Carbon Footprint Analysis of an Educational Institution

Abstract:

Global warming and climate change are the foremost environmental challenges facing the world today. It is our responsibility to minimize the consumption of energy and hence reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases. Companies choose ‘Carbon Footprint’ as a tool to calculate the greenhouse gas emission to show the impact of their activities on the environment. In this working paper, we assess the carbon foot print of an educational institution and suggest suitable measures for reducing it. Greenhouse gas emitting protocol for an academic institution in terms of tones of equivalent CO₂ per year is projected using three basic steps includes planning (assessment of data’s), calculation and estimation of CO₂ emitted. The estimation of carbon foot print is calculated by accounting direct emission from sources owned/controlled by the educational institution and from indirect emission i.e. purchased electricity, electricity produced by diesel Generator (DG), transport, cooking (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) and other outsourced distribution. The CO₂ absorbed by trees are also accounted. Some of the options are identified in order to reduce CO₂ level. The information of corporate carbon footprint helps us identifying the Green House Gases (GHG) emission “hot spots” and identifies where the greatest capacity exists in order to reduce the GHG emissions. The main prioritization goes to transport and then followed by DG, cooking and then electricity. The per capita CO₂ emission and the total CO₂ emission for a typical educational institution are estimated.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volume 787)
• Pages: 187-191
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.787.187
• Online since: August 2015
• Authors: P.M. Sivaram*, N. Gowdhaman, D.Y. Ebin Davis, M. Subramanian
• Keywords: Academic Institution, Carbon Foot Print, Energy Consumption Assessment, Global Warming

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