What is my carbon footprint?

[otherclive]

I have used two carbon footprint calculators to see what my footprint might be. Given that I have been having cavity wall insulation, loft and double glazing now for 30 years in various houses and don't use cars for short journesy etc. We don't take mor than one flight per year so I assumed that I would be in a low category. Using Warwick Univs calulator Ii came up with 9tonnes per for house and trasnport etc. Using the Goverment one I came up with 29 tonnes per yaer of which transport gave 25 tonnes. Doing 10 k per annum in a car at 30mpg overall and 8k in a car at 47 mpg really seemed to load up the carbon total. However how can two calcualtors be so far apart unless the assumptions used are quite different. Net result is that I think we are being misled as there is no way that I can carry on caravanning and get my target down to 10 tonnes!

Other Clive

 

[colin(bridgend)]

Clive - it is just another scare mongering exercise by the raving eco banshies and the puppet government who listen to them just to appear to be doing something. Where does the monies paid for all these "green issue" taxes go to? To balance the financial mess this country is in that is where it is going. The Tories and Lib Dems are no better than the Labour. Our local Lib.Dem. council collect household refuse weekly and bottles/paper fortnightly. They then take all the waste to a central incinerating plant approx. 25 miles away in Swansea. The number of refuse wagons each day doing this return trip of 50 miles is numourous. So much for the local authority carbon footprint. There is also the waste exhaust discharged to the atmosphere when burning the waste. The incinerator plant is shared with the Neath Port Talbot CBC so it is burning 24 hours a day seven days a week. There is also the waste from refuse wagons from the other authority, the lorries required to transport the ash from the site and the site plant for stockpiling/loading the incinerator, etc. Thank God I do not live in Swansea east.

 

[otherclive]

Colin,

I tend to agree your point. There are people jumping on the bandwagon with these calculators which seem designed to sell you something, or to seek your money to join an offsetting scheme. I have used another two calculators one of which shows the house at 0.4 tonnes per yaer. Housing energy and carbon emmisions are a direct relationship with energy used. So knowldeg of whether you have TVs on standby is irrelvant as a means of calculating C02. They could be relevant in aiding people to reduce their consumption. Yet another calculator shwos housing as 5 tonnes per year! Other things that will affect your footprint are your shopping habits and preferences, how long you keep things etc.

Don't think that I will try any more as they will get be increasingly irritated and burning to many calories!

Cheers

Other Clive

 

[rob_jax]

Just doing this in my head:

30 mpg is close to 8 litres per 100 km - and the reason for the conversion to metric is that you can multiply the litres per 100 km figure by 25 to calculate CO2 emissions - which is 200 grams of CO2 for every kilometre.

So at 30 mpg your car is producing 20 kg of CO2 per 100 km - and 10 thousand miles is 16,000 km - and that's 3.2 tonnes of CO2.

8000 miles at 45 mpg works out as another 2 tonnes of CO2.

So just in terms of burnt fuel - that just over 5 tonnes of CO2.

Robert

 

[Lutz]

You're a bit off with your conversion of mpg to l/100km, Robert. 30mpg is 9.4l/100km. I think you must have been using US gallons.

 

[giovanni_5060838]

You're a bit off with your conversion of mpg to l/100km, Robert. 30mpg is 9.4l/100km. I think you must have been using US gallons.

9.417l just my joke...

 

[emmerson2]

Colin,

I tend to agree your point. There are people jumping on the bandwagon with these calculators which seem designed to sell you something, or to seek your money to join an offsetting scheme. I have used another two calculators one of which shows the house at 0.4 tonnes per yaer. Housing energy and carbon emmisions are a direct relationship with energy used. So knowldeg of whether you have TVs on standby is irrelvant as a means of calculating C02. They could be relevant in aiding people to reduce their consumption. Yet another calculator shwos housing as 5 tonnes per year! Other things that will affect your footprint are your shopping habits and preferences, how long you keep things etc.

Don't think that I will try any more as they will get be increasingly irritated and burning to many calories!

Cheers

Other Clive

Other Clive, in other words, the whole thing is a load of bunkum!!

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Lutz,

Mea culpa, but it was all calculated in my head - and it's close enough to give an idea of the CO2 emissions...

 

[Guest]

Carbon Footprint? Que!

Does this mean you have stepped in something and leave marks on the neutral coloured rugs?

My footprint is size 13/14 depending on shoe manufacturer and I always wipe my feet on cocnut mats, this mythical carbon thing is political buzz word syndrome and only used to make you feel guilty and extract money.

Just get on with your lives and enjoy as best you can!

I read in UK Sunday press that UK politicians are running multiple homes and big limo's on expenses and foreign homes to, they have no concern about their footprints as they are trampling on their people and having them pick up the tab as well. Prince Chump in waiting is said to be concerned about his footprint to, what a joke, yesterdays paper says again that he has 130 plus people to cope with his whims of life. He gave up a holiday last year due to his green concerns, who is kidding who.

 

[Geist]

> Prince Chump in waiting is said to be concerned about his footprint to, what a joke, yesterdays paper says again that he has 130 plus people to cope with his whims of life. He gave up a holiday last year due to his green concerns, who is kidding who.⇦br/>

That, imo, is shockingly disrespectful. HRH has the interest of the planet at heart.

I know, because I once danced with a girl, who danced with a man, who danced with a girl, who sat under a tree, that talked to the Prince of Wales.

 

[ProfAlGoogle]

The size of my tax bill, my bl**dy foot print must be enormous!

 

[emmerson2]

Euro, for once you and I are in complete agreement.(perhaps we ought to make a note of the date!!!) This whole "carbon footprint" and "global warming" thing is a big joke! And who are they all laughing at? The same poor s*ds who are paying extra taxes for it.