Guest author Guillemette Arguimbau presents an overview of readily available carbon calculators for individuals, communities and businesses.
A carbon footprint is the amount of CO2 produced by the activities of an individual or an organisation. The CO2 emissions are the result of the extraction and burning of fossil fuels used for manufacturing, heating, travelling and the production of goods and services.
With the rise of industrialisation, more carbon has been released into the atmosphere.
Tackling climate change means it is now necessary for individuals and organisations to reduce their carbon footprint.
Listed below are a selection of carbon calculators which produce summaries of the carbon emission impact of your activities along with some suggestions of how to reduce the CO2 of your carbon footprint.
What is it?
This carbon calculator assesses a community’s carbon footprint. It has been developed by the Centre for Sustainable Energy in line with the Climate Emergency Support Programme.
How does it work?
You enter the town, parish, or city neighbourhood whose carbon footprint you wish to see. Then you will see a diagram showing the carbon rate by categories: housing, waste management, road transport or industrialization. You can choose to see the carbon footprint of just the households or of the city. In addition, it is possible to compare the carbon rates of two cities or to compare them to the national average. A Methodology Document is also available to users.
What does it look like?
Pros and cons
It is easy to use and presents a clear overview of the amount of carbon emissions that is released locally. The IMPACT calculator provides a per household figure, you can not calculate your personal carbon footprint.
Link
Impact | Community carbon calculator (impact-tool.org.uk)
Carbon footprint calculator for individuals and households
What is it?
This calculator from carbonfootprint.com claims to be the world’s most popular on line carbon footprint calculator. This carbon calculator allows individuals as well as small companies to calculate their carbon footprints. The website provides information about climate change and solutions to offset your carbon emissions.
How does it work?
You must enter precise information for different topics about housing, transport and purchasing of food and manufactured goods. When you get to the result, your amount of carbon footprint is compared to the country average and the world target. There are two different calculators, one for an individual and one for business.
What does it look like?
Pros and cons
The carbon calculator is part of a website that offers solutions to become more carbon neutral. The website calculates your individual carbon footprint and suggests carbon offsetting solutions for your level of emissions. There are videos that explain climate issues on the carbonfootprint website, the link is below. Support and funding sources for small businesses are provided to encourage carbon management. When you use this carbon calculator you must enter precise information to obtain an accurate assessment.
Links
carbonfootprint.com - Carbon Footprint Calculator
carbonfootprint.com - Videos carbonfootprint.com - Carbon Offsetting Videos
What is it?
This carbon calculator proposes solutions to reduce the UK greenhouse gas emissions to reach the negative carbon objective by 2050.
How does it work?
This calculator is more complex as you need to choose your level of ambition. You can decide the level of decarbonisation and the results show costs and infrastructure improvements required to reach the level. There are three options: a website tool version, the classic version and the Excel version that is more complex.
What does it look like?
Here is the classic version
Pros and cons
This carbon calculator classic version is easy to use with an interactive layout. It is a user-friendly model that identifies solutions to reduce carbon emissions and see the impacts of the chosen action. This tool is UK government backed and the suggestions from this calculator are approved by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). This tool is not for personal use, more for city planners and project managers aiming to reduce carbon emissions in their cities or boroughs.
Links
2050 Pathways - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
My2050 calculator - create your pathway for the UK to be net zero by 2050 (beis.gov.uk)
What is it?
This carbon calculator is for individuals to calculate their personal carbon footprints within a twelve months period.
How does it work?
The calculator takes the form of a questionnaire with information in the margins. You just need to tick the answer that best corresponds to your situation. Your result is then compared to the national and international averages.
What does it look like?
Pros and cons
This calculator provides a quick and easy assessment so has less detail and does not provide solutions for offsetting carbon emissions.
Links
Carbon footprint calculator (carbonindependent.org)
What is it?
It calculates the amount of carbon emissions that an individual globally emits in its everyday life.
How does it work?
This carbon calculator is presented as a pre-filled questionnaire with explanation on the sides. The result gives you an idea of your personal carbon footprint in comparison of the UK average.
What does it look like?
Pros and cons
The questionnaire is easy and can be completed in a few minutes. The result can be shocking as it shows a weighted scale with your amount of emissions in comparison to the UK average. This calculator is designed to raise awareness of global impact and encourage changes to lifestyles. As it quick to use, the result is more of an approximation than some of the other more complex carbon calculators listed here.
Link
What is it?
This carbon calculator enables individuals to calculate carbon footprint and analyse the result.
How does it work?
To calculate your carbon footprint, you must give detailed information about your daily habits and way of life through an interactive questionnaire. Your result is in two parts and you can see how many planet earth resources you need for your current way of life. You can also see your result by category.
What does it look like?
Pros and cons
The questions are easy to answer and the lay out is user friendly and interactive with bright colours. The result is detailed with some interesting solutions proposed to offset carbon emissions. We liked the option entitled “How do you feel?” about the result. This carbon calculator enables individuals to be more aware of their carbon emissions even if the result is unspecific and does not suggest an ideal level of CO2 emissions.
Link
Carbon footprint | Definition, Examples, Calculation, Effects, & Facts | Britannica
What is a Carbon Footprint? | Good Energy
What is a CARBON FOOTPRINT? How to calculate and reduce it? | Climate change - YouTube
Three Steps to Cut Your Carbon Footprint 60% Today | Jackson Carpenter | TEDxAsheville - YouTube
1187
Have viewed this issue
0
Follow this issue
0
Shares of this issue
You have new comments.
click here to load them.