Glossary
These are the key terms used in the calculator and methodology. They explain how your footprint is estimated and how to interpret your results.
Showing 20 of 20 terms
Your carbon footprint is the estimated total amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by your activities, usually expressed as COâ‚‚e per year. In this calculator, it includes areas such as home energy, transportation, food, shopping, and waste.
COâ‚‚e is a standard way to express the impact of different greenhouse gases in one single unit. It converts gases such as methane and nitrous oxide into the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide based on their warming effect.
Greenhouse gases are gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to climate change. The main examples are carbon dioxide (COâ‚‚), methane (CHâ‚„), and nitrous oxide (Nâ‚‚O).
An emission factor is a value used to estimate emissions from a specific activity. For example, it can show how much COâ‚‚e is associated with one kilowatt-hour of electricity, one kilometre of travel, or one kilogram of food.
The energy mix is the combination of sources used to generate electricity in a country or region, such as coal, gas, nuclear, wind, or solar. It affects the carbon intensity of electricity and therefore has a direct impact on footprint calculations.
Carbon intensity describes how many emissions are produced per unit of activity, such as electricity use, heating, or travel. A lower carbon intensity generally means a lower environmental impact.
Regional assumptions are country- or region-specific values used to improve the estimate. These may include electricity mix, average household energy patterns, and typical transport-related factors.
Household energy refers to the energy used in your home for heating, cooling, electricity, cooking, and hot water. It is often one of the major contributors to personal emissions.
Transport emissions are the emissions caused by travel, including driving, public transport, and flights. In many cases, transportation is one of the largest parts of a personal carbon footprint.
Diet-related emissions come from the production, transport, and processing of food. Foods such as meat and dairy often have higher associated emissions than plant-based alternatives.
These emissions come from the goods you buy and the waste you generate. They reflect the environmental impact of producing, transporting, using, and disposing of everyday products.
A per-person estimate is a simplified way to calculate emissions when exact usage data is not available. It uses typical values based on the number of people in a household or similar standard assumptions.
The country average is a reference value showing the typical annual footprint for a person in a given country. It helps you compare your estimated footprint with a broader benchmark.
This is the category that contributes the biggest share of your estimated footprint, such as transportation or household energy. It helps you identify where changes are likely to have the biggest effect.
Life cycle assessment is a method for evaluating the environmental impact of a product or activity across its full life cycle, from raw materials to production, use, and disposal.
Renewable energy comes from sources that are naturally replenished, such as wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal energy. Choosing renewable electricity can reduce emissions linked to household energy use.
A carbon offset is a project or activity intended to compensate for emissions by reducing or removing greenhouse gases elsewhere. Offsets can play a supplementary role, but they are generally less effective than reducing emissions at the source.
A carbon tax is a policy tool that puts a price on greenhouse gas emissions. Its purpose is to encourage cleaner energy use and lower-carbon choices by making emissions more costly.
Sustainability means meeting present needs in a way that does not compromise the ability of future generations to meet theirs. In this context, it refers to reducing environmental impact through better energy, travel, and consumption choices.
The methodology is the set of assumptions, data sources, and calculation rules used to estimate your footprint. Reviewing the methodology helps you understand what is included, what is simplified, and how results should be interpreted.