How Is Carbon Footprint Calculated?

People's daily habits or the standard operations of a factory have a significant impact on future generations. There is carbon emission associated with eating a meat dish in a restaurant or the manufacturing process of a cell phone. This carbon stored in the atmosphere causes the temperature of the Earth to rise. One of the first steps to prevent the Earth from getting warmer day by day and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to analyze the process by measuring the carbon footprint.

What is a Carbon Footprint?

A carbon footprint, which is a measure of the impact of human activities on the environment and climate, indicates the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere as a result of burning fossil fuels for electricity generation, heating, or transportation. Carbon emissions do not only result from burning fossil fuels. For example, animals on farms also produce significant amounts of greenhouse gases. Calculating the amount of carbon footprint produced by individuals, companies, cities, or governments is important for planning the measures that can be taken. The carbon footprint should also be considered an important concept in terms of understanding how much impact human activities have on global warming.

How is the Carbon Footprint Calculated?

Carbon footprint measurement is performed at different scales, taking various factors into account. Therefore, calculating the carbon footprint is somewhat complex. In fact, it is not possible to give a direct, precise carbon footprint result. The resulting values are generally estimates and are calculated approximately.

The basic reference used in carbon footprint calculations is the guidelines and tools prepared by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). For example, to calculate a country's carbon footprint, factors such as the amount of fossil fuels consumed, the value of industrial production, the total amount of electricity generated, the number of animals raised, and the distribution of the total land area among urban, forest, and agricultural lands are taken into account.

In carbon footprint calculations, factors that enable the reduction of carbon emissions are also evaluated. For example, the total carbon absorbed by trees or forested areas planted by individuals, companies, or countries is subtracted from the amount of carbon emissions obtained. In the conversion tables published by the IPCC, diesel fuels are calculated in liters, methane in cubic meters, cultivation areas in hectares, and forested areas in square kilometers.

How is the Corporate Carbon Footprint Calculated?

A lot of data is needed to calculate the carbon footprint of companies. Data collected from electricity and water bills, total fuel purchases, fuel distance traveled by vehicle fleets, the total amount of waste recycled or disposed of, and the energy consumed by data center servers are just some of the data taken into account when calculating the carbon footprint of companies.

Three scopes are determined for calculating the corporate carbon footprint. We can explain them as follows:

Scope 1: These are direct emissions caused by the sources or activities that a company owns and can control. Fuel consumption, equipment and vehicles used for heating or manufacturing purposes, and internal waste facilities fall under this scope.

Scope 2: These are indirect emissions resulting from the energy purchased by companies from energy suppliers for lighting and similar purposes.

Scope 3: These are other indirect greenhouse gas emissions. In this wide and difficult-to-measure scope, greenhouse gas emissions arising from processes such as the transportation of raw materials to be used in production, business travel of company personnel, and disposal of manufactured products are taken into account.

The data to be considered may vary depending on the sector in which the companies operate. For example, a company operating in the field of technology and storing big data needs to calculate its cloud storage space or determine the total amount of energy consumed by the servers. For animal farms, the amounts of fertilizer or pesticides used should be taken into account.

How is the Product Carbon Footprint Calculated?

In product carbon footprint calculation, a method also called life cycle assessment is used. In this method, the total greenhouse gas emissions sent into the atmosphere by a product throughout its entire life cycle are calculated. This life cycle includes a list of processes such as the extraction of raw materials, processing, use by the consumer, and disposal or recycling at the end of its useful life.

The average carbon footprint of some products is as follows:

• Cotton t-shirt – 4 kg

• Tablet – 50 kg

• Microwave oven – 80 kg

• Laptop – 350 kg

• A luxury SUV – 26 tons

• One kilogram of beef – 60 kg

Today, the manufacturing sector is responsible for 25% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the world. 54% of the energy resources in the world are also consumed by the manufacturing sector. Up-to-date data must be used to calculate the product carbon footprint accurately. For example, since the carbon footprint of products manufactured by a company that has transitioned to renewable energy sources will decrease day by day, such factors must be taken into account when making calculations.

How is the Individual Carbon Footprint Calculated?

When calculating the individual footprint, consumption amounts and activities carried out are taken into account. How large a house you live in, how you heat or light your home, how many cubic meters of gas you consume, and much more are included in this calculation. For example, knowing how much of the electricity you use in your home is produced using fossil fuels and how much is obtained from renewable energy sources helps you calculate your carbon footprint much more accurately. Transportation parameters such as how often you use public transportation, how often you travel by plane or train, and how far you travel with your fossil-fuel vehicle are also taken into account when calculating the carbon footprint.

Another element considered is food consumption and shopping habits. The amount of meat consumption, how often you consume fruits that do not grow in your country and have a long logistical process, how often you prefer plastic-packaged products, which waste disposal methods you use, or how much of your waste you recycle are included in carbon footprint calculations. Knowing how much you spend on your non-food shopping also allows you to calculate your approximate carbon footprint more accurately.

Carbon Footprint Amount by Country

According to the data announced by the Global Carbon Project and World Population Review, China ranks at the top in annual carbon emission production in 2022 with 12,677,000 tons. This also corresponds to 32.88% of the total carbon emissions in the world. The United States ranks second, India third, and Russia fourth. According to EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research) data, Turkey's carbon emission amount in 2022 is 481,247 tons. This figure corresponds to 1.24% of the total carbon emissions in the world, and Turkey ranks 13th on the list with this figure.

Calculate Your Corporate Carbon Footprint With QuickCarbon!

Today, companies calculating their corporate footprint accurately can enable the development of appropriate strategies to achieve zero carbon emission goals by 2050. By reducing carbon emissions, you can both become a sustainable business and improve your business reputation.

QuickCarbon, which we developed for companies to calculate their corporate carbon footprint, is a user-friendly software that develops calculation and reporting solutions according to the ISO 14064-1:2018 Standard and GHG Protocol. You too can calculate your corporate footprint with QuickCarbon and start taking the right steps for a more livable future.