Keys to understanding what is the carbon footprint

Release Date: 12/08/2011
Source: Reuters
Country / Region: International

Carbon footprint or carbon markets are terms commonly used in the environmental context, but its complexity makes it not easy to understand what they are, what they are and their importance in our daily lives. The carbon footprint or ecological footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere as a result of our habits and activities. Our carbon footprint is each product the we buy, we eat a food or an activity we do in terms of aspects such as raw materials used for manufacturing or energy used in its use. According to a report by the International Energy Agency in 2009, each Spanish emitted into the atmosphere 7.68 tons of CO2 per year while in America the figure stood at 19.10 tonnes per capita. As indicated by Marta Martin, head of the consulting and training CREATE "the important thing is that from our carbon footprint is possible to know where they come from the harmful gases into the atmosphere we create." "This allows us to take measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions," he adds. According to the methods of certification of carbon footprint, such as ISO 14064, there are two types of sources that make up the fingerprint. On the one hand, the sources direct calls, those that occur as a direct consequence of a certain activity or consumption. On the other, indirect sources, which are from electrical consumption or generated from the production or extraction of the raw product. Many companies and consultants to certify the carbon footprint and demonstrate this calculation, as is the case of the Spanish Agency for Standardization (AENOR). On the Internet there are various tools carbon footprint calculators from data as our annual electricity costs, the use of gasoline or electronics. In order to control GHG emissions, there are administrative mechanisms that regulate the emission of these gases. One of the most important is the Regime of Emission Trading in the European Union, which provides for each member country a national plan that assigns the maximum emissions that can be generated in a specific period. This system sets a cap for each company can generate a maximum of GHG, having to pay a credit with which to buy bonds of other companies that pollute less when they exceed the allowed value. The book "The emissions trading: how it works and what fails," written by Tamra Gilbertson and Oscar Reyes, whose editing helped organizations like Ecologists in Action, exposes the features of this system.