Carbon Footprints

Sustainability discussions have become mainstream now. And the theme is very broad, touching essentially every aspect of our lives. Cars have however always occupied the center stage, especially now as electric vehicles (EVs) take over traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) based - mostly in China and Europe.

Feeling a bit guilty here - as an owner of a 20+ years old Subaru Forester, I did some math (seeking some absolution). I don't drive much with this car though, maybe a bit over 5000km per year, so the initial feeling was that my contribution to the global carbon footprint would not be super high. For comparison I took the additional footprint of flying intercontinental in business class vs economy (more floor space, heavier seat etc., and all those bottles of champagne on board) and the global reduction impact of the lighting control software my company makes.

So here is my math:

• The car: 5000km is about 600 liters of fuel. Burning 1 liter produces roughly 2.3kg of CO2. So the total is 1.38T (metric tons). Let's round it up to 1.5T.
• Flying economy: a 9000km business class flight equals to 3T of CO2 vs 1T for economy. So the delta is 2T (a single upgrade is more than year's worth of driving a fuel hungry ICE vehicle).
• Lighting controls upgrade for 2 million lights: 30W/fixture, 3000 hours/year, 35% control savings, 0.4 kg CO2 per kWh) is 180 million kWh reduced by 35%, that is 63 million kWh reduction times 0.4 kg CO2 emissions: 25 thousand T (metric tons).

Some interesting take-aways:

1. In that comparison my car is less than a rounding error. The global impact of saving energy and reducing emissions by installing sensor-based lighting controls is 10-20 THOUSAND times higher than driving an exuberant ICE car for a year.
2. Consider the environmental impact of flying business vs economy. I know, I know, someone would fly in that seat anyway etc. But jut keep in mind the additional impact of the lie-flat bed and champagne in the sky is significant.
3. Upgrade your lighting. It is a one-time, simple operation that starts working in the background saving you money (energy) and reducing emissions.