International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 11, Number 15 (2016) pp 8511-8514
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com
Initial Estimate of the Carbon Footprint of Qassim University, Saudi Arabia
Fahad A. Almufadia, Mohammad A. Irfana, *
Qassim University, College of Engineering, Qassim, Saudi Arabia
Department of Mechanical Engineering, PO Box 6677, Qassim University,
Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia.
*Corresponding author:
a
Abstract
This paper represents the first effort to estimate the carbon
footprint of Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. In this report,
we estimate the carbon footprint contributions mainly from
transport, electricity consumption, total water consumption,
and waste output. The contribution of one common major type
of transport (air travel) was not estimated due to unavailability
of data. The electricity consumption reported is an estimate
based on the average of two months use from electricity bills.
With consideration of these shortcomings, our gross estimate
of the carbon footprint was about 2.85 t CO2 per person per
year. This is quite low compared to the world average. As a
carbon reduction strategy, recommendations were made to
create a fully residential campus, which would greatly reduce
the transport component of the footprint. A greater effort
toward educating the public about their contribution to the
carbon footprint would also raise awareness of the issue and
would be expected to go a long way toward reducing it.
Another strategy recommended to offset the carbon footprint
of Qassim University would be to conduct a tree plantation
drive.
MEASUREMENTS
The following sources were measured for the estimation of the
carbon footprint: electricity, annual water consumption,
number of cars for students, faculty, and staff, number of
trees, and amount of waste on an annual basis.
Table 1 shows the various scope categories and their emission
sources. In this paper, the following emission sources were
considered.
Scope I Natural Gas from Buses
Scope II Electricity
Scope III Student, Staff, and Faculty Commute
Table 1: Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope Categories
GHG Protocol
Emission Source
Scope Categories
Scope I
Natural Gas
Vehicle Fleet
Refrigerants
Landscape Compost
Scope II
Purchased Electricity
Scope III
Solid Waste
Air Travel
Student/ Staff/ Faculty Commute
Water and Waste Water
Keywords: Carbon footprint, University,
INTRODUCTION
As the world has become more conscious about reducing the
impacts of how we live and work, universities have lead
change by reducing their own carbon footprints. While some
work has been done in reporting the carbon footprints of
industries (AlDajan et al. 2015, Ilyas et al. 2012), there is little
published data available on the carbon footprint of
universities. A recent effort called UI Green Metric (published
by Universitas Indonesia) has been made to rank universities
in terms of their carbon footprints. Measurement of a carbon
footprint is the first step required before carbon reduction
strategies can be realized. Some of the in-depth studies
conducted by universities include reports by University of
Texas at Austin (UT Austin GHG Inventory, 2009),
University Tennessee (Chinery, 2008), Miami University
(Ferraro, 2009), and Cape Town University (Letete et al.,
2011).
Qassim University was established in 2004. It is located in the
central province of Qassim, Saudi Arabia. It is a public sector
university currently educating more than 60,000 students at
various campuses. The current research involves measurement
of the carbon footprint of only the main campus of Qassim
University.
Figure 1 shows the boundary of Qassim University about 9 sq.
km in area, which will be the boundary of this project.
Figure 1: Boundary of Qassim University Main Campus
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International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 11, Number 15 (2016) pp 8511-8514
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com
Table 4: Emissions from Cars Owned by Faculty, Staff, and
Students
Scope I Emissions from Transportation
Table 2: Emissions Related to Transportation
Average
Fuel Fuel Fuel
Fuel
Fuel
Type of No. of Travel
per
per
per
mileage per day
Transport vehicles per day
week month sem.
(L/km)
(L)
(km)
(L)
(L)
(L)
Fuel
per
year
(L)
Cars
used
by
Kg
CO2
per
year
Ave.
Ave.
No.
Fuel
daily
of
used
travel
cars
(Liter/
(km)
km)
437.5 2187.5 8,750 35,000 70,000 217,000
faculty
and 3141
staff
0.25
0.25
1.25
5
20
40
124
student
25,300 25
car
total 28,441
1
0.25
0.25
1.25
5
20
40
124
3
1
0.25
0.75
3.75
15
60
120
372
earth
mover
1
1
0.25
0.25
1.25
5
20
40
124
Total
76
Buses
(from
campus)
70
water
transport
1
1
wheel
loader
1
dump
truck
25
0.25
25
Fuel Fuel
used used
per
per
day
week
(liters) (liters)
0.125 9815
49078
Fuel
used
per
month
(liters)
Fuel
used
per
semester
(liters)
Fuel
used
per
year
(liters)
Kg of
CO2
per
year
196312
785250
1570500
4868550
0.125 79,062 395,312 1,581,250 6,325,000 12,650,000 39,215,000
44,083,550
Scope III Contribution from Tree Plantation
Table 5 presents a record of tree plantation on the main
campus of Qassim University. It is estimated that one tree will
offset 10 kg of CO2/yr (Ashby, 2009].
