Science Library Pad

carbon footprint tool is an Android winner

Jeff Kao was supposed to go to law school this fall, until a phone call from Google Inc. prompted him to put those plans on hold.

On Thursday, the University of Waterloo graduate found out the cellphone application he and his four friends spent more than six months designing in his parents' living room was one of 10 winners of Google's Android Developer Challenge.

That means their program, Ecorio, will be one of the first applications capable of running on Google's new mobile operating system, Android, when smart phones equipped with the software go on sale this fall.

They're feeling lucky – Google has called in Globe and Mail, September 2, 2008

The program

allows the user to accurately calculate their travel carbon footprint. Given awareness of their travel carbon footprint, the user can take action in three ways: Reduce, Inspire, and Offset.

...

Android's background GPS capability allows accurate always-on tracking of the user's travel carbon footprint, and suggests carpool and transit options.

Ecorio - Android Gallery

tracking your carbon

Data helps decisions.  Humans are visual.  There are a couple services that will help you visualise your carbon emissions:

TheCarbonAccount aims to show a complete picture of all your emissions.

The above graph is from my profile at http://www.thecarbonaccount.com/people/rakerman/

Dopplr has added a carbon profile feature in partnership with AMEE to track carbon from your travels (since Dopplr is a travel site).

Both of them make a lot of assumptions.  For example in Dopplr everything is air travel by default, you have to go in and manually edit each trip one-by-one if you want to change the travel mode, and the only other options are train and car.

In TheCarbonAccount I can't tell it that I buy green power from Bullfrog, or that I offset emissions, or that I take the bus to work.

This is an obvious killer app for Web Services.  For one thing, I should be able to send from Dopplr to TheCarbonAccount.  For that matter, my power consumption data from Bullfrog should also automatically feed TheCarbonAccount.  Individuals should be able to build their own end-to-end carbon footprint chain, using SOA.

The heck with FriendFeed, where's my CarbonFeed?

(I'm pretty sure I Twittered this idea a while back, but I can never find anything in my Twitter stream again.)

Previously:
January 18, 2008  carbon labelling

carbon labelling

If Loblaws follows other retailers in green labelling, shoppers could get the chance to literally calculate their exact carbon footprint from a new pair of boots or even a box of chocolates.

Loblaw Cos. Ltd. is thinking of adding carbon labels to its private label products to show consumers how much carbon dioxide was emitted in producing the goods.

Following in the footsteps of shoe specialist Timberland Co. and grocer Tesco PLC, the Canadian supermarket retailer's potential initiative could capitalize on consumers' growing concern about climate change and greenhouse gases.

Globe and Mail - carbon footprint - January 18, 2008

If this is done properly, it should help people to relocalise their commerce, since transportation is a big component of the carbon footprint.

Jon Udell has been writing about this, the idea of tracking carbon through the production chain.
Having information on product labels is nice, but this information should also be available for any online transaction as well.

See e.g. The transparent supply chain.

There is also some positive news coming out of conferences (I hope conferences will start banning bottled water as well).

The first place SLA expects to see a significant chance to make an environmental impact is the SLA Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO in Seattle in June 2008. Seattle is well-known as a pioneer in green initiatives and has been recognized for its citywide environmental efforts. In addition to what the city offers, such as public transport and green hotels, there are a number of ways for attendees to make their own conference experience a greener one. SLA will be working with INFO-EXPO exhibitors and conference sponsors as well as attendees on how they can participate in this initiative by offering options such as providing the opportunity for them to purchase their own carbon offsets, and supplying free wireless Internet access throughout the conference center, allowing attendees to access hand-outs electronically and eliminating the need to print thousands of paper copies.

Special Libraries Association Announces Green Initiative - January 11, 2008

Previously:
December 3, 2006  airlines and everything with built-in carbon offset

5th Science Centre World Congress - June 2008, Toronto

The 5th Science Centre World Congress will be held at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, June 15-20, 2008.

One of the things you will have seen on our website is that we are working for a Green Congress. This is impacting all of our planning. As you will already have seen, our communication with you is virtually all electronic (with the exception of our initial brochure). But there are many other aspects to hosting a green Congress. For example, all of the hotels we have selected have strong environmental policies and aggressive waste and energy reduction strategies. There will also be a carbon offset charge added to all conference registrations. We will be minimizing the use of coaches and anticipate that most of the "travel" once you arrive in Toronto will be by foot or on our public transit system.

