1.Introduction
The Greenhouse gas (GHG) protocol is a global corporate standard for carbon footprint measurement and reporting. It standardizes the measurement, management, and reporting of GHG emissions generated by a company. GHG protocol was created jointly by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
The GHG protocol categorizes emissions related to company operations into three scopes (areas) and has become a widely used international standard.
Scope1- Direct GHG emissions: Emissions which are released directly into the air generated by activities controlled or owned by an organization.
- Emissions from boilers, furnaces, or generators burning fossil fuels at companies
- Emissions from mobile sources (e.g. motor vehicles) owned by the company
- Emissions from industrial processes
- Emissions from waste or wastewater treatment from installations run by the company
Scope 2 — Indirect GHG emissions from energy: Emissions associated with the consumption of purchased energy.
- Emissions which are not generated directly at the company, but are the result of the company’s activities
- Emissions from sources that are not directly controlled by the company, but the company has a significant influence on their size.
Scope 3 — Other GHG indirect emissions: Emissions resulting from the company’s activities which are outside the company’s control or ownership.
- Emissions not classified in Scope 2
- Business travel, waste disposal, purchase and transport of material by a third party
- Broadest and least precisely defined category.
2. Carbon footprint calculation process
A carbon footprint is the total sum of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an organization, event, product, or person. As we are aware, the increasing concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere can accelerate climate change and global warming, it is very necessary to measure these emissions from our day to day activities. The first step towards managing GHG emissions is to measure them. There are some standards and guidelines to measure GHG emissions like GHG protocol, ISO 14064, the more comprehensive one Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), market-based mechanisms like Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and Voluntary Carbon Standards (VCS), etc. Out of them, ISO 14064 is an offset protocol and independent, voluntary GHG project accounting standard help to quantify GHG emission of the organization, event, product, or person.
Calculation of home Carbon footprint:
Our day to day activities is moreover dependent on electricity which is mostly coming from coal-based power plants, Diesel and Petrol for our vehicles and LPG for cooking in our kitchen. All of the energy we use is derived from these fossil fuels which are GHG intensive. The following methodology helps you to calculate your carbon footprint resulting from the use of Electricity, Petrol, Diesel, and LPG.
Step 1- Data collection:
a) Electricity: Collect data on the annual electricity bills. One can find the number of power units (In India, one unit = 1KWh of electricity) consumed in home from the monthly electricity bills issues by State Electricity Board/ Distribution/Collection companies. Take monthly consumed units and then multiply them by 12 (No of months in a year).
b) Petrol/Diesel: Add the number of liters of petrol/diesel is used in the car/motorcycle in a year.
c) LPG: Generally, one LPG cylinder has around 14 kg of liquefied petroleum gas. Multiply the number of cylinders used in a year by 14 and add the resulted value in the calculation.
Step 2 — Calculation Methodology:
a) Electricity: Input value (in KWh/Yr) X 0.85 (Emission Factor) = Output value in (Kg of CO2)
b) Petrol: Input Value (In Litres/Yr) X 2.296 (Emission Factor) = Output value in (Kg of CO2)
c) Diesel: Input Value (In Litres/Yr) X 2.653 (Emission Factor) = Output value in (Kg of CO2)
d) LPG: Input Value (In Kg/Yr) X 2.983 (Emission Factor) = Output value in (Kg of CO2)
e) Total Carbon Footprint: Add (1+2+3+4) = Output value in (Kg of CO2)
Divide the total value with 1000 to get a total carbon footprint in a ton of CO2.
The final Carbon footprint should be in tons of CO2 (tCO2.).
