One of the most commonly heard concepts when talking about climate change, one of the biggest problems of our age, is known as carbon (CO2) emission. Although this concept is heard very often today, many people still do not know exactly what it means.
Instead of carbon emissions as a climate change concept, concepts such as carbon footprint or greenhouse gas emissions should actually be used. At this point, greenhouse gases are the gases that create a greenhouse gas effect by absorbing the infrared rays reaching the earth from the sun and allowing them to spread in the atmosphere. Naturally, even if these gas components are present in the atmosphere, when the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases, the world warms more; this situation is caused by human-induced activities. When the greenhouse effect becomes stronger, climate changes are observed.
Another term, carbon footprint, is obtained by calculating the greenhouse gas emission resulting from anthropogenic actions in terms of carbon dioxide in an equivalent way. In the context of this calculation, concepts such as carbon emission or carbon dioxide (CO2) emission have emerged, while these concepts have settled in the language due to the carbon dioxide equivalent calculation.
What is Carbon and Emissions?
In order to understand these concepts much more clearly, it is necessary to first examine the concepts of carbon and emission more clearly. First of all, if we need to look at the element carbon, carbon, which is one of the basic elements that make up the whole state the world is in right now, is basically found in food, air, water or in the human body.
When we look at the origin of the word carbon, this element, which is referred to as a chemical element with the symbol C, got its name thanks to the Latin word “Carbo”, which also means coal. It is a basic building block at every point, from the air in the atmosphere around the world, to the food you eat and the organs in our bodies.
The importance of carbon for life stems from its ability to form bonds at many different points with varying lengths. Having a unique bonding ability among elements, carbon is often found in hydrocarbons extracted from nature in fossil fuels today.
Although it is not yet known how carbon was first discovered in history, it is known that the oldest source of carbon is coal, and in this form, carbon provides a fuel source for about 37% of the world’s electricity. Along with this information, the main focus is on the release of carbon into the atmosphere, i.e. the carbon footprint, as we mentioned, is that carbon is included in the composition of carbon dioxide.
If we need to focus on the second concept of our title, namely emission, this concept is the ability of a substance to emit gaseous, liquid or solid waste in a way that can harm its environment as a result of the contact of its surface with radiation. Within the framework of greenhouse gases that cause warming in the world, carbon dioxide gas has the largest share as a gas. This is because carbon dioxide absorbs the infrared rays coming from the sun in the atmosphere for natural and human reasons and then emits more and the greenhouse effect emerges.
In fact, gases other than carbon dioxide are also a factor in the warming of the earth. In particular, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) accounts for the largest share in greenhouse gas emissions with 74.4%, while Methane gas accounts for 17.3%. In addition to these, there are compounds such as Nitrous oxide, Hydrofluorocarbons, Nitrogen Trifluoride (NF3), Sulfur hexafluoride. NF3 is used to make LCD panels and solar panels.
Looking at the general reasons for the increase in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide
- Respiration of humans and living things
- 9% share of deforestation to acquire land
- Natural factors
- 87% fossil fuel use
- Decomposition and dissolution stages in nature
- Anthropogenic, i.e. human causes
- 4% share of many industrial processes such as cement production
- Factors include ocean emissions.
What is the Importance of Carbon Emissions?
When it comes to carbon dioxide, the first thing that should come to mind is that it is a greenhouse gas. Because carbon dioxide in the atmosphere allows infrared rays from the sun to stay on the earth and this is an important detail that makes the world habitable. In fact, it is greenhouse gases that basically prevent the earth from becoming a glacial sphere. Because, as scientists say, when there is no greenhouse effect in the world, the average temperature can drop from 14 degrees Celsius to -18 degrees Celsius.
Many factors such as deforestation, industrial processes, fossil fuel use or land misuse, and even human activities cause more greenhouse gases to accumulate in the atmosphere. As a result of this rapid accumulation, the natural greenhouse effect is increasing, the average surface temperature of the earth is increasing, and climate changes are occurring. In response to this, people around the world need to reduce this by calculating their carbon footprint.
How to Calculate Carbon Footprint?
In order to calculate the carbon dioxide equivalent value for greenhouse gases, the masses of greenhouse gases produced and the global warming impact potential (GWP) rates must be multiplied by each other. In determining the GWP value, the “6th Assessment Report” published by the IPCC is taken into consideration as a reference.
GWP, i.e. global warming potential, is the process of writing the ratio of heat absorption by any greenhouse gas in the atmosphere against the heat absorption by carbon dioxide at the same mass ratio. For CO2, carbon dioxide, the GWP ratio is taken as 1. In terms of other gases, this may vary depending on the gas or time interval.
Rates of Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Sector
When an analysis is made among different sectors, the electricity and heat generation sectors in particular have a very large share in terms of greenhouse gas emission rates. Immediately afterwards, it can be seen that the transportation sectors show a high rate.
What is Carbon Footprint and Its Types?
Carbon footprint, as a value that emerges as a result of the vital cycle, is the calculation of the impact of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the activities of people or organizations on global warming in the world in the context of carbon dioxide. In this calculation, the carbon footprint is divided into primary, i.e. direct emissions and secondary, i.e. indirect emissions. In this framework, calculations for individuals and organizations have a different place in order to fully understand the impact of human activities on the environment and to make emission calculations easier. In the carbon footprint distinction;
- Direct-effect primary emissions are emissions that occur as a result of actions such as residential electricity generation and transportation, which are directly caused by the combustion of fossil fuels.
