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 Climate
Change Calculators
Calculating Your Personal Carbon
Dioxide(CO2) Emissions
Total Global CO2 Emissions (YEAR)
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Total Canadian CO2 Emissions (YEAR)
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Total Ontario CO2 Emissions (YEAR)
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Total "average Canadian" CO2 Emissions (YEAR)
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MY Total CO2 Emissions (CALCULATED)
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My Reduced CO2 Emissions Goal (INTENDED)
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OUR PERSONAL CO2 CONTRIBUTES TO CLIMATE CHANGE
If we wish to keep the earth's climate reasonably stable, it is
becoming increasingly clear that everyone in the world's developed
countries (such as Canada) will need to contribute to an effort
to lessen the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.
There are many suggested activities on this disk that you can do
to reduce your personal carbon emissions. But before selecting
one or more, it is instructive to have an idea of the total carbon
output from your daily routine.
To help do this, there are a number of organizations which have
identified the major contributors to carbon emissions in daily
life, and devised ways to calculate the carbon dioxide (CO2 )
each of them generates. These tools are called Climate Change Calculators.
They are available on the Internet, and provide software to help
you work out a figure for your Personal Carbon Emissions. With
an idea of your own carbon output, you will be better equipped
to choose activities in different areas of your life where you
would like to reduce it.
Two Climate Change Calculators
A growing number of climate change calculators are available
(see reference below) to make people more aware of the carbon they
generate in their daily lives. We have selected two examples here
to help our readers calculate their Personal Carbon Emissions.
Pembina Institute Canada http://www.climcalc.net/eng/Intro_2.html
This Climate Change Calculator lets Canadians put a number
on their personal CO2 emissions and compare them to the average
for their province or territory. It then offers tips on ways
to reduce green house gas emissions, and shows specific reductions
for particular efforts. It also provides information on climate
change, and useful links to other informative websites. Information
on the Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development may be found
at www.pembina.org.
To learn more about the development of this simulation tool,
visit http://www.sdri.ubc.ca/research_activities/active_climate.cfm
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Note: Using the Pembina Climate Change calculator may
require downloads. This program needs Macromedia Shockwave
to enable it to run, and the Calculator software itself.
Depending on the computer setup you are using, these may
take a little time to install the first time you use this
tool. You will then have to log into the program to be
able to use the Calculator.
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The first page into the Calculator is a map of Canada intended
to offer facts on carbon dioxide emissions by province. Unfortunately,
there is an error on this map, and clicking on the provinces
does not currently yield any figures. There is, however, good
introductory climate change information available by clicking
on the two buttons.
To set up a "scenario" or individual set of data,
the Calculator begins with background information on province,
number of people in a household, type of residence and number
of vehicles. Personal carbon dioxide emissions are then calculated
by visiting seven areas on a community map or corresponding list,
covering home heating, hot water, appliances, local travel, out-of-town
travel, recreation and waste. It is important to specify means
of transportation and number of occupants of vehicles (including
subways and buses) for each of four parts of the two travel sections
in order to move to the next area.
If all the data is entered, the Calculator offers a Climate
Change Report. In this reviewer's view, the results were confusing,
partly because the type on the report screen appeared with some
lines overlapping others, and partly because the "average
emissions" were not expressed in time (per week? per month?
per year?) to compare with the user's. The results screen appears
to have an error and not scroll through sections of data as it
should.
This tool is therefore flawed and although potentially interesting,
needs work.
Educators using this tool would be well-advised to practice
with it in advance before introducing it to a class, to ensure
that it works on their classroom computers, and that they have
understood how to move through the Calculator and its menus.
The World Resources Institute (WRI) United
States
http://safeclimate.net/calculator
http://www.climcalc.net/eng/Calculator/start.html
 The World Resources Institute's Safe Climate Carbon Footprint
Calculator uses the image of a "carbon footprint" to
describe an individual's carbon dioxide output. The total carbon
footprint measures the impact an individual's lifestyle has on
the earth's living sytems. The average Canadian is responsible
for approximately 17 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year
(as opposed to an American 20 tonnes per person per year).
The Safe Carbon Calculator can be used in either English or metric
systems, and bases the calculation of the carbon footprint on the
two areas of energy that make up the majority of most people's
CO2 emissions: home energy use and transportation. Carbon outputs
are based on distances driven and fuel efficiency of cars, plus
air distances traveled. There are added to home energy use, calculated
by multiplying the number of kilowatt-hours of energy used (recorded
on monthly bills) by the number of pounds of carbon dioxide produced
per kilowatt-hour: This factor varies for each state or province,
depending on the mix of power sources (nuclear, coal-burning generators,
hydro-electricity, natural gas, and any green fuel' alternatives
such as wind or solar). Home heating is calculated based on fuel
type (natural gas, oil, propane) and quantity, multiplied by a
conversion factor to calculate carbon output.
Gathering data for this Calculator requires some homework, such
as gathering past bills from home electricity and heating suppliers,
and estimating distances driven and flown.
Total results are compared against a US monthly per capita average
of 1,521 pounds of CO2.
Questions to Ask:
- How do the greenhouse gas emissions of the average Canadian
compare to a) those of Europeans? Those of people from developing
countries?
- How does my own personal carbon output compare to that of an
average Ontarian?
- What are my priorities to reduce my personal carbon dioxide
output by one tonne to meet the Kyoto Challenge? (see One Tonne
Challenge http://www.climatechange.gc.ca/onetonne/english/)
- How can I work towards this reduction in cooperation with others
(family, friends, classmates, community)?
Resources
A link to More Kyoto Efficiency Charts and Calculators
Compiled by Guy Dauncey of Earth Future at
www.earthfuture.com/senergy/kyotocharts/
ACTIVITY 1
- See the One Tonne Challenge website
for updated calculator and take the challenge http://www.climatechange.gc.ca/onetonne/calculator/english/
- Answer the 4 Questions to Ask seen in the text.
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