Your “carbon footprint” is an approximation of the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that you create with a certain activity over a given period of time. In other words, your carbon footprint is an estimate of your impact on the climate.

For most individuals a large number of activities contribute to their annual carbon footprint:

  • driving an automobile
  • traveling by air
  • heating your home or apartment
  • consuming goods that have emissions “embedded” in them from production and transport, etc.

It is possible to calculate, for example, the carbon footprint associated with driving your car for a year or with taking a single flight. At the same time, a more comprehensive carbon footprint that takes into account many activities can be calculated.

 

Miles driven per year
Miles Per Gallon (MPG)

*** The average American drives about 12,000 miles per year, and most vehicles average between 15 and 40 MPG (generally speaking, the smaller the engine, the higher the MPG). ***

Your yearly emissions (lbs):

Auto Emissions Assumptions: 19.4 lbs/gallon [US EPA, 2005, Emission Facts: Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Typical Passenger Vehicle]

 

average monthly electricity use (in kilowatt-hours)

*** The average American uses about 900 kWh per month ***

Your yearly emissions (lbs):

Note: on utility bills, "kilowatt-hours" is usually abbreviated as "kWh"
Annual Home Electricity Emissions (AHEE) Assumptions: 1.37 lbs/kWh [Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Annual 2005, Table 5.1 (Oct. 2006)]

 

average monthly natural gas use
(in thousands of cubic feet)

*** The average U.S. household uses about 1.6 thousand cubic feet (ccf) of natural gas per month ***

Your yearly emissions (lbs):

*** Note: on utility bills, "thousand cubic feet" is usually abbreviated as "ccf"
Annual Home Gas Emissions (AHGE) Assumptions: 120.61 lbs/1000 cubic feet: US EPA: Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2004, Annex 2, Table A30

Your Total Emissions (lbs):

Want to calculate your emissions from flying, running your business, hosting a wedding or some other activity? The next page lists a variety of other carbon calculators that can help you to estimate your impact on the climate!

Next: Calculate Your Carbon Footprint (Part 2)


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