What is a carbon footprint?
Before you can reduce your CO2 emissions, or compensate for them, it is necessary to know exactly the amount of these emissions. Calculating your a carbon footprint will tell you just so. A carbon footprint is the sum of the total greenhouse gas emissions of the company over a chosen time period. For example over the past year, or the past month.
This CO2 emission inventory gives an overview of the contribution to the climate change status quo. Other environmental impacts such as water use, land use or soil contamination are not included in the calculation. Therefore, you can use the life cycle assessment method.
The calculation and preparation of this carbon footprint are based on the GHG Protocol and ISO 14064. These are the global standards for quantifying, monitoring, reporting and verifying greenhouse gas emissions.
Example; carbon footprint of Hedgehog Company
We calculated our own carbon footprint, for the year 2023. Our carbon footprint turned out to be 16 ton CO2-eq.
16 tons CO2-eq is equivalent to the emissions associated with:
- +- 10 round trips by plane from Amsterdam to New York, per passenger
- 3300 black cotton T-shirts
- 761,905 cups of coffee
(https://translator.ecochain.com/)
Read more about this in our article Example calculation Carbon Footprint: How big is the impact of Hedgehog Company?
What is CO2-equivalent?
Internationally, CO₂ is the chosen "standard measure" in which we express other greenhouse gases, like methane and nitrous oxide. CO2-eq expresses their strenght, compared to how much stronger/weaker they are than CO₂. This strength is assessed, based on various characteristics, such as how long the gas remains in the atmosphere before reacting or decaying, or how much energy it can absorb.
This strength is expressed in a unit called "CO₂ equivalents." One kilogram of CO₂ emissions has, logically, a strength of one kg CO₂ equivalent. Methane is a stronger greenhouse gas than CO₂; the effect of emitting one kilogram of methane is equivalent to emitting 28 kilograms of CO₂ (!). Thus, one kilogram of methane has a strength of 28 kg CO₂-eq.
Video: Business carbon footprint + CO2 equivalent explained