Posts Tagged ‘Footprint’
Understanding Your Carbon Footprint
May 18, 2012 | 
Author What is your carbon footprint?
In basic terms it is a measure of all the greenhouse gases we produce as individuals, businesses and societies.
What are greenhouse gases?
Greenhouse gases are present in the atmosphere and help to retain the earth’s heat. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most well known and significant greenhouse gas. Others include methane, nitrous oxide, HFCs, PFCs. Some are naturally occuring, while others are man made.
What is the significance?
Without greenhouse gases the heat from the sun would be re-radiated back into space and the earth would be too cold to live on. However, too high a concentration of greenhouse gas results in a trapping of the heat and an increase in the Earth’s surface temperature. This increase in turn creates climate change – sea level increases, rain patterns and increased storm severity, etc.
What is required is a stabilisation in the level of greenhouse gases so that energy re-radiated back into space equals the energy coming from the sun, at present rates greenhouse gases output are increasing at alarming rates.
What can we do about this?
We as individuals, businesses, regions and countries can all take action to manage and reduce our carbon footprint. In order to do this it is important to understand how to measure this output. There are some useful resources for calculating your carbon footprint available on the internet.
However these calculators are by nature simplistic and cannot respond to individual nuances or circumstances. What this calculator (and others) does not reflect is the emissions as a result of our choices as consumers – the ‘hidden’ consumption element. What is our energy producer doing to reduce their emissions? How environmentally responsible are the companies you buy products from? How many food miles are required to supply your meals on a weekly basis? Are the products we purchase contained in unnecessary moulded plastic packaging?
What Makes a Home a Green Home?
What Makes a Home a Green House?
One of the hottest topics today is about being environmentally friendly. There are many ways to become environmentally friendly about the home including water preservation and energy reduction. This not only helps with a positive action by reducing your impact on the environment, but will also save you money!
Lets take a look at what makes a home environmentally friendly.
Reduced Energy Use
Energy comes in many forms such as electricity, natural gas, oil, etc. The creation or use of this energy results in greenhouse gas emissions that affect our planet in a negative way.
Methods of Reducing Energy Usage
Insulation, One of the best things that you can do to make a green home is to ensure that the walls, windows, attic, and floors are all well insulated and draft free. The majority of the energy used in a home goes towards heating the house. Good insulation will prevent the air temperature from escaping the home and save you money on your utilities.
Energy Star Appliances When one of your appliances has reached it’s end of life, or when you areconstructing a new home, consider installing an appliance that meets energy star requirements. This will ensure that it will use over 30 percent less electricity or fuel than a typical appliance of that type.
Other options include advanced mechanical Systems On demand tankless water heaters, geothermal HVAC equipment, and even solar power is a great way to reduce the amount of energy that is wasted to run the plumbing, heat and air, and electrical systems in the home. While they can have a higher upfront cost than a typical unit of its kind, tax incentives from the government can offset a good deal of the extra cost and allow you to make the money back within a few years time.
Reduced Water Use
Water is another essential resource that can be preserved in our day to day use around the house.
Low Flow Fixtures Many low flow shower heads and toilets developed a bad reputation in the past because they could not live up to their less efficient counterparts. Fortunately, todays better engineered models and aerators allow you to experience the luxury and ease of use that you prefer, while additionally using a significantly lower amount of water.
Efficient Clothes Washers Many of the newer front loading clothes washers use as little as half of the water of a typical top loading washer. For families who are constantly putting in a new load of dirty clothes, this can lead to a significant savings in cost and water usage over time.
Use Rain Water For Irrigation For those who want to really cut down on water usage, storage tanks that collect rain water during a storm for latter use to water the garden and lawn can save thousands of gallons over the span of a summer.
These are just a few of the many ideas out there that will help ensure that your home is green. Environmentally friendly decisions in the home can lead to wallet friendly results over time and allow for the satisfaction of knowing you are reducing your negative impact on the planet.
At Be Seen Go Green, we offer solutions for a variety of Environmental issues. Please click on the following link to contact us.
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Saving Money, Conserving Energy and Lowering Your Carbon Footprint Too
5 ways to reduce your energy bills
Cover your hot water heater with a blanket. It helps to keep your water hotter. This really does help to keep the heat in the system. To save more energy lower the temperature on the hot water heater to 120 degrees before you cover it.
Wrap your hot water pipes. This also helps to keep the heat in your system and not escaping into the air. If you live where it gets consistently below freezing during the winter you should be wrapping your cold water pipes too.
