Carbon Footprints
Carbon Footprints - How Does it All Work?
There are many ways to calculate carbon footprints and many debates surround the status of "carbon calculators". It is the general view that rather than focussing on the definitions and the exact science of calculating carbon footprints, it is more appropriate to examine the evidence of ones own actions, understand the implications and then identify ways to reduce carbon emissions by individual or corporate actions.
To demonstrate how to calculate the carbon footprint from a business perspective we have taken the office activities of the British Chamber of Commerce as an example. First we defined the activities which contribute to the carbon footprint for the Chamber office, which include but are not limited to :
- Travel, i.e. aircraft, ferry, road based BUT NOT mass transit as the energy required to power the MTR/KCR trains etc has already been accounted for in some other footprint!
- Energy use is important for both personal and office calculations.
- Paper consumption is also considered as is water consumption due to the carbon emitted during the preparation and treatment processes for both. This is an area which is still open to much debate and it is suggested that for the offices it is better to focus on reduction of paper use/waste at source.
There are many ways to calculate the carbon footprints and many versions appear on the Internet and so forth. Note however there are differences in the amount of carbon generated by activities in different parts of the world and so a calculator for UK is not wholly relevant for Hong Kong. Note the WWF calculator for personal calculations asks questions (without any option to ignore them) about thermal insulation, cavity wall insulation, etc. This highlights the fact that while there does not appear to be a wholly correct calculator for Hong Kong, it is better to use one calculator as a benchmark and monitor performance against that benchmark as a way if identifying reductions rather than the "do nothing option".
The ‘Switch Swap & Save’ campaign of The British Chamber’s Young Executives Network lies at the heart of some of the foregoing in an effort to reduce the Chamber’s footprint and is an excellent example of trying to get individual actions moving into corporate cultural change.
An Indicative Carbon Calculator for British Chamber of Commerce Office Activities
| Aspect to be Calculated | CO2 Calculation |
Annual Consumption of Electricity Source : electricity bill |
Tonnes of CO2 = 0.00043 x kWhrs of electricity consumed. (n.b. this factor is based on a standard emission rate and varies from producer to producer depending on the generation mix - it is a useful starting point and can be modified if more appropriate values are obtained for HK) |
Annual Consumption of Gas Source : gas bill |
Tonnes of CO2 = 0.00019 x kWhrs of gas consumed. |
Annual Car/Taxi Mileage Source : estimate of annual mileage |
For cars < 40p/mile : tonnes of CO2 = 0.00026 x miles For cars > 40p/mile : tonnes of CO2 = 0.0003 x miles (nb there are many calculators for vehicle types etc. but this has assumed a taxi "type" of vehicle as this is what would be mostly used in the HK context) |
Air Travel Unit : cost |
Tonnes of CO2 = (5% of total cost of air travel) / 8 (CO2 emissions are approx 0.00025 tonnes per air mile) (nb there are many ways to calculate this factor, it can be on miles traveled or cost of tickets, the cost is the most direct application for businesses but note there are many other calculators which tell you the emissions from HK to Paris/Johannesburg and so on) |
| Total Estimate of Carbon Emissions | => (final calculation) |
So far so simple. The calculator described above can be used for offices and business activities and can be expanded to suit the specific nature of the business. The underlying principle here is to examine the emissions on an annual basis, identify target reductions and audit performance year on year. There are many ways in which emissions can be reduced - each business or organisation will have different drivers or activities. We are always available to discuss and make suggestions how to 'Switch, Swap & Save' and also to reduce your carbon footprint.
