Abstract
Intervention studies have shown that eco-feedback is a useful measure leading to a reduction in energy consumption. Eco-feedback is most powerful if it is combined with goal setting, action-relevant information, and social comparison and if it is behaviorally relevant. Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) calculators are eco-feedback systems that are suitable for measuring the carbon balance of individuals and households. They also make it possible to measure the impact of activities aiming to reduce the carbon emissions of individuals by influencing behavior and changes in everyday life routines. Citizens participating in the e2democracy (e2d) project used such a tool over a period of up to 2 years. This chapter reviews the criteria followed to select the CO2e calculator and to adjust it for continuous measurement with various feedback functionalities. The different categories of CO2e measurement are presented, and how consumption, such as kilowatt hours (kWh), is converted into CO2e emissions is explained. The chapter also describes the actual functioning of the calculator, how participants interacted with it and the feedback provided to them. Finally, some challenges, such as the lack of data about emission factors (EFs), interpolation, validation, and comparability, are also discussed.
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Notes
- 1.
For a good illustration of the different aspects that can or should be considered when assessing the climate balance of an apple, see “Bioäpfel vom Ende der Welt”, in the German news magazine Stern, 30, 2007, 102–108. http://www.stern.de/wirtschaft/news/argentinien-import-bioaepfel-vom-ende-der-welt-3273950.html. Accessed 18 November 2015.
- 2.
See http://www.footprintnetwork.org. Accessed July 27, 2015.
- 3.
See, e.g., http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/ or http://www.wwf.ch. Accessed July 27, 2015.
- 4.
Available carbon calculators under these URLs have meanwhile improved. To avoid publication of outdated weblinks, only the home URL is given. Carbon calculators can be found by using the keyword “CO2 calculator” for the search.
- 5.
See http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121015120517/ http://carboncalculator.direct.gov.uk/carboncalc/html/index.aspx. Accessed July 27, 2015].
- 6.
See http://www.earthday.ca. Accessed July 27, 2015.
- 7.
See http://greenpeace-energy.klima-aktiv.de. Accessed June 26, 2014 (removed from website by end 2014).
- 8.
See http://lfu.klimaktiv-co2-rechner.de/de_DE/page/. Accessed July 27, 2015.
- 9.
See http://uba.klimaktiv-co2-rechner.de/de_DE/page/. Accessed July 27, 2015.
- 10.
See http://www.klimaktiv.de. Accessed July 27, 2015.
- 11.
For example, www.climatecare.org for several subareas or www.atmosfair.com for flight emissions or http://comcar.co.uk/ or http://www.co2-calculator.eu/ for car traffic CO2e emissions. Accessed July 27, 2015.
- 12.
For example, http://www.nspower.ca/en/home/energysavings/Energy_Calculator.aspx; http://www.co2online.de/ or http://www.stromeffizienz.de/. Accessed July 27, 2015.
- 13.
Only cold water is meant here, the emissions caused by heating water are already covered by the energy consumption section of the CO2e calculator.
- 14.
See http://fcirce.es. Accessed July 27, 2015.
- 15.
For Pamplona and Saragossa, the mean emission shares for heating, electricity, and mobility have been estimated by CIRCE with input data provided by the local governments or national statistics (in the case of electricity). For Austria and Germany, they have been developed by IFEU.
- 16.
Furthermore, in Spain, neither nutrition nor consumption had been previously included in other CO2e calculators; so the EFs for nutrition and consumer goods were not available in Spain. CIRCE indicated that the conversion factors used in the Austro–German calculator were not viable because the emissions from the nutrition and consumption categories were going to be disproportionally higher than those for transport, heating and electricity. So, the EFs in the Austro–German calculator were modified in the Spanish case in order to maintain the percentages that these categories should represent in the total emissions (20 % of the emissions due to nutrition and 30 % of the emissions due to consumer goods, approximately).
- 17.
See http://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-distance-calculator.htm and http://www.tutiempo.net/p/distancias/calcular_distancias_html. Accessed July 27, 2015.
- 18.
See http://klimaktiv.klimaktiv-co2-rechner.de/de_DE/popup/ or www.klimaktiv.de. Accessed July 27, 2015.
- 19.
As indicated above, the Austro–German calculator automatically calculated the CO2e emissions on entering place of departure and final destination, and, therefore, calculating the 2-month share of flights undertaken during 1 year was not possible. However, in the Spanish calculator, citizens had to enter the kilometers travelled themselves, so they were able to divide by six the total kilometers travelled in the previous year.
- 20.
For example, if a panelist failed to read the meter on time, (e.g., 10 days late), consumption was recalculated based on the daily average in the reporting period (2 months plus 10 days). The result was a value for a theoretical consumption within a 2-month duration.
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Cimander, R., Yetano, A., Royo, S. (2016). Impact Measurement via Carbon Calculators. In: Aichholzer, G., Kubicek, H., Torres, L. (eds) Evaluating e-Participation. Public Administration and Information Technology, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25403-6_8
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