Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Footprint
By
JB Hendrix
Pre-AP Physics
Quackenbush
CARBON FOOTPRINT
Carbon footprint refers to the amount of greenhouse gases used to support human
activity, which is typically measured in tons of carbon dioxide (CO 2).1 Your carbon
footprint takes into account all of your activities which required energy to do; watching
television, driving, and even sleeping all account towards your carbon footprint. The
reason for this is that fossil fuels, our main source of electricity, emit greenhouse gases
when burned to produce electricity. It is an important metric for environmental protection
because it measures the amount of greenhouse gases that are emitted into the atmosphere
per person in order to track global warming.
Electric Air
Conditioning
25%
Water Heating
44%
Appliances and
Lighting
31%
outside. Compared to other families, water heating ranks as the third largest energy
consumer while it is the top for my family. However, the percentage of total energy used
by appliances and lighting as well as air conditioning matches up similarly compared to
the average American household. Perhaps any discrepancy in water heating can be
attributed to the lack of a space heater in my calculations.
CALCULATING MY FOOTPRINT
Using the data collected on Monday, June 1st, I estimated the total amount of energy used
in my household through the use of a cheat sheet that was provided. I multiplied the
number of hours actually used per appliance with the amount of energy needed to run that
appliance per hour to find the amount of energy used by said appliance per day; then this
number would be used to find the amount of energy needed to run that appliance per
week and per year. Once the energy used for each appliance was estimated, I added them
together to find the total amount of energy used per year (43,790.19 kWh). I then
calculated how many pounds of CO2 and carbon would be emitted into the atmosphere
just by my familys household per year.
43790.19
2.095 2
= 91740.45 2
1
91740.45 2
12
= 25020.01
44 2
CONCLUSION
While it is impossible to not have a carbon footprint in todays society, people are
becoming more environmentally conscious to create a better world to live in. Families,
businesses, and schools all contribute to the growing problem of air pollution through the
use of electrical appliances and other commodities. However, the introduction of
alternative energy sources hold the potential to take away the domination of fossil fuels
as our primary source of fuel, while better lifestyles are paving the way for improvements
in the environment. In addition, new organizations and government organized programs
are contributing to a more positive impact on the environment. It is important to realize
that the earth is our home, and it is our duty to protect it and keep it clean for as long as
we can.
WORKS CITED
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.