Unique carbon footprint calculator sums up cost of personal carbon credits
Carbon-info.org, a Hampshire based environment organisation, is launching a highly accurate PC based carbon calculator, which identifies an individual’s carbon footprint and calculates the recurring cost of buying personal carbon credits to cover annual carbon emissions.
Based on an official UK Government model, the software allows anyone with access to a personal computer to easily and accurately identify their carbon footprint from a range of direct and indirect sources such as energy, transport and lifestyle.
With renewed speculations that the UK Government may introduce personal carbon trading, the calculator highlights the financial impact of buying carbon credits on the European carbon trading market. At the current rate of 25 Euro per ton Carbon Dioxide (CO2) a typical UK family could end up paying £992 each year for carbon credits.
Addressing a significant error displayed by many on-line calculators, Carbon-info.org’s software is uniquely designed to include carbon emissions generated from a person’s lifestyle. Measured in tons of CO2, lifestyle emissions are identified through a series of graded questions about leisure activities and purchasing habits.
Another unique feature allows multiple carbon footprints for consecutive periods to be compared and analysed. Any increase or reduction in carbon emissions are identified and the financial impact on the individual highlighted. Furthermore, the model can be adjusted to help ensure that calculations remain accurate until the year 2013.
“We want to put the individual in control,” said Carbon-info.org’s chairman Flemming Bermann. “What is the point of taking time out to calculate your carbon footprint on-line if you can‘t monitor it over a period of time and see the financial impact of your efforts to try to reduce it.”
The calculator is the second title in Carbon-info’s range of eco-educational software packages, which aims to educate individuals about their carbon emissions. The easy-to-operate calculator runs on a standard desktop and is supported on a range of current Windows platforms.
Based in Devon, Mrs. Linda Billing, whose family was one of many participating in the testing of the calculator said: “It was easy to use and a real eye-opener. When we included our lifestyle our family’s CO2 emissions amounted to 5.23 planets and we had to pay £1200 annually for carbon credits.”
While aimed at adult PC users, the carbon calculator can also be utilised by parents who want to educate their children about the causes of global warming or as an effective learning tool in primary and secondary education.
3rd June 2008
