It must be Yeti! – Tracking carbon footprints on the web

Jonas Gunnarsson, Martti Kivioja, and Jurek Pyrko, Lund University, LTH, Energy Sciences, Sweden

Keywords

carbon calculators, carbon footprints, carbon dioxide emissions, GHG, Internet, environmental impact, Sweden

Abstract

Several Internet home pages offer us tools to calculate our carbon dioxide emissions and their amount is constantly rising. These websites represent different interests: journals, environmentalists, energy and transport companies, energy utilities and companies selling products that are aimed at neutralising
the impact CO2 has on the environment. An overall ranking of the carbon calculators, depending on
how sufficient they are when calculating CO2 emissions, is not possible today because of the complexity of the procedures and the lack of reliable data to compare with.

In this study, seven carbon calculators are chosen randomly and assessed in order to compare them with each other. The structures and the functions of the calculators are studied in detail. A fictitious Swedish family (the Albert’s) is created in order to test the calculators. In the evaluation, six different characteristics are scored (0, 1, 2 or 3 points): user-friendliness; scope; calculation method; input data; advices and guidance and finally layout and presentation. The seven chosen carbon calculators have received between 9.5 and 18.0 points (47.5% to 90.0%) of the possible maximum mark of 20 points.

The results based on synthetic data, represented by the Albert’s family, vary between 4.3 and 14.9 tons CO2 per person and year. The study has led to the following conclusions: Today’s Internet-based carbon calculators differ a lot in their results.

Further research is needed within this area before it is possible
to construct a more reliable carbon calculator.
Rating and weighting criteria applied in this kind of comparison
are subjective.
The “Carbon footprints” that appear on the screen are not anabsolute truth but a small hint that can be used as a tool for ones own comparison, judgement and behavioural change.