The three sub-themes for the conference are:

• Planet Earth – Living On it, Changing It, Sustaining It: The Role of Science Centres
• Citizen Engagement – Increasing Engagement with Science and World Issues … Social Responsibility
• Role of Science Centres in the Future (Human Capital Building; Personal Well-being, Lifelong Learning)

Based on the URL, probably 5scwc would be a reasonable tag for the event.

carbon offset for my scifoo flight

flight from: Ottawa, ON [Macdonald-Cartier International Airport], Canada, YOW
flight to: San Francisco, CA [San Francisco International Airport], USA, SFO
return, economy
flight distance: 7865 km
flight passengers: 1
CO2 Emissions: 1,771 t (that's European notation, so 1.771 tonnes)
SFr 71 (equals $62 Canadian)

I use MyClimate.

I should probably offset the long taxi rides to and from the airport, as well as the fairly long bus ride plus I'm fairly sure the bus was idling as it waited for enough people to arrive.  But I'm not so keen on offsetting automotive sins as I have never owned a car and live downtown so that I (almost) never have to drive anywhere.

I was surprised that Google had bottled water.  I don't know whether it's true that it takes "3 liters of water to produce one liter of bottled water" (Pacific Institute) but it certainly can't be good to raise a generation of people who think it's better to drink branded water out of a throwaway plastic bottle than to fill a glass from a tap or bend over a water fountain.

how much is that carbon in the window?

Honestly, what else can you get three tonnes of for only a hundred bucks?

(Offsets for my recent travel, from MyClimate.)

Note: MyClimate can be slow to load from Canada, but it is there.

Trendwatching: Still Made Here

The always colourful and engaging Trendwatching has their latest report: (Still) Made Here.

If everyone starts to report the full lifecycle (transportation included) carbon amounts in their products with carbon footprint labels, it may help to promote the Buy Local movement.

via OCLC It's all good

Air Canada carbon offset

I am amazed at how quickly offsets have taken off.

Front page of the Globe today was Passengers face the cash, credit or carbon tax question

Air Canada passengers can now ease their guilt over global warming by buying carbon offsets, meaning a clear conscience for less than $20 on a return fare on popular routes.

On busy transatlantic routes such as Toronto-London, it will cost $19.20 to offset a passenger's share of a plane's carbon emissions. Domestically, a Vancouver-Montreal return flight will mean an extra $12.80 tacked on the ticket price.

Zerofootprint is their offset provider.

http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelinfo/traveller/zfp.html

Previously:
March 20, 2007  Globe on Canadian offset services

my presentation on Internet community for Allen Press Emerging Trends

Here's my presentation "The Internet - A Scholarly Community?" from the 2007 Allen Press Emerging Trends seminar:

Download AllenPress.ppt (converted to PowerPoint)

Original Keynote format available upon request.

I have also posted it to Slideshare.net

There are supplementary bookmarks available at

http://www.connotea.org/user/scilib/tag/ap2007akerman

I thought the presentation went well.  A lot of the content is in me talking, so I don't know how much you'll get from just the slides.

Sidebar 1: Using K790 as Bluetooth Remote

I tried using my K790 phone as a remote control but that was not a big success for a couple reasons:
1) It kept going to sleep, so instead of just clicking to the next slide, I first had to hit a safe button to wake it up, then click to the next slide
2) Although Bluetooth should have good range (10 metres), I wasn't able to control from either end of the stage and at at least one point, I lost the connection altogether and had to re-establish it

So: not recommended unless you're going through your slides quickly (or know how to disable sleep mode) and you're fairly close to the podium.