217,744
Table 5: Record of Tree Plantation on the Main Campus
Table 2 lists the carbon emissions coming from transport
(Scope I). Fuel consumption of 0.25 liters per km of petrol
was assumed for heavy vehicles (VCA Car Fuel Data). A
week was taken to be five working days, a semester 16 weeks,
and an academic year two semesters. For Table 2 the
conversion factor of 3.1 kg of CO2/L of petrol(Ashby,
2009)was used. From Table 2 the total carbon footprint from
transport (Scope I) was217,744 kg CO2/yr.
Name of tree
Palm
Lebbeck
Parkinsonia
Conocapus
American palm
Total
Number of trees
550
3000
1500
6000
120
11,170
CO2 kg/yr
-111,700
Table 6: Summary of Emissions
Scope II Emissions Related to Consumption of Electricity
Scope
Scope 1
Scope 2
Scope 3
Table 3: Emissions Related to Consumption of Electricity
Measuring Months kWh/month kWh/ year kg CO2 / year
August 2012
12,740,798
September 2012
3,885,844
Average
8,313,321.00 99,759,852 79,807,881
Table 3 reports the carbon footprint related to the
consumption of electricity.Because the data is calculated on
the basis of only twopower bills, the total footprint is an
estimate. From Table 3 the total carbon footprint from
transport (Scope I) was79,807,881kg CO2/yr.
Details
Vehicle Fleet
Purchased Electricity
Student and Faculty
Commute
Offsets
Total Carbon Footprint
Population: Faculty,
Staff and Students
Net Carbon Footprint per
person per year
Kg CO2 MT CO2
217,744
218
79,807,882 79,808
44,083,550 44,084
-111,700
-112
123,997,476 124,000
28,441
4,360
4.3
Table 7: Percentage Contribution Towards Carbon Footprint
Scope
Details
Kg CO2 MT CO2
Scope 1 Vehicle Fleet
217,744
218
Scope 2 Purchased Electricity
79,807,882 79,808
Scope 3 Student and Faculty
44,083,550 44,084
Commute
Total Carbon Footprint 1.24E+08 124,000
Scope III Emissions from Cars
Table 4 lists the carbon footprint due to daily commute by
faculty, staff, and students. An average fuel consumption of
0.125 liters per km was assumed (VCA Car Fuel Data). From
Table 4, the total carbon footprint from transport (Scope I)
was44,083,550 kg CO2/yr.
8512
%
0.18
64.30
35.52
100
International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 11, Number 15 (2016) pp 8511-8514
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com
Figure 2: Pie chart showing relative contribution of different
sources toward carbon footprint
Figure 2 shows the relative contribution of different sources
toward the carbon footprint. It can be seen that about 64% of
emissions come from purchased electricity, the source of
which is a combination of furnace oil and gas. The next major
contribution, 35.5%, is from the commute of students, faculty,
and staff.
Figure 3: Comparison of Qassim University with other
universities (Chinery, 2008)
COMPARISON WITH OTHER UNIVERSITIES
Figure 3 shows a comparison of the carbon footprint of
Qassim University with other universities. The higher value of
some American universities most probably results from
number of heating days in winter and number of cooling days
in summer. The University of Cape Town, South Africa
exhibits a lower carbon footprint because the all-year-round
good weather in Cape Town reduces the number of
heating/cooling days. Air travel also contributes a major
potion toward the total carbon footprint. One reason for the
comparatively lower carbon footprint of Qassim University is
the non-inclusion of air travel due to unavailability of data.
Table 8: Recommended Strategies for Reduction of Carbon
Footprint
CARBON REDUCTION STRATEGIES
Table 8 shows recommendations for carbon reduction, along
with pertinent constraints (Roosa and Jhaveri, 2009).
S.
No.
1
2
3
4
Proposed
Carbon
Reduction
strategy
Using Solar
Energy
Using Wind
Energy
Constraints
Comments
Initial installation Abundant in Saudi
cost
Arabia
Feasibility of wind If feasible, it can be
at Qassim
used
University has to
be studied
Planting trees
Nil
It is a positive effort
and is recommended
for practice
Creating
Nil
It is a positive effort
Carbon
and is recommended
Awareness in
for practice
employees
CONCLUSIONS
It was shown that about 64% of emissionsare related to
purchased electricity, the carbon source of which is a
combination of furnace oil and gas. The next major
contribution of 35.5% is from the commute of students,
faculty, and staff. The total carbon footprint of Qassim
University was estimated to be about 4 MT CO2per personper
yr. Although there are a lot of approximations and some
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International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 11, Number 15 (2016) pp 8511-8514
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com
omissions involved in coming up with this figure, this paper is
the first attempt to estimate the carbon footprint of Qassim
University. Much work is needed to fine tune this estimate.
This estimate does not include air travel and this is one reason
why the total footprint seems to be comparatively lowerthan
for other world universities. Among the carbon reduction
strategies, building a fully residential campus (to reduce the
daily commute) and relying more upon solar power (to reduce
the carbon emission for electricity) have been recommended.
As the world gets more conscious about green life styles and
work styles, including activities on college campuses, it is the
responsibility of universities to lead change. The first step
toward improvement comes from measurement.
[11]
[12]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge the data collection work
done by Fahad Saleh Al-Amer and Abdullah Abdur Rehman
Al-Soweena. The various departments of Qassim University
who provided the data for this study are also acknowledged.
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