Analysis of Carbon Footprint and Reduction Strategies - Fall 2023

This homework assignment analyzes the rising issue of carbon footprints by defining them as the total greenhouse gases produced directly or indirectly through daily activities. It highlights main contributors such as excessive use of personal vehicles, electronic gadgets, industrial emissions, and agricultural chemicals. The document proposes practical solutions for reducing individual carbon footprints, emphasizing the development and utilization of alternative energy sources like solar and wind power to mitigate reliance on fossil fuels. By adopting these sustainable practices, individuals can effectively diminish their environmental impact.

Running head: CARBON FOOTPRINT
CARBON FOOTPRINT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1CARBON FOOTPRINT
The way carbon footprint is increasing:
Carbon footprint is defined as the overall quantity of greenhouse gases that are created
directly or indirectly by our daily actions (Čuček, Klemeš and Kravanja 2012). Generally, carbon
footprint of an individual is considered as the quantity of carbon dioxide that they produce
directly or indirectly. For instance, when an individual is driving a car, the amount of CO2 that is
emitted from the burning of the fuel of the car while driving the car is measured as his total
carbon consumption and is termed as carbon footprint of the individual. Generally, a carbon
footprint although cannot be determined exactly, it is calculated for the time period of a year.
The main reasons for the increase in the carbon footprint in recent years are overuse of
personal vehicles instead of using public transportations, excessive use of electronic gadgets with
the development of technology, emission of gases from the factories and chemical industries and
application of insecticides and other pests control that are used as fertilizers (Čuček, Klemeš and
Kravanja 2012).
Practical way of reducing carbon footprint:
According to me, a practical way that can be implemented for the reduction of carbon
footprint is to use alternative sources of energy. The carbon footprint of an individual can be
reduced by utilizing some alternative energy resources (Van Heddeghem et al. 2012). Since the
use of fossil fuels like petrol, diesel and other sources increase the amount of carbon footprint of
an individual therefore development of some alternative energy resources like solar energy, wind
energy, LPG or some other alternate sources of resources can be utilized to diminish the carbon
footprint of an individual (Van Heddeghem et al. 2012).

2CARBON FOOTPRINT
References
Čuček, L., Klemeš, J.J. and Kravanja, Z., 2012. A review of footprint analysis tools for
monitoring impacts on sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 34, pp.9-20.
Van Heddeghem, W., Vereecken, W., Colle, D., Pickavet, M. and Demeester, P., 2012.
Distributed computing for carbon footprint reduction by exploiting low-footprint energy
availability. Future Generation Computer Systems, 28(2), pp.405-414.