Buy a programmable thermostat. I find myself not touching the thermostat anymore now that it’s programmable. It used to be too easy to turn up the heat before. So much so that I would hardly realize I was doing it. I would turn it up, get sidetracked and forget that I did it until I wondered why I was getting so warm. That was all wasted energy.
Lower your thermostat at night. The house does not have to be toasty warm when you are sleeping. As long as it’s comfortable when you’re falling asleep it doesn’t matter if the temperature drops a little while your sleeping. You can always throw on another blanket if you get cold during the night.
Now to address the fact that the windows are cold even if you have curtains. The cold windows do lower your room temperature. For those of you that have nice thick thermal curtains you are one step ahead of the game. I do not like to shrink wrap my windows even if it will help me to retain heat. I want to be able to open my windows on the nicer fall and winter days to let fresh air in. My answer to that was bubble wrap.
In the course of my research, I came across a few different sources that mentioned bubble wrap. I thought I would give it a try. You just cut it to the exact measurements of the glass. You lightly spritz the flat side of the wrap with water and place it on the glass. No caulk, no glue. no mess.
The heat in your room is not being canceled out by the cold air coming off of the windows.
These changes helped to make my home heating system more energy efficient because the heat was not escaping into thin air. It was helping to keep my hot water warmer and and to keep the heat available to my baseboard heating system. You don’t have to replace your old system to have your home be more energy efficient.
You don’t have to buy solar panels or a solar hot water system in order to make your home more energy efficient. There are a lot of things you can do to make the home heating system you currently have more energy efficient.
It’s a win win situation. You are saving money by conserving energy and lowering your carbon footprint at the same time. That’s good for you and good for the environment.
There are many things that you can do yourself. The most expensive part of this was the programmable thermostat. I bought all of my supplies a little bit at a time. Believe me, you’ll enjoy seeing those home heating costs going down with each and every delivery.
Posted in Carbon accounting | Tags: Carbon Accounting, Conserving, Energy, Footprint, Lowering, Money, Saving | No Comments »
The Carbon Footprint
Over recent years, society has been exposed to the idea of the carbon footprint. The carbon footprint is a measure of carbon dioxide emissions from an individual, family, or business over a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly time frame. People who lead very busy lifestyles tend to have a greater carbon footprint due to the transport and power consumption they require.
With global warming predicted to rise over the next century, some people are attempting to offset their carbon footprint in a bid to lead more environmentally friendly lifestyles. Some of the methods involved with reducing a carbon footprint are explained below.
Some famous and/or wealthy people decide to commission large plantations of new trees once a year according to their estimated carbon footprint. The idea behind this relates to the trees allowing the absorption of the same (or near enough) amount of carbon dioxide in the following year.
With hybrid cars becoming ever more popular, and city’s becoming increasingly congested, many more people are opting to purchase a hybrid car which is perfect for inner city areas.
Some of the most effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint start at home, and don’t cost a penny, in fact, some of these methods can save you money and are explained below.
Many households nowadays use too much energy in heating, and just turning your thermostat down by one or two degrees can not only reduce the amount of energy you consume, but reduce your heating bills quite considerably.
Another good example of the simple energy saving methods that start at home is the well known stand-by technique. All appliances when not in use should be turned off at the wall. This will save you money on your electricity bill and allow you to lower your carbon footprint in a very effective way.
A funny way to Reduce our Carbon Footprint, Go on Try It!
In a stroke of sheer brilliance, The journal of unlikely science, weird science Null Hypothesis has cracked the climate change problem.
The solution to our global, problem) is closer to hand than we could ever have imagined. It is, quite simply, stop breathing; or at least breathe less.
The average person takes 24,000 breaths a day, breathing in approximately 6g of carbon dioxide, but breathing out around 800g during the same time. Over a year, you personally will add a net 290kg of CO2 to the atmosphere, just by exhaling. Multiply that by a global population of 6.5 billion and it adds up to a criminal 1.88 gigatonnes.
If we each merely cut out one breath in three, we could decrease the amount of CO2 entering the atmosphere each year by a staggering 0.63 gigatonnes. That’s 0.63 billion tonnes – the same effect as saving 5 million acres of land (an area the size of Wales) from deforestation, or recycling 192 million tonnes of waste instead of trashing it.
But we don’t want to stop there. Let’s get really ruthless.
Perhaps the most carbon efficient solution would be to eliminate those members of the population taking the most breaths and therefore expelling the most carbon dioxide.
