Carbon footprint calculator

Whenever you use energy from unsustainable sources, you have an environmental impact. You can estimate this impact by converting your energy use into a CO2 equivalent. This calculator allows you to compare which types of usage are most harmful so you can see where to reduce your carbon footprint.

Instructions - Simply click on the "energy" and "transportation" tabs on the calculator, enter the units of fuel or energy that you use, and then click "calculate" or "chart" to show a breakdown from each source.

Sources for CO2 conversion factors

Sources for CO2 conversion factors - DEFRA Guidelines for company reporting on Greenhouse Gas emissions - July 2005

Sources for carbon sequestration factors - http://www.tufts.edu - Sequestration: How much CO2 does a tree take up.

The amount of CO2 sequestration from one tree depends on the type of tree and the growing conditions. Tufts.edu calculates that a 25 year old forest of Northeast, white and red pine can sequester 67,000 lbs of carbon per acre over 25 years. That is 2,680 lbs of carbon per acre per year or 9,826 lbs of CO2 per acre per year. Assuming a planting rate of 700 trees per acre each tree will absorb an average of 14 lbs (6.35kg) of CO2 per year. One ton (1000kg) of CO2 emissions therefore requires 1000/(25x6.35) = approx. 6 trees over a 25 year period. Note that if a different type of tree is used for the calculations, the number of trees required might be very different.

Download Carbon Calculator

We have also made this CO2 calculator available for you to download to access offline. Just right click this link and select "save as".