Sidebar 2: Carbon Offset for Travel

I'm doing double carbon offset, on the theory that at least one of them might do some good:

Green My Flight Summary
Itinerary:
OTTAWA - YOW to WASHINGTON - IAD: 725.0 km

Total Distance: 1449.9 km
Total Emissions: 197.0 kg
Program Cost: $7.00

MyClimate

flight from: Ottawa, ON [Macdonald-Cartier International Airport], Canada, YOW
flight to: Washington, DC [Washington Dulles International Airport], USA, IAD
return, economy
flight distance: 1'448 km
flight passengers: 1
CO2 Emissions: 0,34 t
Total costs for compensation of your flight: SFr. 13.71
+ SFr. 5 "handling charge"
+ credit card foreign exchange fees

(Google says 18.71 Swiss francs = about 17.50 Canadian dollars)

Scandinavian SAS airlines optional carbon offset

Scandinavian airline group SAS AB introduced a voluntary greenhouse charge today for passengers who want to offset the carbon dioxide emissions generated by their flights.

The plan, which follows a similar initiative by British Airways in 2005, lets SAS passengers give money to environmental projects that have helped reduce the release of greenhouse gases, the company said.

The money will be funnelled through The CarbonNeutral Co., which specializes in helping companies offset carbon dioxide emissions.

Toronto Star - AP - Airline to let flyers pay carbon tax - March 14, 2007

Also see CarbonNeutral - News Features - SAS Group reaffirms airlines committment to green aviation

Blackwell Publishing carbon neutral

Every organization contributes to carbon dioxide emissions through its day to day operations. The scientific consensus is that increasingly levels of CO2 emissions are causing climate change, and that this is potentially the most serious threat facing the world today.

Blackwell Publishing has decided to take action and become a CarbonNeutral organization. Blackwell is the first major publisher to make the investment to become CarbonNeutral and we hope that we will lead the way for others in the industry.

To begin this project, Blackwell worked with The CarbonNeutral Company to identify our ‘carbon footprint,’ or the approximate volume of CO2 generated by the organization. It is calculated by assessing energy usage, business travel, and all components of the company’s operations that consume power or generate waste and by-products.

http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/carbonneutral/

Tufts University consumer travel carbon offset guide

Tufts Climate Initiative (TCI) - Voluntary Carbon Offsets - Consumer Handout "Flying Green"

They liked myclimate best.

Globe on Canadian offset services

The Globe has recently activated one of those "you must register" services, so I have activated my "no linking to sites where you must register" policy.

The article is called "Paying to pollute? It's not that simple", Richard Blackwell, March 20, 2007.  The Globe appears to allow direct referrals from Google News.

When Thomas Homer-Dixon decided to "offset" the carbon emissions generated by the promotional tour for his new book, The Upside of Down, the University of Toronto professor carefully chose where to channel his money.

He selected Toronto green energy retailer Bullfrog Power Inc. to inject electricity from renewable sources into the energy grid to balance the power used in the tour. And he got offset firm Zerofootprint Inc. of Toronto to counteract greenhouse gas emissions from air and ground travel by putting money into the Kettles Hill wind farm in Alberta.

But like others who try to assuage their green guilt by sending money to carbon offset organizations, it was impossible for Prof. Homer-Dixon to ensure that the money was actually going to reduce the world's overall CO₂ emissions.

Sites they list:

* Cleanairpass.com

What it offsets: car travel

Partnered with Tree Canada.ca

http://www.treecanada.ca/cleanairpass/

cleanairpass expense ratio: About 30 per cent goes to expenses and profit.

* Carbonzero.ca

CarbonZero expense ratio: About 25 per cent goes to expenses and profit.

* Zerofootprint.net Offsets

blog: http://www.zerofootprint.net/blog

"BNL to combat CO2 emissions with Zerofootprint Offsets during their Canadian Tour"

Credit sources: Creststeet Kettles Hill wind project in Alberta [same as GreenMyFlight], tree-planting in BC

Zerofootprint expense ratio: undisclosed.

* Offsetters.ca

What it offsets: airplane travel

Offsetters expense ratio: About 20 per cent goes to administration.

* Cooldrivepass.com

What it offsets: car travel

Credit source: same as for Offsetters.  (It is run by the same group based at the University of British Columbia.)

Expense ratio: About 30 per cent goes to administration and profit.

* GreenMyFlight.com

What it offsets: airplane travel

Credit source: Creststreet Kettles Hill wind project in Alberta [same as Zerofootprint]

Expense ratio: 10 per cent goes to administration.

Certification: "Only Baseline's 'Green Flight' program... has met all the [EcoLogo] requirements."

I must say I have to wonder how many credits Creststreet can usefully absorb.  They should call it Creditstreet.

