Carbon Footprint and Environmental Impacts

This assignment delves into the concept of carbon footprints at a national level, examining how international trade influences these emissions. Students are tasked with analyzing various factors contributing to carbon footprints, including energy consumption, transportation, and industrial processes. The assessment emphasizes the interconnectedness of global economies and environmental sustainability, encouraging critical thinking about mitigation strategies and public health consequences associated with greenhouse gas emissions.

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1
AUSTRALIAN HOUSEHOLD’S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
By (Name)
Course
Professor’s name
University name
City, State
Date of submission

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2
Introduction
Daily activities in every household lead to the emission of greenhouse gases from burning gasoline, driving, burning gases or oil or
consuming electricity generated from natural gas, coal and oil (Akter & Bennett, 2011). The greenhouse gas emission is also
depended on the number of persons in the house, the location, personal choices and their habits. Analysis done on the Australian
household shows that they produce a lot of greenhouse gases which largely come from transport of wastes, heating and cooling,
(Akter & Bennett, 2011). These families can reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by reducing their energy bills hence
saving money in the process.

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 3
TRANSPORT
The image below shows the greenhouse emissions emitted from the existing house.
The household has 4 small cars that travel 15000 km annually using typical Petrol to drive to work in different offices at Melbourne
CBD even though the offices can be accessed easily by public transport.
This results to 15.100 (top left corner of the screenshot) tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions as shown above. This is above typical
household gas emissions as well as green household emissions. This calls for drastic measures to be undertaken to reduce the emissions
for more sustainable living.

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Recommendations
1. Reduce numbers of vehicle in each household from 4 to 2 cars to cut down on the emissions, and it can still serve well a household
of 4 people.
2. Alternative fuels can be used in place of petrol to help reduce gas emissions. There are more sustainable fuels that can be used that
are friendlier to the environment. Petrol is replaced with Diesel in this case.
3. The car model is updated from an old 2003 car to a 2015 model with more sustainable technologies.
4. A strong hybrid drivetrain is preferred compared to an automated car.
5. The annual distance covered by the 2 personal cars is also reduced from 15000 to 10000.
6. Alternative transport means can be used, such as bicycles for short distances, since they use no fuel, while public transport can be
opted for longer distances.
When all the above recommendations are done, the following results are as follows.

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 5
Significantly less emissions when recommendations are implemented.

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 6
AIRTRAVEL
This household only travels once an year and as a result only 0.106
Recommendations
Since the greenhouse gas emissions produced during their air travel are even less than what is recommended for green households, the
household can be deemed as sustainable in terms of air travel.

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HEATING AND COOLING
The floor and roof
Below shows how the floor and roof contribute to greenhouse emissions during heating and cooling.
Recommendations
No further recommendations are made to the building materials but rather to the heating and cooling systems as discussed below.
Household Heating system
The household heating system is natural gas fueled system that is old (Chan et al., 2011). The duct condition is poor and has not
been maintained over a period of time. The heating system runs on daily basis in winter from 6 pm to 12 am to keep the sleeping
chambers and living room areas warm even though everyone stays in the Living room from 6 pm to 10 pm before going to sleeping
chambers. The thermostat is set at 20_C. This has resulted in very high greenhouse gas emissions,

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Recommendations
 A different type of heating system is preferred for lower emissions. A low emission wood heater is preferred to the natural gas
flued.
 A more updated heating system, with a higher green energy rating should be used. Up to date system are built to be more
sustainable and cause less harm to the environment. The rating of this system is raised from a 1 star to a 5 star.

