It’s something many of us want to know - what can
we do? How much difference will it make if I change a light
bulb, or leave the car at home?
Now that the government of BC has declared its commitment
to reduce BC’s greenhouse gas emissions by 33% by 2020,
we all need to play our part. But which part? And how can
I calculate my emissions?
It’s quite simple, really. There are six main
ways that we contribute to global warming: (1) Driving.
(2) Flying. (3) The energy we use in our homes. (4) The
wastes we send to the landfill. (5) The stuff we buy. (6)
The food we eat.
Do you want to know how much CO2 your family produced last
year? Get yourself a notepad, and we’ll start.
1. Your Driving. Each litre of gas produces 2.5
kg of CO2. If your car does 25 mpg (9 km per litre), and
you drove 15,000 km last year, you used 1,667 litres of
gas, which produced 4,167 kg of CO2 – that’s 4.1
tonnes. So take an odometer reading, estimate your car’s
fuel efficiency, and do the maths.
Every litre you don’t burn (every 9 km you don’t
drive) will save 2.5 kg. For public transport, it’s
15 grams of CO2 per km, half the amount from driving. For
cycling, it’s a healthy zero.
2. Your Flying. If you go to www.offsetters.ca,
you can calculate the CO2 for each flight. Victoria to Toronto
return is 750kg (I believe this is too low; it’s closer
to 2 tonnes). You can do the same at www.terrapass.com.
For the year ahead, ask "Is this flight really necessary?
Could I do this meeting by teleconferencing? Could we holiday
closer to home?"
3a. Your Home Energy - Electricity. BC Hydro produces
88% of its electricity from hydro, producing no CO2 emissions,
and it imports 12% from Alberta (80% from coal + 12% from
gas) so 12% of your power produces CO2 emissions. The average
BC household uses 12,000 kilowatt-hours (kwh) a year, so
that 12% from Alberta comes to 1,440 kwh, at 800 grams of
CO2 per kwh from the coal/gas mix, producing 1.15 tonnes
of CO2. You can fine-tune your numbers by looking at your
hydro bills.
Whenever you save electricity, however, by turning off
the lights, and switching to compact fluorescent bulbs and
more efficient appliances, 100% of the energy you save comes
from Alberta. BC Hydro does not turn down the dams when
there’s less power needed: they import less from Alberta.
So if you can reduce your power use by 15% in 2007, saving
1800 kWh, you will reduce your emissions by 1440 kg, or
almost 1.5 tonnes of CO2.
Now let’s look at those light bulbs. If you replace
18 incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents, you
will reduce your CO2 by 5600 kg over the 10-year life of
the bulbs – 560 kg a year, or 30 kg per bulb. For insights
into the best buys for all things green, go to www.thegreenguide.com
and dig in.
An old inefficient fridge in a basement might use 1,000
kwh a year, so if you unplug it, you will reduce your annual
emissions by 800 kg of CO2.
3b. Your Home Energy – Oil. If you heat your
home with oil, find your fuel bills, and calculate your
emissions at 2.6 kg of CO2 per litre. An average single
family home uses 3,000 litres of oil a year, producing 7.8
tonnes of CO2. If you make your home 25% more efficient,
you’ll save 2 tonnes. If you use Columbia Fuels BioHeat
with its 20% biodiesel mix, you’ll reduce your CO2
by 16%, saving 1.25 tonnes a year.
3c. Your Home Energy – Gas. If you use gas
for cooking or heating, find your gas bill, and calculate
it at 52 kg of CO2 per gigajoule. (Propane = 63 kg per GJ).
4. The Waste We Landfill. In the landfill, most
waste breaks down, releasing methane gas, which is another
powerful greenhouse gas. Here in Victoria, the CRD captures
the methane and uses it to generate carbon-neutral electricity,
which should be done everywhere. Every time you recycle,
however, the materials can be used again, which saves a
lot of energy. So do whatever you can to recycle more.
5. The Stuff We Buy. Almost everything we buy has
a carbon footprint. The materials were harvested or mined,
and then it was manufactured, packaged, and shipped to the
store. Imported beer, when there are such great locally
brewed ales here in Victoria, makes no sense. You are using
carbon fuels to ship flavoured water from Germany, or Nelson,
or wherever.
6. The Food We Eat. Imported food has a far higher
carbon footprint than locally grown food. Locally grown
organic food is best, since organic soil stores far more
carbon than chemically pumped soil. Beef has a high carbon
footprint, since cows burp methane. An average meat diet
produces 1.5 tonnes more CO2 a year than a vegan diet. For
more info visit www.earthsave.bc.ca
and www.TheVictoriaVegan.com
7. Offsetting. When you have calculated your emissions,
you can offset them to become "carbon neutral"
by investing in a project (around $12 per tonne) which will
reduce the same amount of CO2 somewhere else. I use the
Solar Electric Light Fund www.self.org,
there’s also www.offsetters.ca,
www.cleanairpass.com,
www.carboncounter.org,
and www.carbonbalanced.org
Good luck! It’s an important process.
PDF,
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