Carbon footprints Flashcards
What is carbon footprint??
a measure of the amount of co2 and other green house gases released over the full life cycle of something, this can be service, event or product
Why is measuring the total carbon footprint of something really hard?? or even impossible
There are many factors to consider for example, counting the emissions released as a result of sourcing all the parts and the emissions produced when you actually use your product and dispose it.
Still a rough calculation can give a good idea of what the worst emitters are so people can avoid them in the future
Anything that reduces the amount of green house gases given out by a process also reduces its carbon footprint
Ways off reducing Carbon Footprints
- Renewable energy sources or nuclear energy could be used instead of fossil fuels
- Using more efficient processes could conserve energy and cut waste. Lots of waste decomposition -> release methane so, this will reduce methane emissions
- Gov could tax companies or individuals based on the amount of green house gases they emit- Encourages people to choose fuel - efficient
- Gov can also put caps on emissions of all greenhouse gases that companies make - then sell licenses for emissions up to that cap
- There’s also technology that captures co2 produced by burning fossil fuels before its released into atmosphere - then it can be stored deep underground in cracks in rock such as old oil wells
Reasons for why making reductions is still difficult
1) Still work to be done on alternative technologies that result in lower co2 emissions
2) Govs worried that changes will impacts economic growth of communities (Important for developing countries )- could be bad for people well-being
3) Hard to make international agreements to reduce emissions - some countries don’t want to sacrifice their economic development
4) individuals in developed countires need to make changes to their lifeststle = hard and not enough education provided about why and how these changes should come about
