What is a Carbon Footprint?

Well, what is Carbon Footprint?

A carbon footprint is a measurement of the amount of carbon dioxide produced by the activities of an individual, company, organisation or community. Furthermore, the concept of carbon footprint also involves the emissions of other greenhouse gases, such as methane, nitrous oxide or chlorofluorocarbons. Electricity usage, oil or natural gas usage, car mileage and airplane journeys are the four main areas that determine your carbon footprint.

Why is your Carbon Footprint important?

Now we’ve learnt exactly what carbon footprint is, it’s crucial to know the importance of your carbon footprint. We are told we need to remove a billion tonnes of carbon (CO2) from the atmosphere by 2025; tackling the current climate crisis and reaching the goal isn’t a one-man job, it’s going to take every single person on the planet to reduce emissions and create a cleaner a planet for the future. Our everyday choices determine how much carbon is released to the atmosphere, even the small things. Did you know? Walking a mile and half releases 75% less greenhouse gases than we would produce from driving the exact same distance; therefore, for instance, why not consider walking to do your shopping as opposed to driving?

So, why is CleanTech the best solution to reduce carbon emissions?

Technology relies on enormous amounts of energy and infrastructure which results in a high carbon footprint, which contributes to around 4% of global electricity consumption and 1.4% of global carbon emissions per year. However, to reach the UK target of net zero by 2050, CleanTech is going to play a key role in accelerating the process. How? Well, a type of carbon capture technology. Carbon capture technologies are designed to prevent the release of carbon (CO2) generated and it will also diminish and stabilise the effect of climate change. Creating a new technology may require a ‘Research and Development’ process, also known as ‘R&D’ – a long term process in which new products are developed and also a process of improving existing products. Investing in R&D and innovation in carbon capture technologies will play a pivotal role in reducing cost and increasing efficiency by creating cheaper and more efficient technologies.