Carbon Footprint Estimation in a University Campus: Evaluation and Insights

Pablo Yañez, Arijit Sinha and Marcia Vásquez
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Pablo Yañez: Department of Community Engagement, Vice-Presidency of Outreach and Engagement, University of Talca, 346000 Talca, Chile
Arijit Sinha: Department of Wood Science and Engineering, College of Forestry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97330, USA
Marcia Vásquez: Department of Environmental Forest Management, Faculty of Forestry Sciences, University of Talca, 346000 Talca, Chile

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Background: The University of Talca (UT), since 2012, has been annually tracking the carbon footprint (CF) based on the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol for all its five campuses. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the trajectory for determining the CF on campuses and identify the stressors. Methods: GHG protocol separates emissions into three scopes—1) direct; 2) indirect; 3) other indirect emissions. This study reports the emissions on the Talca campuses that are related to Scopes 1 through 3. The data is closely studied to draw inferences on the factors most affecting CF and recommend improvements. Results: The estimation of the CF in Scope 1 and Scope 2 were 2 0.03 tCO 2 e and 0.25 tCO 2 e per person per year, respectively. Results show Scope 3, which measures indirect emissions generated by activities like transportation of people, produced the highest contribution of 0.41 tCO 2 e per person to the UT’s CF in 2016. Conclusions: The study strongly suggested that transportation of students and faculty to and from the campus is one of the main stressors. The study of the main campus of Talca to quantify the CF is of immense value to institutions of higher educations as it provides a guideline and a comparative metric for other institutions.

Keywords: carbon footprint; corporation; scopes; GHG Protocol (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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