MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL &

BIOENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

ASSIGNMENT 1:

CARBON FOOTPRINT
CPD20402 – ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL & MANAGEMENT

MOHAMAD TARMIZI BIN MOHD NASIR

55102219024
1.0 Objectives

● Determine personal carbon footprint using a calculator online.

● Compare personal carbon footprint to that of community and nation.
● Describe the components or factors that are associated the most with personal carbon
footprint.
● Predict ways to reduce personal carbon footprint.

2.0 Introduction

A carbon footprint defines the amount of carbon dioxide that your actions, such as driving,
cooking food, and cooling or heating your house, emit into the atmosphere. Most of the carbon
dioxide that results from your activities is produced by the burning of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas,
oil). A carbon footprint also deals with the use of energy, but focuses specifically on the emitted
greenhouse gases due to fossil fuel combustion.

Carbon dioxide is a "greenhouse gas," which tends to trap energy released by the earth
that would otherwise travel back into space. Thus, in the earth's atmosphere, greenhouse gases
behave like a large blanket that decreases the planet's heat loss. In the last 130 years, the use of
fossil fuels has significantly increased. Correspondingly, over the past century, ambient carbon
dioxide levels have also risen significantly. Currently, concentrations of ambient carbon dioxide
are higher today than they have ever been in the past 100,000 years.

The average annual temperature of the planet has risen by around 1.5 ° C over the last
130 years. Towards the poles, the temperature rises were more than three times higher. Many
influential scientists and political leaders are worried that this warming trend and other climate
changes that have occurred over the last century might already have led to human production of
greenhouse gases.

3.0 Procedures

1. Calculate personal carbon footprint using a website:

https://depts.washington.edu/i2sea/iscfc/fpcalc.php?registered=true&pgid=I1

2. Answer the required questions in the website by typing answers in the spaces provided.

3. Include a summary of the results.

4.0 Data & Results

By category, my totals (in kg) are:

Table 4.0 shows the calculated personal carbon footprint from an online calculator..

Category Me Malaysia

Home (kg) 4,161 768

Food (kg) 2,119 1691

Purchases (kg) 88 248

Transportation (kg) 587 851

Red indicates value that is higher than average.

5.0 Discussion

I expected that in Malaysia, and in the world, my personal footprint will be about the same
as the average individual. My personal total footprint, however, is 6,955 kg of CO2 per year based
on my feedback, compared to an average of 3,558 kg for Malaysia and 3791 kg worldwide. Note
that a "globally sustainable" footprint level is approximately 1,000 kg per person, where
atmospheric CO2 levels will stabilize at 450ppm. Therefore, by reducing their carbon emissions,
everybody can actually support the earth. In order to reduce my total footprint of 6955 kg CO2 to
at least the level of an average person in Asia, which is approximately 5,443 kg CO 2 equivalents
per person, there are several changes I could make, especially on my home activities and
components, because I emit the most CO2 from home, at an amount of 4,161 kg per year.

One of the many questions in the home category, as listed in Appendix 8.1, that I convince
to emit CO2 the most is about my mobile phone usage. Mobile phones do not consume much
power but the networks they rely on do. The projected carbon footprint of mobile phone usages:

47 kg CO2 : A year's typical usage of just under 2 minutes per day.

1250 kg CO2 : A year's usage at 1 hour per day.
125 million tones CO2 : Global mobile usage per year.

The mobile-to-mobile chatter for a minute comes in at 57 g, around the same as an apple,
often a banana. Three minutes has a similar effect to sending a small letter to a second-class
post (written on recycled paper). A comparatively small slice of global pollution is caused by cell
phones, but if I am a chatterbox that uses cell phone for an hour per day, the amount adds up to
more than 1 tone of CO2 each year, the equivalent of travelling in economy class from London to
New York, one way.

Indeed, the footprint of the use of cell phones is calculated overwhelmingly by the basic
question of how much I use them. One estimate of the pollution generated by the manufacture of
the phone itself is just 16 kg of CO2, which is equal to almost 1 kg of beef. This number rises to
22 kg if I add the energy it absorbs over two normal years (that's about how long the average
phone stays in operation, although most will possibly last for 10 years).But the energy footprint
required to transmit my calls through the network is around three times all of this added together,
bringing the best estimate of 94 kg of CO2 over the phone’s lifespan, or 47 kg per year.

There were 2.7 billion cell phones in use in 2009: almost half the world's population has
one. Mobile calls account for nearly 125 million tonnes of CO 2, or just over a quarter of a
percentage of global emissions, on this basis. Texting is a much lower carbon alternative if I want
to decrease the footprint of my contact habits. Fixed lines also give carbon savings, since
transmitting a call over a fixed landline network requires around one-third of the power than when
all callers are on a smartphone.