Intuitively, you might expect these to be the sorts of idle layabouts who wouldn’t know what a treadmill was if it hit them in the face. With their high resting heart rates and shallow, wheezing breaths, they must be the least environmentally sound.
But that’s not the case. Being as there is no obvious difference between the metabolic rates of the honed and toned, and the squashy and sluggish, we all burn about the same amount of carbon whilst resting. However, all that time that the super-fitties among us spend exercising, they’re guzzling extra oxygen and belching out tonnes of CO2.
When we undertake strenuous exercise our metabolic rate tends to increase by at least 50%. So during a 30-minute bout, we could be expelling an extra 8.3g of carbon dioxide.
Perhaps that doesn’t seem like much, but by our calculations, if we exercised as we were supposed to – about 30 minutes, five times a week – this would add up to another 1.3kg a year. Across the world population, that’s a lung-busting 14 million tonnes of extra CO2 every year.
And just to make matters worse, your body continues to metabolise at a higher rate long after you cease exercising, pumping out increased levels of carbon dioxide for anything up to 36 hours.
Doctors Impey and Steer prepare to win the big prize in the Virgin Earth Challenge.
Doctors Impey and Steer get into training to receive their big winnings
So the key to reversing climate change and saving the planet is simple: do nothing. Absolutely nothing. In an ideal world, we’d all just sit around keeping our breathing rates as low as possible, skipping the odd breath here and there just to help matters along. That way we’d all be minimizing our carbon output.
And there’s an extra benefit to the global atmosphere.
As our enforced lethargy leads us to pile on the pounds, we’ll act as carbon sinks – tying up potentially dangerous atmospheric carbon (via plants and hopefully an animal or two) as ever-so-becoming fat deposits.
But, before you revel in the excuse to leave your trainers to gather dust, the amount of carbon dioxide you would save by not exercising is nothing compared to what you’d save by running somewhere instead of driving.
And one final thought: even if CO2 levels were to be stabilised quickly, global temperatures would continue to soar for years to come. So, even though we’ve helped solve Branson’s challenge, in terms of seeing an effect on rising global temperatures – don’t hold your breath.
Posted in Carbon accounting | Tags: Amount, Carbon Accounting, Decreasing, Footprint, Reduce | 3 Comments »
Reducing your Carbon Footprint
Every vehicle purchasing decision will have an effect on the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions for the lifetime of that vehicle. To help with vehicle choice ‘green’ labelling has been introduced, similar to the energy efficiency rating we are used to seeing on electrical appliances.
Lower CO2 vehicles usually cost less, over their lifetime
Not only will emissions be lower, fuel consumption and therefore cost will also be reduced as well as company car tax. In addition, from April 2008, cars emitting less than 120g/km of CO2 qualify for a 10% rate of BIK. They will also enjoy a 100% discount on the London congestion charge from October 27th 2008. Changes to capital allowances for business cars are due to take effect from April 2009. They will favour cars that emit 160g/km or less of CO2. This should make it more tax efficient to own or lease cleaner vehicles. More low-emission cars and light vans are coming onto the market in response to such incentives. Hybrids or electric cars are not the only way to achieve very low levels of CO2, nearly all the least polluting cars on sale in the UK have conventional petrol or diesel engines.
Petrol V Diesel
Petrol and diesel engines have different effects on the environment. Every litre of diesel fuel,
when burned, produces about 2.6kg of carbon dioxide. Petrol produces about 2.3kg of carbon
dioxide per litre. If drivers spend more time driving on motorways or on long distance trips, they should consider a diesel engine for fuel efficiency and lower CO2 emissions. Petrol may be a better choice if vehicles will spend more time in town, where air quality is a greater consideration.
As more high-efficiency petrol cars come on to the market, it is important to base acquisition decisions on whole life costs, not just fuel type.
Initiate a low emission vehicle policy
Approaches to reducing CO2 emissions through vehicle policy will differ according to company
culture and the nature of existing employment contracts. Policies can be designed to limit maximum emissions, mainly through choice lists. Drivers can also be encouraged or incentivised
to make greener choices.
Here’s a checklist of carbon-friendly maintenance and vehicle awareness
practices:
Service your engine – A well-maintained engine can minimise CO2 emissions, so follow your
manufacturer’s recommendation on servicing. Information regarding service intervals can be
found in your vehicle manual.
