Ecological Footprint Assessment …
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The sample calculation of EF of the product is explained below:
Consider double wall board-based corrugated box,
i. Ecological Footprint of Raw Material
Kraft Paper:
Embodied GHG of carbon dioxide equivalent = 1.29 t CO2 /t kraft paper
The capacity of the land to absorb CO 2 = 2.7 tCO 2 /t
Conversion Factor, γ CO2 = 1.28
The proportion of CO 2 absorbed by ocean = 0.3
EF of Kraft Paper =
1.29
2.7
∗ (1 − 0.3) ∗ 1.28
EF of Kraft Paper = 0.4281
Similarly, based on the embodied energy and/or embodied CO 2 , EF of all the raw
materials can be calculated using Eq. 3 and Eq. 4.
ii. Ecological Footprint of Energy
Grid Electricity:
Based on sources like coal, nuclear, hydro, etc., the average emissions per-unit
electricity generation is 0.001186 tCO 2 /kWh.
Therefore,
EF of Grid electricity =
0.001186
2.7
∗ (1 − 0.3) ∗ 1.28
EF of Grid electricity = 0.0004gha/kWh
Similarly, EF for other energy resources can be calculated using Eq. 5 and as
tabulated in Table 5.
iii. Ecological Footprint of transportation
EF of Transportation =
0.222 ∗ 3.17
11 ∗ 2700
∗ (1 − 0.3) ∗ 1.28
EF of Transportation = 2.12 × 10
−5 gha/ton - km
Based on the average distance of transportation, EF (per ton) can be calculated.
iv. Ecological Footprint of Land
The built-up land is considered to serve for 60 years. Based on average annual
turnover (in tons of products), the impact of land on the product is calculated (refer
Sect. 0)
Land = 0.07ha
Turnover = 500ton/year