Average Chinese person's carbon footprint now equals European's

The Guardian, July 18, 2012

The average Chinese person's carbon footprint is now almost on a par with the average European's, figures released on Wednesday reveal.

China became the largest national emitter of CO2 in 2006, though its emissions per person have always been lower than those in developed countries such as Europe.

But today's report, which only covers emissions from energy, by the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and the European commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) show that per capita emissions in China increased by 9% in 2011 to reach 7.2 tonnes per person, only a fraction lower than the EU average of 7.5 tonnes. Read more...

Lamb, beef and cheese have largest food footprint

The Ecologist, July 27, 2011

US analysis highlights the high greenhouse gas emissions of popular animal products in comparison to alternatives like lentils, rice and tomatoes. 

Food derived from methane-generating ruminant animals such as sheep and cows has the highest level of greenhouse gas emissions, according to research published in the US.  The research, commissioned by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), was based on emissions from everything from the fertilisers used to grow animal feed to the processing and cooking of the final product. Read more...

Train can be worse for climate than plane

ENN, June 08, 2009

True or false: taking the commuter train across Boston results in lower greenhouse gas emissions than travelling the same distance in a jumbo jet. Perhaps surprisingly, the answer is false.
A new study compares the "full life-cycle" emissions generated by 11 different modes of transportation in the US. Unlike previous studies on transport emissions, Mikhail Chester and Arpad Horvath of the University of California, Berkeley, looked beyond what is emitted by different types of car, train, bus or plane while their engines are running and includes emissions from building and maintaining the vehicles and their infrastructure, as well as generating the fuel to run them. Read more...

The Carbon Marketing Wars Have Begun

ENN, January 27, 2009

Their logos and packaging are near clones—Lay's potato chips in the United States and Walkers crisps in the United Kingdom. The story behind the similarity is that both brands are owned by PepsiCo. But a subtle difference sets them apart. Each bag of Walkers crisps carries a label stating that 75.0 grams of carbon were emitted to produce a 34.5 gram bag of chips.
In 2007, Walkers became the first major food brand to display a carbon label on its packaging. The label was the result of collaboration between PepsiCo and Carbon Trust, a British-government-funded nonprofit that works with businesses and the public to transition to a low-carbon economy. Read more...

UK Launches Carbon Footprint Standard

Environmental Leader, October 30, 2008

BSI British Standards, the Carbon Trust and Defra have launched a new standard to help businesses assess the carbon footprint of their goods and services. The standard, called PAS 2050, measures the GHG emissions in goods and services throughout their entire life cycle, from sourcing raw materials, through to manufacture, distribution, use and disposal.
The aim of the new standard is to help businesses move beyond managing the emissions their own processes create and to look at the opportunities for reducing emissions in the design, making and supplying of products. Read more...

Japanese Govt Launching Carbon Label Program

Environmental Leader, August 21, 2008

About 30 Japanese companies will voluntarily start carrying carbon footprint labels on food packaging and other products beginning in April 2009, Guardian reports. Japan’s trade ministry has drawn up a uniform method of labeling carbon emissions to avoid fears among some firms that their competitors may use in-house calculations and produce the lowest possible emissions data. Read more...