Keep your tyres at the right pressure – Correctly inflated tyres are safer and last longer, an
under inflated tyre can increase CO2 by as much as 3%. An under or over inflated tyre will wear
more quickly and is also more susceptible to failing. The best time to check your tyre pressure is
when it’s cool outside or in the morning after your car has not been driven. Faulty wheel
alignment will also slow down the rolling resistance of your car increasing CO2 emissions and
wearing tyres out more quickly.
Use the correct oil – Always use the appropriate grade of motor oil, as the manufacturer’s
recommended lubricant can prevent unnecessary CO2 emissions. Higher quality oils can also help
your engine operate more efficiently. However, take care not to over-fill the oil.
Keep an eye on your fuel consumption – The more aware you are of the amount of fuel you use,
the more you can do to try to reduce your CO2. If you notice your fuel efficiency is decreasing it
could indicate a problem with your vehicle.
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme – A Review
We are now well on the road to the end of the first year of the CRC.
We’ve had the scare stories, the organisations failing to register, or less organisations registering than were first thought. Early estimates from the Government suggested 5000 plus organisations would be full participants with a further 20,000 as information disclosures.
We’ve had just over 3,700 full participants register, what does this tell us?
For me, based on my experience, it tells me that a lot of organisations were confused as to what they needed to do. For example, a car dealership, an example DEFRA used in their literature, if that dealership was a single franchise, SEAT for example, then if a single SEAT dealer anywhere else in the UK had a half hour meter then ALL SEAT dealerships and SEAT companies were in, under the banner of SEAT, who had the responsibility of collating this information. That’s nice and simple, until you then look at if that same dealership had say SEAT and VW at the same premises, they’re out? Add to that the ability to register independently so the SEAT brand did not have to account for everything that traded under its name . . . confused . . . therein lies the problem!
At least the Con/Dem co-alition government has pushed back the full implementation of phase 1 of the CRC by 12 months, the same for Phase 2.They are also looking at making the scheme simpler, firstly by making it a Tax, no payments from the pot for those that reduce emissions the most, Good or Bad?
For me it’s a bit of good and bad, organisations no longer being rewarded for reducing emissions will need to find some other motivation to reduce emissions! The good side is that it is giving these organisation more time to get to grips with the scheme, however, as experience has shown, a lot of organisation left it to the last minute before registering for the CRC, will they do the same again?
Initially Phase 1 reporting is primarily about Scope 1 & 2 emissions, Scope 1 being based on energy you produce, for example if you had a wind turbine and selling electricity back to the grid, Scope 2 is for energy you purchase.
However Phase 2 of the CRC is interesting, as it suggests that Scope 3 emissions will be included in a company’s declaration, a good way of introducing mandatory emissions reporting for all via the back door. Scope 3 covers everything from Travel to Suppliers.
If we look at suppliers for a large organisation, this could easily be in the thousands, a local authority I recently met with, have in excess of 5000 suppliers, under phase 2 they will need to liaise with all 5000, collate the emissions data for those 5000 and submit under the local authorities umbrella.
This will be an administrative nightmare for the unprepared, both the supplier and the large organisation. This will mean that for those who tender for work from larger organisations it will no longer be just a tick box exercise for environmental policy, such as ISO14001, it will be a detailed report on emissions and those not able to submit such a report, will ultimately, not win any business.
At Be Seen Go Green, we offer solutions for a variety of Environmental issues. Please click on the following link to contact us.
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UK Must cut Emissions By 60%
The Committee on Climate Change has called on the UK to cut its emissions by 60% compared to 1990 levels over the next twenty years.
In its report ‘The Fourth Carbon Budget – Reducing emissions through the 2020s’ the committee puts the case for creating a new marker in the battle to cut emissions.
At present most targets are aimed at cuts on 1990 emissions levels before 2050. however to drive the fight against climate change the committee suggests a plan as part of a carbon budget for 2023 to 2027 and a target for emissions reductions in 2030, which would be halfway between now and 2050.
The recommended target for 2030 is to cut emissions by 60% relative to 1990 levels, or 46% relative to current levels, which needs a 62% emissions reduction from 2030 to meet the 2050 target in Britain’s Climate Change Act.
The committee estimates the recommended target can be achieved at a cost of less than 1% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or as it states in the report ‘a fraction of one year’s growth’ over the next two decades.
It also backs that new carbon budgets should be legislated by summer 2011, as required under the Climate Change Act.