- Indirect secondary emissions are the emissions resulting from the life cycle of the products consumed in the process from manufacturing to degradation.
With the efforts of people to reduce their carbon footprint on the world
- Society is made healthier,
- A richer diversity of plants and animals,
- The effects of global climate change diminish,
- Power to the global economy.
Rates of Carbon Footprint by Country
When looking at the distribution of carbon footprints by country, it is necessary to first look at the world population rate and then at the carbon footprint rates according to this population rate. If we look at the list in full;
- China, which has 19.9% of the world population, has a carbon footprint of 27.2%,
- America with 4.5% population and 15.6% carbon footprint
- India with 17.5% population and 6.3% carbon footprint
- Russia with a population of 2.0% and a carbon footprint of 4.6%
- Japan with a population of 1.8% and a carbon footprint of 3.9%
- Germany with a population of 1.2% and a carbon footprint of 2.3%
- Mexico with 1.7% population 1.8% carbon footprint
- Republic of Korea with 0.7% population 1.7% carbon footprint
- 7% carbon footprint in the UK with a 0.9% population share
- Brazil, with a population of 2.8%, has a carbon footprint of 1.5%,
- The combined 47.1% population of the other countries of the world results in a 33.4% carbon footprint.
What Damages Do Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cause? What Does It Reveal? How Can They Be Reduced?
This concept, also called carbon emissions, can lead to the following negative environmental changes;
- In terms of rising sea levels, sea levels have risen between 20-23 centimeters worldwide to date. As a result, coastal habitats are disappearing, while an uncontrolled rise will cause this destruction to continue.
- In terms of changes in weather conditions, storms, droughts and floods are on the rise.
- Looking at the rate of increase in temperature, the atmospheric temperature has only increased by 1.2 degrees from 1880 to the present day. Although this increase may seem very small to the human mind, it is causing huge changes in the world.
- In terms of melting ocean glaciers, there has been a 30% decrease in the Arctic Ocean since 1979. While glaciers contribute to the planet’s climate by reflecting the sun’s rays, many animal species are disappearing due to decreasing glaciers.
- In addition, as a result of ocean acidification, 30% of the carbon dioxide that should reach the atmosphere is absorbed. In the last 200 years, the pH of the oceans has decreased by 0.1, resulting in a 30% increase in acidic levels. Ocean creatures are in danger of extinction because they cannot keep up with this situation.
- Apart from all this, the global economy suffers, plant and animal diversity decreases and social health is negatively affected.
What can be done to reduce personal carbon emissions?
In order to reduce the carbon footprint of human activities, there are 3 different categories of ways to reduce carbon footprints: reducing household footprints, reducing travel footprints and reducing lifestyle footprints.
In terms of reducing the carbon footprint of your household activities;
- Washing clothes can be done with cold water. This is because using cold water reduces carbon emissions by 11 million tons per year.
- By using fluorescent lamps instead of light bulbs in home lighting, 75% less energy is used and the associated greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced.
To achieve carbon footprint reduction in the context of travel activities
- By reducing air travel, greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by 1.9% and carbon dioxide emissions can be increased by 2.5%.
- Emissions can be reduced by 75% by walking and cycling as much as possible and by reducing car transportation. This can also lead to a reduction in air pollution.
In terms of reducing the carbon footprint within your lifestyle;
- You can reduce the rate of greenhouse gas emissions by reducing production and transportation energy by giving importance to recycling.
- By consuming less meat and dairy products in food consumption, you can reduce the impact of 14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions on the world to a lower figure. Switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet may be preferable for a significant reduction in carbon footprint figures. However, since such a big change will not happen quickly, you can first achieve this by, for example, not consuming meat and dairy products one or two days a week.
- Sustainable and recyclable sources can be preferred when choosing energy sources. In other words, sources such as solar, wind, wave, geothermal, biomass and hydroelectricity can be chosen.
- Waste production can be reduced with sustainable products instead of single-use products in the products you choose in every field.
How to Reduce Carbon Footprint in the Corporate Framework?
In addition to the activities that can be done in terms of human life and the points to be considered, some points can be considered to achieve carbon footprint reduction in corporate terms. In this sense:
- Corporate carbon footprint calculation can be realized by starting a good process in terms of being a sustainable company. First of all, one of the GHG Protocol or ISO14064-1 methods is selected, and direct or indirect emission measurements are included in the calculation in the context of this method.
- A new action plan can be prepared with a focus on the selected emission within the framework of the method you have chosen.
- If you do not have the opportunity to reduce your carbon footprint as a corporation, the carbon offset method can prevent the carbon emission generated by the company from occurring at another point. Because in this way, you can compensate for the emissions you inevitably create at another point.
While there are also some important legislations on carbon emissions, the Paris Agreement has a very important place among these legislations. Signed by 196 countries on December 12, 2015, this agreement, which tries to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, specifically tries to reach the pre-industrial level.
Another protocol, the European Green Deal, signed in 2019, aims to reduce emissions from European countries by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 and by 0 in 2050.
