Carbon Foot Size
From a tree hugger
I do lots of work helping industry sort out issues with their environmental performance. The latest thing that companies want to consider is their carbon footprint. Sadly, as with so many new toys or gadgets, the companies just want it and do not care whether it is of any use to them or whether they know how to do it. For one thing there is carbon footprinting and most folk are somehow measuring this in carbon dioxides (something the Stern report got confused about). Then there are carbon equivalents (CFC’s and methane) which everyone is ignoring which in many cases contribute more to environmental destruction than the energy consumed. Then there is a complete lack of standised scoping of footprints and the result that carbon footprints are not comparable. The govt puts out plans on how to do this (which for once are actually very good) but industry can’t be bothered as it is too complex and therefore they just guess.Please Mr Common Senses, can you slap some sense into folk to explain to them that they would be better doing nothing than what they are doing just now. They are all jumping on bandwagons for the sake of marketing. There is an environmental issue out there and if they continue to treat it as marketing play thing it is not going to get solved.
March 26th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Blame the media for whipping up a frenzy of ignorance. Clearly, the folk know that they have to do something but are panicing and doing, often, the wrong thing. There are loads of examples where rushing to do something ‘green’ is as bad, if not worse, than continuing as usual.
And in addition to carbon footprints, there is also the water footprint to consider. Oh the joy of watching folk trade off between the two.
May 21st, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Anonymous, please provide some examples of “where rushing to do something “green” is as bad, if not worse, than continuing as usual”?
May 21st, 2007 at 7:57 pm
How many examples can I offer.
Buying carbon credits from Shell because they are retiring CO2 into the ground. Erm, no they are not, they would be putting the CO2 back into the ground anyway as it increases oil returns.
Fitting photovoltaic panels to the roof of a house in Scotland. They use more energy in production and transport that they will produce in the first 5 years and they will never financially pay for themselves
want me to go on?