CARBON FOOTPRINT

CARBON FOOTPRINT

What is Carbon Footprint?

Carbon footprint is nothing but the total amount of the combined emission of the "Green House Gases"(GHG) by an individual, gadget, event or an organization. Carbon Footprint is measured in grams (g) in SI.

What is GHG?

GHG are the gases responsible for the absorption and emission of radiation within the thermal infrared range. The increase of these gases in the atmosphere than the normal level is known as Global warming. 

The primary green house gases in the earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone.

Gas	Formula	Contribution (%)
Water vapor	H2O	36 – 72 %
Carbon dioxide	CO2	9 – 26 %
Methane	CH4	4 – 9 %
Ozone	O3	3 – 7 %

The above table gives the contribution of these gases in the atmosphere.

Gadgets and its Footprints

As this blog is about being green, and mainly used for bringing the gadgets and its parent company's contribution to light, I present you with the information that was found in the article on the Telegraph news website. 

In the article the Footprint for the various gadgets that we use daily are taken into account. While you read this, you try to calculate the footprint that you create everyday using these.

Apple Macbook 2010

Footprint : 9g CO2 per hour

The MacBook 2010 produces 9g of CO2 per hour when its just idle. This in comparison with an average 60 watt lightbulb is very meagre. As the lightbulb produces 48.4g of CO2 per hour.

Even in one of my previous article in this blog, I've mentioned about the Eco-Friendly Macbooks that apple produce. Overall, Apple whose company footprint is 9.6 million metric tons, claims that it has reduced the MacBook's carbon emission by 12% in the last four years despite increasing the power of the machines.

Really an Eco-friendly company. Happy that I use an Eco-Friendly iMac.

Google Search

Footprint : 0.2g to 7g of CO2 per search (depending on the time and gadget involved)

It is reported that 7g of CO2 is produced per Google search, making  two searches equivalent  to boiling  a kettle (15g of CO2). It is to be noted that in the year 2009, more than 200 million Google searches were performed everyday.

Flatscreen Television

Footprint : between 215kg to 269kg CO2 on an average per year.

Does the number above shock you? Well this is the figure that one will get if they use a 34-37inch Plasma- screen television for 6-5 hours a day, which uses 264 watts of power which is in turn equivalent to  215kg of CO2 per year. Whereas a normal LCD Television uses 215kg of carbon a year. Just wonder, if this is the figure for just one single LCD television, what will be the total amount of CO2 per year of all the televisions in the world!!! Some thing to ponder about.

Mobilephone

Footprint : 47kg of CO2 per year based on a typical two-minute usage every day.

Well this is the most common type of gadget that each and everyone of us uses. Nowadays, it is not just the business people that uses a mobile. It has become a must-have gadget to every person in a family, from Father to the youngest child in the house. People dont just stop with one, but have multiple mobilephones.

But the above figure is just for a 2 minute usage. Well the average estimate of time spent on a mobile phone every minute produces 57g of CO2. And when the average usage for a person is one hour a day, its equivalent to the same amount of emission as flying from London to NewYork one way, ie., 125 million tonnes of CO2. 

Making a landline phone call uses only one-third of the power it takes to make the same call on a mobile phone.

Therefore before buying a mobile phone, check the SAR levels for the mobile phone.

Well I hope that this article has shed little light on the seriousness of Carbon Footprint. So I hope everyone of you will be careful about your Carbon Footprint. 

Think Green. Be Green.

GREEN HOME

As the population is growing, consumption of all types of resources are reaching great heights. We need to seek various ways to prevent this and make the best use of Energy (especially Green Renewable Energy) and Space.

Some of the major countries that face lack of space are China, India and so on, since their population is very high. Here in this video, Gary Chang an Architecture from Hong Kong, China has done a great job to his tiny Apartment. In fact it is a marvelous job.

Gary Chang loves architecture and have been studying architecture even long before he enrolled himself to Architecture.

Kudos to Gary Chang!!!

REVA - Electric Car

The demand for petroleum products have increased, and the amount of source is rapidly decreasing. And the alternative for petroleum products for vehicles are electric powered machines. So many manufacturers have started manufacturing energy efficient Electric cars.

One among these manufacturer is the REVA Electric Car Company(RECC), an Indian Brand, Bangalore based company. They are manufacturing these cars from 2001 till date. Currently the world's leading electric car manufacturer, RECC has produced more number of electric cars than the number of electric cars currently in sale.

REVA is a hatchback, with 3 doors. It has four seats, and the back seats can fold down to provide space for cargo.  The car is marketed as "G-Wiz" at UK. There are totally 5 models of this car.

• REVA
• REVAi
• REVA L-ion
• REVA NXR
• REVA NX

REVAi

Traction Motor           AC 13kW peak power

Charger                       Onboard

Charging Connector   Cable to standard domestic 230V 13A outlet

Charge Time               8hours to full power

Peak Voltage               48 V

Battery Type               8 lead-acid batteries

Battery rating             6V, 200A h each

Max Speed                 80kmph(50mph)

There had been certain safety issues in these cars, but they have been taken care of. But the company has made a very good contribution to the Electric car industry.

Apple - Macbook

Apple Macs are the most advanced and highly acclaimed products in the computer industry. It  has made the way of computing a very fun and educating manner. 

Apple is really trying hard to minimize the toxic contents in its product and also have earned the EPEAT Gold rating.

Its Environmental status report as given in its Website is as below,

The new MacBook Pro embodies Apple’s continuing environmental progress. It is designed with the following features to reduce environmental impact:

• Arsenic-free display glass
• BFR-free
• Mercury-free LED-backlit display
• PVC-free internal cables

• Highly recyclable aluminum and glass enclosure
• Reduced packaging volume
• Meets ENERGY STAR Version 5.0 requirements
• Rated EPEAT Gold

It has long lasting batteries that provide Energy Efficiency.  And apple also provides with the option of recycling, when wants to get rid of their old Macs. And people are Encouraged to do this by issuing a certificate for recycling the product. 

It would be great if all the Companies try to give their support the this issue be promoting Green Awareness.

Latest Casio Pathfinder PRG110C-3

Hmmm. This is just for start up.. Saw this on a website... Seems cool...

I’ve always known Casio’s watches their rugged and indestructible nature but with the new Casio Pathfinder PRG110C-3, the watchmaker has probably taken even a step further. The new PRG110C-3 is a very ‘earthy’ eco-friendly watch for those who like their outdoor challenges. Not only is it tough but it boasts a number of extra outdoor survival functions which you wouldn’t normally find in rugged watches.

The Pathfinder PRG110C-3 incorporates Casio’s Tough Solar technology which increases battery life through the regeneration of electrical power from sunlight. It also features a digital compass, altimeter, barometer and thermometer, the PRG110C-3 no doubt fits the needs of serious outdoorsman. Additionally, it also boasts five daily alarms, a stopwatch and world time in 30 cities. The watch is water resistant up to 100 meters and low temperature resistant, and very green – sorry folks but this is the only colour that’s going to be available, if you want to be green, you’ve got to show it off.

And it costs abt 250$. :-o And only available on Amazon...
So what are you waiting for????

Y Green?

Hi,
I'm Renie AK, this blog is to promote green concept and the importance of going green & also some cool gadgets that support and contribute to the green factor.

As I am an Electrical & Electronics Engineer, I'm very much interested in new technology that use green power and green products. It is high time that everyone should know about going green because the Earth is suffering from lack of energy resources and is getting affected due to pollution & global warming. Thus this blog would be used for discussing about the various GREEN factors...