Supplemental for United Statesians: Boston Globe - Carbon confusion - March 13, 2007

Although specialists say some of the money is well spent, it can be difficult for consumers to figure out if they are buying any new environmental benefit.

advanced use of Yahoo Pipes for carbon calculation

The Blog based, RSS using, Yahoo pipe executed Carbon footprint calculator

Some fantastic work from Service Architecture.  I plan to investigate it a lot more, as my attempts to geocode using Yahoo Pipes were not very successful.

Suzuki using myclimate to offset carbon from cross-Canada tour

The Globe reports that Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki is offsetting the carbon pollution from his current cross-Canada tour using Swiss provider myclimate

https://www.myclimate.org/EN_ticket/ticket_insert1.php

Just out of curiousity, I compared a YOW-YHZ roundtrip (how geeky am I to remember airport codes, sigh)

myclimate (ticket star - "the full impact of your flight on the climate is compensated"):

Ottawa (CA)   -   Halifax (CA)   -  Ottawa (CA)
this flight covers a distance of 1'908 km.

One myclimate ticket costs 22.00 Swiss Francs and compensates for the emission of
567 kilograms of CO2

Total price     CHF 25.00
[Google says 22 Swiss Francs = Can$20.60]

Green My Flight:

OTTAWA - YOW to HALIFAX - YHZ: 955.7 km

Total Distance: 1911.4 km
Total Emissions: 259.8 kg
Program Cost: $7.00

So I'm guessing that basically myclimate considers full impact to be double raw CO₂

new blog categories for climate issues

In advance of tomorrow's the Friday February 2, 2007 release of the 4th IPCC Assessment Report, I have created new Climate Change and Carbon Offset categories.

While you're waiting for the report, you can check out the Globe and Mail special focus The New Climate and the Toronto Star's Sunday cover feature Who's still cool on global warming?.

The Guardian also has a big section of articles on climate change.

UPDATE 2007-02-01: The New Scientist also has a section on climate change.

carbon neutral is OUP 2006 phrase of the year

The New Oxford American Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2006 is (drum roll please) Carbon Neutral.

Being carbon neutral involves calculating your total climate-damaging carbon emissions, reducing them where possible, and then balancing your remaining emissions, often by purchasing a carbon offset: paying to plant new trees or investing in “green” technologies such as solar and wind power.

Oxford University Press USA blog - Carbon Neutral: Oxford Word of the Year

via DeSmogBlog

This is also a favourite of mine:

elbow bump (a greeting in which two people touch elbows, recommended by the World Health Organization as an alternative to the handshake in order to reduce the spread of germs.)

Dell adds carbon offset donation to build options

Dell, in partnership with The Conservation Fund and carbonfund.org, has launched Plant a Tree for Me, a program that makes it easy and affordable for individuals, corporations or even entire communities to “go zero” by measuring and then offsetting their carbon emissions associated with the electricity generated to power their computer systems – simply by planting trees.

Plant a Tree for Me empowers you to neutralize the carbon footprint of your product use.

Donation amounts are based on expected average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the production of electricity needed to power the systems over three years – for a notebook .42 tons and for a desktop 1.26 tons. The cost of the carbon offset is $4.75 per ton. It costs approximately $6.31 per tree planted. On average a tree will sequester 1.33 tons of CO2 over 70 years through the program. Thus, the offset donation required to neutralize the carbon impact for notebooks is $2 and $6 for desktops.

Donation is easy and convenient – simply add the donation to your cart while you are configuring your system.

Dell USA - Environment - Plant a Tree For Me

It's not a bad idea.
There are a lot of complex issues that this kind of glosses over, but it's better than nothing.

My question is: is Dell offsetting all carbon pollution produced to build the computers, to deliver the computers, and to run all of Dell's corporate activities?  The electricity used by the consumer at the end point is trivial compared to the carbon output produced by a global supply chain.

via PodTech.net
and PC Advisor

The main Dell enviro site is http://www.dell.com/earth

Nature on carbon offsets

Nature has an editorial and timely special report investigating carbon offsets.

If you've been following my blog, you may have seen that I have started purchasing carbon offsets for my flights, I had some interesting discussion with friends about whether it was worth doing, or whether one should avoid flying if at all possible.

