18 Feb How is a carbon footprint measured in a simple way?

Is Calculating Carbon Footprint Simple Math?

A Carbon Footprint is relatively simple to measure. One just needs to add all the carbon emissions and subtracts the carbon offsets.

Now, carbon emissions can be of different kinds.

• Cars, powered with fossil fuels, emit carbon for every mile they run. Once you know your car emission ratio (which varies depending on the size and efficiency of the car), multiply it by the distance driven. Alternatively, every gallon or liter of fuel consumed can be turned into its carbon emission equivalent.
• What applies to cars is true for planes and most our source energy (unless they are clean energy which almost may come with caveats). Hence having a look at one’s hydro bill is a good way to deduct its carbon emission equivalent.
• Other carbon emissions happen from industrial processes and many other sources. Note that some carbon emission is a more generic term for Carbon Equivalent. There are many kinds of greenhouse gases that can impact the environment, hence their relative “strength” is better captured by using a standardized unit.

Similarly, there are many kinds of carbon offsets:

• Projects that have a net effect on carbon emission typically earn “credits”, meaning negative carbon emissions.
• Carbon capture could be another way to offset carbon (by “capturing” it before it released in the atmosphere.

Anyhow, overall there are simple ways to calculate a firm’s carbon footprint. A solution like Carbon-And-More makes it easier as it embeds all the math, coefficients and logic so that the users can only focus on providing the right data.

Remember also that carbon footprint calculation is a way to achieve carbon neutrality. It is very important for the planet.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash