Carbon footprint

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A carbon footprint is "the total set of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product" (UK Carbon Trust 2008). An individual, nation, or organization's carbon footprint is measured by undertaking a GHG emissions assessment. Once the size of a carbon footprint is known, a strategy can be devised to reduce it.

Carbon offsets, or the mitigation of carbon emissions through the development of alternative projects such as solar or wind energy or reforestation, represent one way of managing a carbon footprint.

The concept and name of the carbon footprint originates from the ecological footprint discussion. The carbon footprint is a subset of the ecological footprint.

For more information about Carbon footprint, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with carbon footprint

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Does carbon labelling give developing countries a bad deal?

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 24, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Carbon labelling could unfairly disadvantage economies in the developing world, and mislead consumers, according to an interdisciplinary project carried out by the UK Research Councils' Rural Economy and Land Use Programme. ...


Emulating Western lifestyles: Consumption and carbon footprints in less industrialized countries

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

In recent decades, a new global middle class has exploded, with a total population exceeding one billion people. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research explores the consumption attitudes of some of these members of the ...


Director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association Giovanni Bisignani

Biofuel for commercial flights by 2010: IATA

Technology / Energy

created Oct 23, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said Friday it would approve biofuels for commercial flights by 2010 in a bid to drastically reduce the industry's carbon footprint.


US army to be powered by waste

US army to be powered by waste

Technology / Energy

created Oct 12, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 9

(PhysOrg.com) -- Defense company Qinetiq has been awarded a contract to supply the US army with a system that generates electricity from garbage.


Got gas? Study to determine cows' greenhouse gas emissions

Space & Earth / Environment

created Sep 29, 2009 | popularity 1.3 / 5 (4) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Any calculation of the carbon footprint of a gallon of milk needs to include fuel used by tractors and trucks, as well as electricity consumed by milking machines and refrigerators. But how much gas is coming ...


Free PC widgets save energy

Technology / Software

created Sep 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 2

I shaved 0.86 pounds of emissions from my carbon footprint and saved 0.646 kilowatt hours yesterday, and if the little widget on my PC can be believed, more than 22,000 people in 128 countries did roughly the same.


MIT develops initial step toward carbon sequestration

Researchers develop initial step toward carbon sequestration

Technology / Engineering

created Sep 21, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (5) | comments 5

MIT researchers have developed designs for a new kind of coal-burning power plant, called a pressurized oxy-fuel combustion system, whose carbon-dioxide emissions are concentrated and pressurized so that they ...


Technology strikes a chord with algal biofuels

Technology / Energy

created Sep 03, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (10) | comments 3

An award-winning Los Alamos National Laboratory sound-wave technology is helping Solix Biofuels, Inc. optimize production of algae-based fuel in a cost-effective, scalable, and environmentally benign fashion—paving the way ...


Family planning a major environmental impact

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jul 31, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | comments 86

Some people who are serious about wanting to reduce their "carbon footprint" on the Earth have one choice available to them that may yield a large long-term benefit - have one less child.


IBM and ETH Zurich unveil plan to build new kind of water-cooled supercomputer

IBM and ETH Zurich unveil plan to build new kind of water-cooled supercomputer

Electronics / Hardware

created Jun 23, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 1

In an effort to achieve energy-aware computing, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), and IBM today announced plans to build a first-of-a-kind water-cooled supercomputer that will directly ...


Going, going green

Technology / Energy

created Jun 22, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (3) | comments 1

Steve and Beth Griffith and their family thought they were well on their way to living an energy-saving green lifestyle.


Vt. farmers cut cows' emissions by altering diets (AP)

Vt. farmers cut cows' emissions by altering diets

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jun 21, 2009 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (5) | comments 4

(AP) -- Vermont dairy farmers Tim Maikshilo and Kristen Dellert, mindful of shrinking their carbon footprint, have changed their cows' diet to reduce the amount of gas the animals burp - dairy cows' contribution ...


Scientists should look at their own carbon footprint

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jun 08, 2009 | popularity 3.2 / 5 (6) | comments 3

Scientists studying the impact of climate change on the Arctic need to consider ways to reduce their own carbon footprints, says a researcher who regularly flies north to study the health of caribou.


How solid is concrete's carbon footprint?

How Solid Is Concrete's Carbon Footprint?

Space & Earth / Environment

created May 18, 2009 | popularity 2.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Many scientists currently think at least 5 percent of humanity's carbon footprint comes from the concrete industry, both from energy use and the carbon dioxide (CO2) byproduct from the produc ...


NYPD

NYPD Goes Green

Technology / Energy

created May 05, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (8) | comments 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- New York City has a goal to reduce its overall carbon footprint. For Manhattan, the goal is to reduce greenhouse gases 30% by 2017. As part of this effort, the New York City Police Department ...