The conclusion in Nature (as I read it) is that it is worthwhile, although there is a danger that some current offset schemes are being overhyped.

Offset schemes are a small but potentially useful addition to the carbon balance sheet.

Climate change, as we are now experiencing it, is predominantly the result of the lifestyles to which people living in the industrialized world have grown accustomed. One increasingly popular response to it is carbon offsetting, a practice that allows people to compensate for the impact of their activities by supporting climate-friendly projects in distant corners of the world. It is a promising approach — even if some of its early manifestations are being dangerously oversold.

Nature editorial - Kyoto for commuters
Nature 444, 971 (21 December 2006) | doi:10.1038/444971a; Published online 21 December 2006

The 2006 World Cup in Germany ... has passed without a trace: it has supposedly left no mark on the planet's atmosphere.

The international football association FIFA says it has met its 'Green Goal' to wipe out the World Cup's carbon footprint. It's estimated that the millions of fans who travelled to Germany to watch the matches generated around 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. So local organizers collected euro dollar1.2 million (US$1.6 million) from sponsors and used it to buy credits worth that amount on the voluntary emission market. The money will be invested in renewable-energy projects in developing countries.

Such voluntary carbon offsetting is becoming ever more fashionable: the 2012 Olympic Games in London will be labelled carbon neutral, and bands from Pink Floyd to Pearl Jam claim to rock carbon-free. British diplomats and government members jet around the world in a supposedly climate-friendly manner, as do many bankers and insurance brokers.

...

The market's main weakness is a lack of standards and verification procedures. ...
The most widely recognized certification so far, called the Gold Standard, is owned and supported by 42 non-governmental environmental organizations.

...

Most experts agree that voluntary carbon offsetting could be part of a global strategy against climate change. But, they warn, most voluntary offsetting companies use small projects in developing countries, which together could account for only 3–5% of carbon emitted.

Worse, overselling offsetting might persuade consumers that no other action is needed.

Nature Special Report - Climate credits
Nature 444, 976-977 (21 December 2006) | doi:10.1038/444976a; Published online 21 December 2006

Previously:
December 20, 2006  more on flying and carbon offsets

more on flying and carbon offsets

CBC Radio One's The Current has a report Christmas Commercialism and Ethical Travel (MP3) as part of The Best of The Current Podcast.  The information starts at 16:20 in.  They interview George Monbiot, author of Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning.  He basically says you should fly very rarely if at all.  He doesn't like carbon offsets.

Considering that travel is the main thing I look forward to each year, I will continue to fly anyway.

I do think if you're flying purely for a quick beach vacation, or if you're flying for a single business meeting, you might want to re-consider.  But you also need to think about the big picture of your carbon emissions.  Ultimately it's whatever is possible for the whole of your life, not just each aspect considered narrowly.

So after looking at various sites in my previous posting airlines and everything with built-in carbon offset,
I have decided to use Green My Flight to purchase my carbon indulgences.

Itinerary:
OTTAWA - YOW to HALIFAX - YHZ: 955.7 km
   
Total Distance: 1911.4 km
Total Emissions: 259.8 kg
Program Cost: $7.00

airlines and everything with built-in carbon offset

Will SOA save the world?  We're working on it.
Jon Udell has a fascinating InfoWorld article "The carbon-adjusted supply chain: SOA-enabled optimization can help reduce businesses' impact on the global environment" and accompanying blog posting.

Does Amazon know enough about its supply chain, ... to assign a value to the atmospheric carbon attributable to the manufacturing and shipping of its products? Bezos thought that the answer was no, but he was clearly intrigued by the question. So am I.

...

Economists have a wonderful euphemism for environmental impacts. They call them “externalities,” and we can blithely ignore them until Rhode Island-size chunks of Antarctic sea ice start to vanish. Then we start to realize that, in a closed ecosystem, there are no externalities.

In order for Amazon to be able to measure and report its externalities, of course, Amazon’s suppliers would themselves have to be able to measure and report theirs. That would be a major challenge, to be sure. But it’s exactly the kind of challenge that SOA-enabled supply chain optimization prepares us to tackle.

To my surprise, there are already a number of initiatives to help people offset their carbon from air travel, although I don't know how big the idea is yet in those paragons of carbon production, the US, Canada and Australia.

