Carbon footprint

Question 1

What is an items carbon footprint?

Answer 1

• The total amount of CO2 or other greenhouse gases that are emitted over an items entire lifetime
• The thing could be a product, service, event, etc…

Question 2

What is the benefits of calculating carbon footprint?

Answer 2

• We can calculate how environmentally damaging something is so we can see if it is worth the cost
• We can identify the most polluting activities and try to reduce their emissions

Question 3

Why is it so hard to calculate an items carbon footprint?

Answer 3

• Must take lots of things into account:
• How all of the raw materials were sourced
• The manufacturing process
• Total amount of power used through its lifetime
• How its disposed of
• Energy used in tranpsortation

Question 4

How can we reduce emissions?

Answer 4

• Use renewable energy sources which don’t release greenhouse gases
• Use more efficient manufacturing processes: use less energy and produce less waste (waste is broken down by decomposers which produces methane)
• Governments can introduce new laws and tax companies on carbon emissions
• Carbon capture technology can capture CO2 before it is released into the atmosphere and store it in cracks deep underground

Question 5

Why is reducing emissions so hard?

Answer 5

• Renewable energy sources are more expensive than fossil fuels
• Economies are reliant on fossil fuels
• Prioritising the environment may cause the economy to suffer