Carbon Footprint Calculation Lab
Name:
Date:
In this laboratory you will calculate a personal carbon footprint. A carbon footprint describes the amount
of carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere as a result of your activities such as travel, preparing
food, and cooling or heating your home or apartment.
Most of the carbon dioxide that results from your activities is produced by the burning of fossil fuels.
Fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, or oil, were formed in the earth’s crust from once-living organisms.
These fuels may be burned directly or they may be formed into other fuels such as gasoline or jet fuel.
Therefore, the more fossil fuels that are burned as a result of your activities in life, the greater your individual
carbon footprint.
Carbon dioxide is one of many so-called “greenhouse gases”. Greenhouse gases tend to trap energy
released by the earth that would otherwise travel back into space. Thus, greenhouse gases act like a large
blanket in the earth’s atmosphere which reduces heat lost by the planet.
Use of fossil fuels has greatly increased in the last 130 years. Correspondingly, atmospheric carbon
dioxide levels have also been increasing dramatically over the last century. In fact, atmospheric carbon dioxide
concentrations are higher now than they have ever been in the last 100,000 years.
Corresponding to recent increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have been increases in the
earth’s average temperature. Over the last 130 years the earth’s average annual temperature has increased about
1.5 degrees C. Towards the poles, the temperatures increases have been over three times greater.
Many prominent scientists and political leaders are concerned that human production of greenhouse
gases, through use of fossil fuels and other activities, may have already contributed to this warming trend, and
other climatic changes, occurring over the last century. Moreover, these individuals believe that some of the
human-induced climate changes have had highly undesirable consequences, which would be further
exacerbated by continued burning of fossil fuels.
To begin the carbon footprint calculation go to the URL below:
http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/index.htm
You will be using a carbon footprint calculator that has been made available by The Nature
Conservancy, the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important
lands and waters for nature and people.
Calculations made during the lab determine metric tons of CO2 released. One metric ton equals 1000 kg,
or about 2,200 lbs.
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Exercise 1: Complete a carbon footprint for yourself and record the tons of carbon dioxide that are released into
the atmosphere each year as a result of your activities.
1. What efficiency measures, if any, have you taken to reduce your home energy consumption?
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from home energy
________ % of total CO2 released each year from home energy
2. Where does most of your personal CO2 output come from in “driving and flying”?
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from driving and flying
________ % of total CO2 released each year from driving and flying
3. Does your food and diet contribute to or reduce your carbon footprint? Give one reason for this result.
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from food and diet
________ % of total CO2 released each year from food and diet
4. Does your “recycling and waste” contribute to or reduce your carbon footprint?
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from recycling and waste
________ % of total CO2 released each year from recycling and waste
5. Your personal carbon footprint equals ________ metric tons of CO2 released each year
6. Was your carbon footprint above or below the average for other residents of the U.S.?
7. Looking at the percentages that shows CO2 generated by category, which category resulted in the greatest
CO2 released? The least? Individually, what percent of your total CO2 output did they account for?
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Exercise 2: Complete a carbon footprint for your household and record the tons of carbon dioxide that are
released into the atmosphere each year as a result of your household’s activities.
1. What efficiency measures, if any, have you taken to reduce your home energy consumption?
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from home energy
________ % of total CO2 released each year from home energy
2. Where does most of your household’s CO2 output come from in “driving and flying”?
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from driving and flying
________ % of total CO2 released each year from driving and flying
3. Does your food and diet contribute to or reduce your household’s carbon footprint? Give one reason for this
result.
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from food and diet
________ % of total CO2 released each year from food and diet
4. Does your “recycling and waste” contribute to or reduce your household’s carbon footprint?
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from recycling and waste
________ % of total CO2 released each year from recycling and waste
5. Your household carbon footprint equals ________ metric tons of CO2 released each year
6. Was your household’s carbon footprint above or below the average for other residents of the U.S.?
7. Looking at the percentages that shows CO2 generated by category, which category resulted in the greatest
CO2 released? The least? Individually, what percent of your total CO2 output did they account for?
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Exercise 3: Complete a carbon footprint for your dorm and record the tons of carbon dioxide that are released
into the atmosphere each year as a result of your dorm’s activities.
1. What efficiency measures, if any, have you taken to reduce your home energy consumption in the dorm?
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from home energy
________ % of total CO2 released each year from home energy
2. Where does most, if any, of your dorm’s CO2 output come from in “driving and flying”?
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from driving and flying
________ % of total CO2 released each year from driving and flying
3. Does your food and diet contribute to or reduce your dorm’s carbon footprint? Give one reason for this result.
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from food and diet
________ % of total CO2 released each year from food and diet
4. Does your “recycling and waste” contribute to or reduce your dorm’s carbon footprint?
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from recycling and waste
________ % of total CO2 released each year from recycling and waste
5. Your dorm carbon footprint equals ________ metric tons of CO2 released each year
6. Was your dorm’s carbon footprint above or below the average for other residents of the U.S.?
7. Looking at the percentages that shows CO2 generated by category, which category resulted in the greatest
CO2 released? The least? Individually, what percent of your total CO2 output did they account for?
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Exercise 4: Complete a carbon footprint for yourself, this time selecting all the circles on the left, and record
the tons of carbon dioxide that are released into the atmosphere each year as a result of your activities.
1. What efficiency measures, if any, have you taken to reduce your home energy consumption in the dorm?
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from home energy
________ % of total CO2 released each year from home energy
2. Where does most of your CO2 output come from in “driving and flying”?
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from driving and flying
________ % of total CO2 released each year from driving and flying
3. Does your food and diet contribute to or reduce your carbon footprint? Give one reason for this result.
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from food and diet
________ % of total CO2 released each year from food and diet
4. Does your “recycling and waste” contribute to or reduce your carbon footprint?
________ metric tons of CO2 released each year from recycling and waste
________ % of total CO2 released each year from recycling and waste
5. Your “efficient” carbon footprint equals ________ metric tons of CO2 released each year
6. Was your carbon footprint above or below the average for other residents of the U.S.? How much lower?
7. Looking at the percentages that shows CO2 generated by category, which category resulted in the greatest
CO2 released? The least? What percent of your total CO2 output did they account for?
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8. Now look at the changes you made between exercise 1 and exercise 4. Which categories did you change?
How did this impact your carbon footprint? List each category you changed and by how much it changed your
carbon footprint.
9. Are the changes you made in exercise 4 realistic for your lifestyle? In 3-5 sentences explain why or why not?
10. Looking back on exercises 1-4, what is the most efficient lifestyle? Why is this the case?
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