Anyway, my Big Idea is quite simple and appears to be already underway at various sites: every airline should include, as one of its option fees, a pre-calculated carbon offset cost with a trusted offset vendor.  Air Canada, are you listening?

Ideally, offset providers should have calculation Web Services and payment Web Services that other sites could use.

[UK] DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) - Carbon Offset Scheme Launched - September 12, 2005

British Airways has launched a new scheme, backed by the government, where its customers can volunteer to help to offset the carbon dioxide emissions from their flight by making a contribution to an environmental trust.

The money raised will be used by an organisation called Climate Care to invest in sustainable energy projects that tackle global warming by reducing carbon dioxide levels.

Air travellers can choose to make a donation from today (September 12) via a link from the airline's website, ba.com, for the cost of the emissions created by their journey. For example, the donation on a return flight from London Heathrow to Madrid will cost £5 and a return flight from London Heathrow to Johannesburg will cost £13.30.

You can visit http://www.britishairways.com/travel/climateimpact/public/en_gb for more info.

Silverjet, also in the UK, is building carbon neutrality into their price.

Silverjet, the first British airline to offer a low fare, exclusively business class service across the Atlantic, today announces that it will be the world’s first airline to become carbon neutral on all its flights.

Included within its ticket prices will be a mandatory carbon offset contribution, giving passengers the opportunity to reinvest the “carbon points” thus earned back into a number of climate friendly projects around the world. This still enables Silverjet to offer low fare long haul, exclusively business class, transatlantic flights from as little as £999, return.

The scheme is being set up in partnership with the leading climate change business, The CarbonNeutral Company, and it has been developed in accordance with the CarbonNeutral protocol, which is the leading standard and quality mark for action on climate change.

Silverjet PR - Silverjet is the world's first airline to go carbon neutral - November 26, 2006

In Canada, there is UNIGLOBE Travel's Green Flight Program

UNIGLOBE Travel's Green Flight Program is one of the ways you can achieve your CO2 reduction goals.

UNIGLOBE Travel's Green Flight program is getting much press for its ability to provide companies in Canada with the mechanism that has, for a long time been missing to meet carbon emission offset goals. One way to achieve these goals is to purchase carbon offset credits from UNIGLOBE Travel that are calculated on the number of miles flown in an aircraft generated by companies business, conference or employee incentive travel.

The monies collected from the credits are then invested into environmental programs supported by Environment Canada.

UNIGLOBE's offset provider is Baseline Emissions Management Inc., and the specific site provided by Baseline is

http://www.greenmyflight.com/

Also, via The Great Canadian Carbon Offset 2006, I find a rather roundabout offset arrangement - buy a WestJet ticket via offsetters.ca and offsetters will use their affiliate income to offset some of the carbon. (GCCO2006 link via Treehugger.)

lastminute.com UK also offers this option

Customers using lastminute.com are to be given the option to offset carbon dioxide emissions from flights.

The online retailer claims to have become the first major travel company to make CO2 offsetting an integral part of buying a flight in a Government-backed initiative.

Payments will be invested in sustainable energy projects to reduce the damage done to the environment in a partnership with Climate Care, an organisation which tackles global warming.

TravelMole - Lastminute.com to offer emissions offset option - November 24, 2006

and indeed the option appears prominently at the top of their UK site, with accompanying web page

and not at all on their US site

cheapflights.co.uk has a variety of information - Air passengers can offset CO2 at Treeflights

Passengers who want to offset the carbon dioxide emitted from their flights have the option of using a new carbon-offsetting website where they can pay to plant a tree.

Treeflights, whose motto is "You fly – we plant", will plant one tree in a Welsh forest for each flight taken, at a cost of £10 (or $19/€15).

as well they list other options on their Carbon Emissions page

Al Gore uses Native Energy to offset all of his travel, but unfortunately it's a bit US-centric (miles? map of the USA?)

http://www.nativeenergy.com/travel/

There are lots of competing carbon offset providers, unfortunately I have neither the skills nor the time to evaluate them all.  I may expand this posting as I learn more.

Wikipedia - Carbon offset is probably another good starting point, and they'd take away my Canadian environment blazer badge if I didn't point to David Suzuki.org - Go Carbon Neutral.