Carbon Footprinting Explained

This section is designed to help you understand exactly what your organisation will be measuring within Compare Your Footprint. This is called a carbon footprint and is explained below.

What is a Carbon Footprint?

A carbon footprint is the total quantity of greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced by an organization, project, or location over a given period (usually a year).

GHGs are gases in the Earth's atmosphere that can trap heat from the sun. They allow sunlight to pass through the atmosphere and reach the Earth's surface but prevent some heat from escaping into space. 

This greenhouse effect exists naturally and is essential for maintaining the Earth’s temperature. wever, human activities, such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation, are significantly enhancing this effect by emitting additional GHGs, leading to increased warming of the Earth's surface and the lower atmosphere.

To provide a more comprehensive understanding of carbon footprints, it's important to note that emissions from various GHGs are often expressed in terms of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). This metric converts the impact of different GHGs into a common unit based on their global warming potential (GWP).

The most impactful GHGs emitted by humans include Carbon Dioxide (CO₂), Methane (CH₄), Nitrous Oxide (NO₂), and Fluorinated Gases. A GHG emission is when one or more of these greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere.

Examples of how greenhouse gases are emitted:

Office Building

Imagine your organisation owns and operates an office building. Throughout the year, various activities within the building contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. 

For instance:

Heating and Cooling: the building relies on heating systems in winter and air conditioning in summer, both of which consume energy and emit greenhouse gases. 

Electricity: Lights, computers, printers, and other electrical equipment consume electricity, often from fossil fuel-based power plants, leading to carbon emissions. 

Transportation: Employees commuting to and from the office generate emissions, driving cars, taking public transport, or using other means of transportation. 

Manufacturing Plant 

Consider an organisation with a manufacturing plant. Here, emissions would come from:

Energy consumption: machinery and equipment used in manufacturing processes require energy, typically sourced from fossil fuels, thereby releasing greenhouse gases. 

Raw material production: extracting and processing raw materials like metals, plastics, or chemicals can involve energy-intensive processes that emit emissions.

Transportation of goods: shipping finished products to consumers or distributors, which can rely on fossil fuel-powered vehicles, contributing to emissions. 

How is a carbon footprint calculated?

Greenhouse Gas emissions are categorised into three categories: Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol defined these scopes as part of its Corporate Accounting Reporting Standard to provide a global framework for measuring and managing GHG emissions for all types of organisations and industries.

Source: Greenhouse Gas Protocol

Next up: learn more about Scopes 1, 2, and 3 in detail by reading our article Scopes 1, 2, and 3 Explained.