In Malaysia, mostly, there may be at least one car per family which contributes greatly to
pollution. With this is in mind, if I do a really high mileage or a true gas guzzler, it normally makes
sense to keep my old car as long as it is reliable and carefully take care of it to prolong its life as
long as possible. If I make a vehicle last 200,000 miles instead of 100,000, then the emissions
will drop by as much as 50 percent for each mile the vehicle does in its lifetime, as a result of
having more distance from the original production emissions.

Then, eating less meat, with particular focus on meals containing beef and lamb, is the
other most important lifestyle I should change. Large quantities of methane, a powerful global
warming gas, are emitted by cows and sheep. A vegan diet could make a 20% difference to my
total carbon effect, but simply cutting out beef alone would provide a major benefit. Globally, it
has been estimated that meat consumption is correlated with 18 percent of all greenhouse gas
emissions.

Lastly, consuming less is also very beneficial. A good route to lower emissions is simply
consuming less things. For a month, a suit made of wool could have a carbon impact equal to the
electricity consumption of my house. Emissions equal to two or three days of average power
consumption may have been generated by a single T-shirt. It has an essential role to play to buy
less and better products.

In order to get data for these measurements, it took a lot of searching. I was happily
pleased in the end that there was some pretty rational looking research out there. Nevertheless,
it now feels like a good time for a reminder that there is considerable uncertainty in all footprint
estimates-some more than others.
6.0 Conclusions & Recommendations

I predicted that my personal footprint would be about the same as the average person in
Malaysia, and the world. But based on my input, my personal total footprint is 6,955 kg of CO 2
per year, compared to an average of 3,558 kg for Malaysia, and 3791 kg worldwide. Note that a
"globally sustainable" footprint level, where atmospheric CO2 levels would stabilize at 450ppm, is
approximately 1,000 kg per individual. Therefore, everyone should help the planet by reducing
their carbon emissions. There are many changes I could make especially on my home activities
and components since I emit the most CO2 from home, at an amount of 4,161 kg per year, in
order to lower my total footprint of 6955 kg CO2 to at least to the level of an average person in
Asia that is approximately 5,443 kg CO2 equivalents per person. I shall reduce my mobile phone
usage and maintain my vehicle to make it last as long as it can other than trying to eat less meat
and consume less products.
7.0 References

1. ISCFC. (2019). Calculate your footprint. Retrieved from:

https://depts.washington.edu/i2sea/iscfc/fpcalc.php?registered=true&pgid=I1

2. Bernes, Mike. (2010, June 9). What's the carbon footprint of using a mobile phone.
Retrieved from:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-
blog/2010/jun/09/carbon-footprint-mobile-phone

3. Bernes, Mike. (2010, September 23). What's the carbon footprint of a new car?
Retrieved from:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-
blog/2010/sep/23/carbon-footprint-new-car

4. Goodall, Chris. (2017, January 9). How to reduce carbon footprint. Retrieved from:
https://amp-theguardian-
com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/19/how-to-
reduce-carbon-
footprint?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D#aoh=16007759
506075&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&a
mpshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fenvironment%2F2017%2Fjan%
2F19%2Fhow-to-reduce-carbon-footprint

5. Hollingsworth, Amy. (2014). Carbon footprint calculation. Retrieved from:

https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/AmyHollingsworth/lab-11-carbon-footprint-calculation-
fall-2014
8.0 Appendix

These are sub categories that are asked for each section on the website:

8.1 Home Section

● Family (household) size
● Home type
● Heating months
● Home heating method
● How much room heat?
● Room heating method
● Cooling months
● Home cooling method
● Room fans
● Light bulbs
● Turning off lights
● Brushing teeth
● Water heating method
● Showers (baths)
● Toilet use
● Washing dishes
● Washing clothes
● Drying clothes
● Cutting grass
● Weed wacking
● Cleaning leaves
● Yard waste
● Garbage
● Paper
● Phone charging
● Watching TV
● Home computer
● Laptop computer
● Other electronics

8.2 Food Section

● Calories per day
● Diet
● What do I eat?
● Eating organic
● Eating local
● Composting
● Take away containers
● Burning wood
8.3 Purchases Section
● Clothing
● Packaging choices
● Drinking water
● Shopping bags
● Electronics
● Recycling at home
● Recycling at school
● Reusing

8.4 Transport Section

● Out with friends
● After school
● Getting to school
● Air travel
● Other travel