kg (7 lbs) CO2
 Aluminum and copper
 41 kg (90 lbs) CO2

Leaving the lights on
19
 Light on continuously for 1 year
 Depends on where you are
Iceland produces almost all
of its electricity from fossil fuel
free geothermal and
hydroelectric power plants
The US produces much more
of its electricity from fossil fuels
Leaving the lights on
20
 Assuming US electricity generation
Low energy bulb
1 year
90 kg (198 lbs) CO2
100-watt incandescent
bulb
1 year
500 kg (1,100 lbs)
A bottle of water
21
 Most emissions come from packaging and
transport
 80 g CO2 just from the plastic
A bottle of water
22
•
Locally sourced and using local distribution
 110 g CO2
•
Traveling 600 miles by road
 215 g CO2
•
Bottled water is 1000X more carbon intensive than
tap water
•
The world consumes 53 billion gallons of bottled
water a year which accounts for 1/6th of a percent
of TOTAL world GHG emissions
23
A Burger
The energy that you use to live and move around
came from the sun. Which is a more efficient way
to transfer energy from the sun to you?
1.:
2.:
60%
3.1 and 2 are equal
30%
1a
nd
2
ar
e
eq
ua
l
:
:
10%
24
A Burger
25
 Animal products tend to be more
carbon intensive than vegetables and
grains because animals consume a lot
of energy just to keep themselves warm
and move around
 Converting animal feed into meat and
milk is inherently inefficient
A Burger
26
In addition to being
inefficient…
 Cows/sheep are ruminants
They belch out methane
(CH4)
Beef/lamb has double
the carbon footprint (per
kilogram of meet) of pork
 Excessive demand for meat provides an incentive
for deforestation to provide more grazing land
A Burger
27
 Beef cheeseburger
 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs) CO2
 Veggie Burger
 1 kg (2.2 lbs) CO2
 If you ate nothing but
cheeseburgers for a year, your
carbon footprint from food
alone would be 4.6 tons CO2
Using a cell phone
28
 Depends on how often you use it
 Components of footprint
 Manufacturing of phone
 16 kg (35 lbs) CO2
 Power over 2 years
 6 kg (13 lbs) CO2
 Energy required to transmit calls across network
 66 kg (146 lbs)
Using a cell phone
29
 1 minute cell-to-cell phone call has the same carbon footprint as an
apple
=
Using a cell phone
30
 As of 2009 there were 2.7 billion cell phones
in use (almost half the world)
 Cell phone calls account for about 125 million
tons CO2
1/4th of a percent of
global emissions
 Texting is a much lower carbon option
Using a cell phone
31
 A year’s typical usage of just under 2 minutes
per day
 47 kg (103 lbs) CO2
 A year’s usage of 1 hour per day
 1,250 kg (2,760 lbs) CO2
Brainstorm
 What are some ways you could reduce your carbon footprint?