Committee on Climate Change chair said: “We are recommending a stretching but realistic fourth carbon budget and 2030 target, achievable at a cost of less than 1% of GDP. “Any less ambition would not be compatible with the 2050 target in the Climate Change Act. “We therefore urge the Government to legislate the budget we have recommended, and to develop the policies required to cut emissions over the next two decades. “The case for action on climate change is as strong as ever: climate science remains robust and suggests that there are very significant risks if we do not cut emissions. And countries acting now will gain economic benefits in an increasingly carbon constrained world.”
The CBI’s director of business environment, backed the new 2030 target. He said: “We support the UK’s existing climate change targets for 2020 and 2050 and businesses are already taking steps to measure and reduce their emissions. “The Committee’s proposal for an extra staging post at 2030 could provide additional clarity for investors, but the feasibility of the proposed target would need to be examined in detail. “Investors will only commit to low-carbon projects if they are confident about the policy framework in the long-term. “The Government’s forthcoming announcements on reform of the electricity market and work to simplify the Carbon Reduction Commitment will be crucial tests.”
At Be Seen Go Green, we offer solutions for a variety of Environmental issues. Please click on the following link to contact us.
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What is Your Carbon Footprint?
There has been a lot of attention paid recently to a person’s “carbon footprint” when people talk about using and saving energy. This popular buzz word has been all over popular media outlets.
What does it mean exactly? The term “carbon footprint” is best defined as the amount of impact that a person and his/her activities have on the environment when that impact is based on the level of greenhouse gases that are produced. That level is measured in carbon dioxide units. There are a number of methods by which a person can calculate his or her carbon footprint: the Life Cycle Assessment, and by the amount of emissions caused by the energy a system uses are the most popular.
Almost every single thing a person does during his waking hours can raise the level of his carbon footprint. Technically, breathing out increases his carbon footprint as the simple act of breathing in and out results in an increased level of carbon dioxide in the world.
Rest assured that nobody is going to figure in your rate of respiration into your carbon footprint. Doing so would be absurd. Instead your carbon footprint is calculated based on the things you actually do and use. When you drive to the shop or cook food, you produce carbon dioxide. The amount of energy you consume as a person, in your house, at your workplace and in transit will all be figured in to your carbon footprint. Be prepared for a large number”people produce an astounding amount of carbon dioxide each day.
Carbon footprints have become more important over the last few years because the globe’s climate has changed quite dramatically. Environmental experts have released reports that state that human beings are directly responsible for the increase in carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases that have helped to raise the world’s temperature. The world’s temperature rose by .6 degrees Celsius in the last one hundred years. .6 does not sound like a huge amount but it has had a large impact. The North Pole is breaking apart as you read this. Syria has more freshwater available than the United Kingdom
Reducing your carbon footprint is easy. The simplest way to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide you produce is to use less electricity. Turn off lights when you leave a room and unplug your electronic devices when you are not using them. Pile on extra blankets instead of turning up the electric heater in your bedroom. Reduce the amount of driving you do.
Another great way to reduce the amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere is to plant some trees! Trees take in CO2 and expel oxygen. While you cut back on your carbon output, you should increase the amount of carbon converters as well!
Offset your Carbon Footprint
The moving industry has been around for a few hundred years, however, only now is it changing its ways and focusing on moving green. You will find that there are plenty of ways to make a green change in your moving strategy. A great way to begin help is to offset the carbon footprint of your move.
Carbon Footprint?
Almost all aspects of moving, be it packing your items or driving across country, can leave a carbon footprint or just have some type of environmental impact in general. Carbon footprint is measured in units of carbon dioxide, and calculates the impact that human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced.
One of the first carbon footprints that moving creates is from the materials used for packing such as boxes, tape, bubble wrap, and foam peanuts. The production and lifecycle of such materials will devour precious resources such as fossil fuels and trees. At the end of their lifecycle, or perhaps even before, these materials will end up in a landfill. During your long distance move, be sure to reuse and recycle packing materials when possible.
One carbon footprint that isn’t necessarily in our hands comes from using non-renewable resources like oil to produce gasoline used in moving trucks. If your move is from coast to coast, this can leave a large footprint. However, vehicle manufacturers are changing their ways and producing more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Greening Your Move
You may be feeling a bit weighed down by all this information, but try not to get discouraged. Some of these things are not in your direct control. However, you can help by greening your move a little.
Start with the items you no longer wish to keep. Try not to rent a dumpster to discard those items; Instead, find other homes for them. You can start with a yard sale or just put them on the side of the road with a “Free” taped on. If there are remaining items, donate the rest to a local shelter, Goodwill, or Salvation Army.