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 9
 Testing and inspections of the ducts should be done more frequently and regurlarly.to ensures it works properly and it is highly
efficient.
 Since everyone is at the living room between 6-10pm, the heating system at the bedrooms should be turned off at this time and
switched on at 30 minutes before everyone goes to bed. This will lead to overall less gas emissions.
Below are the emissions after implementations of the recommendations
HOUSEHOLD COOLING SYSTEM

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The household cooling system is non-ducted air-conditioner which is also very old.it is works for two hours during both daytime
and at night to cool down the sleeping chambers and Living room areas during summer.
Recommendations
 An up-to date system should be used for cooling with a very high star ratting. This will ensure more environmental conscious
system is being used as opposed to the 1 star rated system.
 A ducted, well insulated system in good condition should be installed.
Below are the emissions after implementations of the recommendations

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 11
HOUSEHOLD HOT WATER SYSTEM
The household hot water system uses electricity and has no solar boost. Below shows calculations of its greenhouse gas

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 12
Recommendations
Solar as a renewable source of energy should be used to provide hot water to this household. Solar boost should be raised to 100% to
achieve the results shown below.

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Washing Machine
A typical top loader, 7 kg capacity, hot and cold tape, manufactured on 1997with a 1-star energy rating is ran 4 times every week on
high water program. The hot water temperature is around 40*C. Below shows its ghg emissions.

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Recommendations
 Up-to date (2005 to date) washing machines with a high star rating (6) would be preferred due to its evolved technology, les water
usage and its environmental friendliness. Results of implementing this are shown below.

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DISH WASHING MACHINE
It is small capacity standard one energy rating , that was produced in 2003. It’s used 5-9 times in one week on hold program. It
uses cold water only.

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Recommendations
Use a recent (2005 to newer) dishwasher with a high star rating of six

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 17

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 18
Bathing
The occupants of each household take 15-25 showers a week in total. They spend 10 minutes in the shower on average. The
showerheads are not rated.
Recommendations
 Decrease time one spends in the shower. This actually reduces water usage
 Choose to use a 5-star rated shower since it is more energy efficient.

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 19
Lighting
The household has 18 low voltage halogen illuminations in the whole household. those lights are left ON for 3 and 6 hours, in
that order during summer and winter. The halogen illuminations are capable of producing power of 40 watts and are able to provide 14
lumens of light per watt. Each house requires around150 lumens per m2.

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Recommendations
 The type of lighting is changed to LED as it saves more energy and it more efficient
 The dimming is decreased to 20
Results are as shown

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 21
Refrigeration
Ordinary compressor, single door, capacity of 300 litters, 2-star rating, and was produced in 1992.

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Recommendations
 Use a LPG refrigerator instead of a normal compressor as it yields lower ghg emissions
 Use an up to date fridge (2009+) for it advancement in sustainable technologies.
Results are as shown
Cooking
The household has gas burners- that uses natural gas- and microwaves,. There is no information on usage.

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Recommendations
Usage of gas burner to be restricted to medium to lower the ghg emissions

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 24
Usage of the microwave to be restricted to low.

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Other Appliances
There are 4 CPUs which are used 4 hours daily and a 50-inch liquid crystal display TV which runs 4 hours per day.
Recommendations
No action shall be taken. Greenhouse gases by other appliances are slightly below those of green households, hence are deemed
sustainable.

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Main Report comparing greenhouse emissions from the house, a typical household, and a green household. The graph indicates that
in the areas of transport, heating and cooling, hot water, lighting, refrigeration, and cooking are above the greenhouse hold recommended
standards and some changes will be required so as to lower them.
Transport 15.100
Air travel 0.106
Heating and cooling 3.802

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 27
Hot water 6.818
Lighting 1.497
Refrigeration 1.829
Cooking 0.721
Other Appliances 0.409

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 28

Australian Household’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions 29
GHG emissions after the recommendations have been implemented.
Transportation 1.418
Refrigerating 0.100
Air travel 0.106
Heating and cooling 0.423
Hot water 0.148
Illumination 0.447
Cookery 0.585
Supplementary
Appliances 0.409

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CONCLUSION
With the current changing climate, we should embrace sustainability in all aspects of our lives- from our appliances, fuel, food,
lighting to even the model of the cars we drive. It is also worth to note that sustainability is achieved even through simple practices in our
lives such as changing your shower time from 10 minutes to 5 minutes. Sustainability is a composition of a million little things. This little
things contribute greatly to the bigger picture, which in this case, is saving the planet.

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