Carbon Calculator Review: GreenAsia

www.thegreenasiagroup.com

Whoo, that took me a long time. Not to do the calculation, but since the last review. But here it is. :)

My carbon footprint: 6.72 tCO2 per year.

Pros:

1) Slightly more adjusted in the Asian context. It is afterall 'GreenASIA'. And the drop down includes Malaysia. Which is nice to know that we exist :)

2) The drop down menus are straight forward. Easy to understand.

3) Energy choices have got different measurements. Which makes it easier to input since not all of us use kWh or kgs or liters etc.

4) It immediately shows the calculations upon your entry. So you can tell how much your carbon input is based on what you just entered.

5) You can input up to three vehicles. And the drop down's very easy, no need to look for your car type in a long list. They've got a range of type of vehicle and engine sizes (e.g. motorcycle, small petrol car (<1.4>

6) Includes waste as a separate input

7) You can immediately purchase carbon offsets from them upon completion of calculation. One choice of where the funds goes to is a Malaysian paper recycling facility which uses natural gas as opposed to oil fired boilers or electricity from the national grid.

Cons:

1) Would prefer if a little elaboration or those question mark thingies to give examples of what sort of energy applies to which domestic use. For blur people like myself, I use gas tank for cooking. Is that natural gas? Or is that LPG? It would be good to have a little assistance there.

2) Public transportation's distance calculation's a little iffy. I wish they would have distances calculator for us. So, we waste less time googling how far our travelled distances are. Can estimatelah... but still... haiya...

3) No mention of other lifestyle habits that may contribute to carbon - e.g. choice of food, shopping habits, etc.

4) No benchmark to compare.

Carbon Calculator Review - carbonfootprint

www.carbonfootprint.com

The very first carbon calculator I used. Also the first one on Google's list. Well, here it is. My first review. It'll need working on. But let's start somewhere.

My foot print is 8.68. 

Country average is 7.00 tonnes. 

Average worldwide footprint is 4.00 tonnes.

The worldwide targe to combat climate change is 2 tonnes. 

Wow.

Pros: 

1) It's got a 'save' function. Which will technically enable you to monitor your footprint. 

2) Car selection range is quite extensive. I found my little Kelisa in it. Which is a relief. 

3) Has a wide selection of 'other' fuel that maybe people other than me use. Like for boats, barbeque (coal), things like that.

4) Public transport selections are good too. Regular buses, long distance buses (coach), national rail, international rail, tram (not quite for us, but no harm I suppose), tube and even taxis. I like the taxis one. 

5) Incorporates daily lifestyle choices like food, recreation and things like that into the calculator. 

6) You can add it to your own website. 

Cons: 

 

1) Has selections  like use of wooden pellets (for heating?), that don't apply to us. But then again, if you use it, it doesn't contribute to your carbon calculations. Can actually think of that as an upside. 

2) Flight carbon calculator only has capacity for up to 5 flight itineries. Definitely not for frequent flyers. Then again, I think frequent flyers don't even dare to come close to the calculator. 

3) Doesn't mention too much about waste. It's incorporated into the lifestyle (secondary) option.

4) Incorporates daily lifestyle choices into the calculator, which I find is very vague and can really really bump up your footprint size.

Carbon Calculator Reviews - The beginning

Recently Hubbie received an interesting phone call which made me sit up and realized that despite all my perceived efforts in reducing our impacts, I wasn't making it measurable. I felt I fell into the category of people who claimed they were concerned but were not making calculated measurements in documenting my carbon footprint. So how would I know if I'm making POSITIVE impacts?

Well, I immediately went online, clicked the first website to have a calculator. And was appalled at the size of my foot!.... print. 

However, analysing it further, I really couldn't be sure. And I'm still not sure. I was told it's just an indication, and I'm sure it is. To help us vaguely identify things we could do to reduce our carbon footprint. And I agree. 

But I also think it would be far better if we had a calculator that's more appropriate for us, in the Malaysian context. For the first one I did, was for people based in the US. And most of the others I found later were also for people in the US and Europe. And sometimes the calculators don't even work if you don't put in an American state. Hmph. I also don't use heating. In this heat, I think I'll roast. 

Anyway, I've decided to just try them out. One by one. With set parameters and test them out to see their variations and what I think of them. 

Here are my parameters based on the few that I've done so far. Will modify in terms of measurements as needed. 

Electricity usage: 

60kWh per month per person

180kWh per month in our household of three persons

Cooking gas: 

14kg ESSO tank for half year 

8.9kWh per month per person 

Based on calculations of 11.94 kWh per kg

Waste:

2 kg per week for a household of three persons

Transportation: 

Flight: 

1 long haul approx. 10550km/way per year

2 short haul approx 300km/way per year

6 train rides approx 50km each per year

Vehicle:

1 1000cc petrol car 

YOM : March 2003

Current fuel consumption: 17.75km/liter

Approx mileage per month: 1200km

For 2 adults

Wish me luck!