BAESI – Global Warming

Carbon Footprint

Dr. Eugene Cordero

Department of Meteorology and Climate Science

Obviously, one of the main issues related to climate change is the burning of fossil fuels

Thus, energy use, and the continuing demand for energy are central to the challenges of climate change.

Energy and Climate Change

CA COCA CO22 Emissions (per Emissions (per person)person)

22,941 lbs CO2 per person Annual usage: Electricity Usage: 7,032 kWh Natural Gas Usage: 422 therms Vehicle Usage: 571 gallons per person.

http://www.pge.com/includes/docs/pdfs/about/environment/calculator/assumptions.pdf

Global Average: 8,750 lbs CO2 per person

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Agriculture ~ 20-25% of all emissions

CO2 emissions per person

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1. What percentage of electricity generation comes from the burning of natural gas?

2. What percentage of transportation energy comes from natural gas burning?

3. What percentage of transportation energy use comes from coal?

4. If you buy an electric car, what is the mostly likely source of energy?

5. Where does most residential energy come from?

Questions

Emissions of heat trapping gases

Indirect emissions

Embodied Energy

Apple

1 Energy Unit100-250 Energy

Units

Photo credit: Terry NathanPhoto credit: Terry Nathan

Apple Ipod

MacBook Air -2008 13-inch MacBook Pro 17-inch MacBook Pro 15-inch MackBook Pro MacBook-2008iMac (24 inch)-2008 iMac (20 inch)-2008 LED Cinema DisplayMac Pro Mac Min iPhone 3G iPhone 3GS iPod nano iPod touch iPod shuffle

Carbon Footprint of Apple products

Role of Agriculture on Carbon Emissions

Growing Food

U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, 2004

Methane

14-18% of all emissions due to livestock

Carbon Footprint of Food

€

Food Energy Efficiency ≡Input Fossil Energy

Calories

+

Animal related methane emissions

Carbon Showdown

vs

Emissions from Transportation Annual transportation (Annual transportation (USAUSA))

– 9,000 average passenger car miles 9,000 average passenger car miles

Toyota Prius

(50 mpg)

ChevroletCobalt

(28 mpg)

Ford F-Series(13 mpg)

US Dept. of Transportation

1.8 tons/yr

3.5 tons/yr 5.2 tons/yr

Food: Three Diets High:

– 38% animal products– All red meat

Normal:– 28% animal products– Mix of red meat, poultry and fish

Low:

– 18% animal products

– Chicken instead of red meat

Auto - Diet Comparison

Carbon Showdown

vs

Don’t eat a hamburger in a hummer

vs Vegan

Auto - Diet Comparison

Carbon Footprint of US Food

83%

5%4%

7%

Weber and Matthews 2008

Burrito (Beef): 850 calories: $6.10

Burrito (Veggie): 830 calories: $5.75

CO2: 3.8 kg

CO2: 0.5 kg

CO2 per dollar: 636

CO2 per dollar: 94

Calories per dollar: 140

Calories per dollar: 145

Burrito

Transport

Climate Solutions

FoodHousing

We can’t change

what we don’t measure Ecological FootprintEcological Footprint

– Good surrogate for carbon footprint– Broad assessment (housing, transport, food)– Units of measure are acres of land– Component of footprint is land required to absorb

waste (such as CO2)

http://www.myfootprint.org/

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Ecological Footprints The amount of

ecologically productive land used by individuals, cities, countries, etc.

Production and use of goods and services involve land use: have ecological footprints

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Carbon Footprint

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Ecological Footprint

Ecological Footprint Calculators

Myfootprint.org (We’ll use this one today) Footprintnetwork.org/calculator

Other related info:

www.thestoryofstuff.com (Very provocative video on consumption)

Sustainable energy without the hot air: (My favorite numbers book of the year!) http://www.withouthotair.com/

Activity Pair into teams of twoPair into teams of two Jointly compute your ecological footprint (average Jointly compute your ecological footprint (average

your results)your results) Compare to average American and speculate why Compare to average American and speculate why

they are differentthey are different Develop a strategy for how you might reduce your Develop a strategy for how you might reduce your

footprint by 20% for a week. Use the calculator to footprint by 20% for a week. Use the calculator to guide your reductions.guide your reductions.

User: dilbert Pass: Dogbert7 User: dilbert Pass: Dogbert7 (log onto local (log onto local machine, not METR) machine, not METR)

http://www.myfootprint.org/