Carbon Down

The carbon tax announcement has resulted in terms such as ‘carbon neutral' appearing daily in the newspapers and on television. As the carbon tax draws nearer, they will become more relevant to your business and its bottom line. Here, we explain some easily confused carbon‐related terms.

Carbon/carbon emissions
The chemical basis of all organic life. In the context of climate change, the term "carbon" is shorthand for carbon emissions and generally refers to the six main greenhouse gases identified in the Kyoto Protocol.

Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most abundant of the greenhouse gases, contributing about 75 per cent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide is a by‐product of oil and gas production, and is produced by burning fossil fuels or plant matter used for fuel (biomass). All animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms also produce carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2‐e)
Various greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere differ in their ability to absorb and re‐emit infrared radiation, and therefore in the amount to which they contribute to global warning. The "global warming potential" (GWP) of a greenhouse gas indicates its potential to trap heat in the earth's atmosphere relative to carbon dioxide, and is expressed in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2‐e). For example, over a period of 100 years, one tonne of methane (CH4) will have an effect on global warming that is 21 times greater than one tonne of carbon dioxide, so the GWP of methane is 21. Carbon dioxide has a GWP of 1, because it is the reference gas from which the values of all other
greenhouse gases are calculated.

Carbon footprint
The carbon footprint of an organisation, activity or event is a measure of the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to it due to energy use or other greenhouse gas‐emitting processes. Carbon footprint is expressed in carbon dioxide equivalents.

Carbon neutral
This indicates that something has zero net emissions (for example, an organisation, service, event or
product). Various strategies are used to achieve carbon neutral status:

• The first step is to determine ways of reducing overall carbon footprint as much as possible through improved efficiency and conservation
• The next step is the purchase of accredited Green Power (preferably wind and solar) or micro‐generation of sufficient energy for the organisation's demands (and, potentially, surplus to offset other emissions)
• The final step is to offset the organisation's carbon emissions by purchasing carbon offsets. This option should be used last, when carbon emissions are unavoidable (for example, necessary air travel)

Carbon offsetting
Carbon offsetting is the act of reducing greenhouse gas emissions relative to baseline (the organisation's usual operations). This is done by reducing the amount of emissions generated in one location to compensate for emissions generated in another location. For example, the emissions from air travel in Australia can be offset by purchasing "credits" in the form of money that will be invested in renewable energies (such as solar or wind) in other parts of Australia or in a developing country in order to reduce the use of non‐renewable, carbon‐emitting energy sources such as coal.

For more carbon terms, visit, www.carboncompass.com.au/solution/carbon‐101‐glossary‐terms