2
F. Scrucca et al.
1 Introduction
It is nowadays recognized that greenhouse gas (GHG) emission represents a global
environmental problem [19], and that the nonstop emission of GHG by human activities is responsible for an aggravation of the global warming trend, with consequent
negative effects on natural systems and also on the economies [76, 32].
The aim to reduce GHG emissions has gained—and is increasingly gaining—
worldwide consensus and the global climate policies and actions (such as, for
instance, the Paris Agreement or, at the European level, the recent Green Deal and the
other key legislation and policies) confirm the international community effort to deal
with global warming in a systemic and trans-sectoral way. The perspective of carbon
emission analysis has been gradually turned from the “macro” (global/national scale)
to the “micro” level, i.e. to the accounting of GHG emissions related to individual,
products or corporate activities, so to understand the problem in depth and to develop
specific measures.
In such a context, the concept of Carbon Footprint (CF) has considerably evolved,
becoming an important and widely used indicator of GHG emissions that has
played—and is still playing—an important role in popularizing the issues of climate
change and environmental impact of systems and products along the whole life cycle.
Accordingly, the life cycle thinking approach, that allows relationships among industrial issues, sustainability, research and innovation, has become commonly accepted
as strategic.
Several approaches, methodologies and tools—from simplified online calculators
to other more scientific and complex life-cycle based methods—have been developed
and are available for CF estimations, with a main focus on products and organizations,
but also considering specific themes/sectors. CF research, therefore, actually covers
a wide range of topics, such as countries, cities, organizations, enterprises, families,
and individuals, but different methodological issues (e.g. critical issues in defining
the CF model) still affect CF calculation. According to this, not surprisingly, the topic
“CF calculation methods” is one of the currently popular topics in research [87].
Moreover, in parallel to the CF concept evolution, other footprint concepts have
been developed, also as a consequence of “communication issues” related to CF.
As a matter of fact, it emerged that to provide a complete information on the environmental performance of a system/product to the general public, not GHG emissions but other environmental impacts are the most significant. Consequently, the
need for developing a harmonized environmental footprint methodology that can be
unique, representative and that comprise a set of relevant environmental performance
indicators has become more and more concrete in recent years.
This chapter is aimed at giving an updated and comprehensive overview on the
concept of CF, methodologies, technical standards, protocols and tools for its calculation and also at providing an insight on CF-derived footprints, such as the Product
Environmental Footprint proposed by the European Commission.
Section 2 provides general overview on the evolution and the conceptualization
of CF, presenting the main differences between its calculation at the organization
F. Scrucca et al.
1 Introduction
It is nowadays recognized that greenhouse gas (GHG) emission represents a global
environmental problem [19], and that the nonstop emission of GHG by human activities is responsible for an aggravation of the global warming trend, with consequent
negative effects on natural systems and also on the economies [76, 32].
The aim to reduce GHG emissions has gained—and is increasingly gaining—
worldwide consensus and the global climate policies and actions (such as, for
instance, the Paris Agreement or, at the European level, the recent Green Deal and the
other key legislation and policies) confirm the international community effort to deal
with global warming in a systemic and trans-sectoral way. The perspective of carbon
emission analysis has been gradually turned from the “macro” (global/national scale)
to the “micro” level, i.e. to the accounting of GHG emissions related to individual,
products or corporate activities, so to understand the problem in depth and to develop
specific measures.
In such a context, the concept of Carbon Footprint (CF) has considerably evolved,
becoming an important and widely used indicator of GHG emissions that has
played—and is still playing—an important role in popularizing the issues of climate
change and environmental impact of systems and products along the whole life cycle.
Accordingly, the life cycle thinking approach, that allows relationships among industrial issues, sustainability, research and innovation, has become commonly accepted
as strategic.
Several approaches, methodologies and tools—from simplified online calculators
to other more scientific and complex life-cycle based methods—have been developed
and are available for CF estimations, with a main focus on products and organizations,
but also considering specific themes/sectors. CF research, therefore, actually covers
a wide range of topics, such as countries, cities, organizations, enterprises, families,
and individuals, but different methodological issues (e.g. critical issues in defining
the CF model) still affect CF calculation. According to this, not surprisingly, the topic
“CF calculation methods” is one of the currently popular topics in research [87].
Moreover, in parallel to the CF concept evolution, other footprint concepts have
been developed, also as a consequence of “communication issues” related to CF.
As a matter of fact, it emerged that to provide a complete information on the environmental performance of a system/product to the general public, not GHG emissions but other environmental impacts are the most significant. Consequently, the
need for developing a harmonized environmental footprint methodology that can be
unique, representative and that comprise a set of relevant environmental performance
indicators has become more and more concrete in recent years.
This chapter is aimed at giving an updated and comprehensive overview on the
concept of CF, methodologies, technical standards, protocols and tools for its calculation and also at providing an insight on CF-derived footprints, such as the Product
Environmental Footprint proposed by the European Commission.
Section 2 provides general overview on the evolution and the conceptualization
of CF, presenting the main differences between its calculation at the organization