Carbon Footprint: Concept,
Methodology and Calculation
Flavio Scrucca, Grazia Barberio, Valentina Fantin, Pier Luigi Porta,
and Marco Barbanera
Abstract Carbon footprint (CF) is nowadays one of the most widely used environmental indicators and calculations of CF have been recently in very high demand.
Many 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 estimations. CF evaluations are, in general, focused on products
and organizations, but calculation approach have been developed also for specific
themes/sectors, such as for instance cities, individuals, households, farms, etc. This
chapter is aimed at giving an updated and comprehensive overview on the concept of
CF, and also on methodologies, technical standards, protocols and tools for its calculation. Attention is focused on the two main and usual scopes of CF assessment, i.e.
products and organizations, but also on other relevant specific study subjects, also
discussing methodological differences and issues.
Keywords Carbon footprint · Methodology · Life cycle assessment · Product
environmental footprint · Carbon footprint calculators · Environmental labelling ·
Greenhouse gas emissions · Global warming
F. Scrucca (B) · G. Barberio · V. Fantin · P. L. Porta
Department of Sustainability, ENEA - Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and
Sustainable Economic Development, Rome, Italy
e-mail: flavio.scrucca@enea.it
G. Barberio
e-mail: grazia.barberio@enea.it
V. Fantin
e-mail: valentina.fantin@enea.it
P. L. Porta
e-mail: pierluigi.porta@enea.it
M. Barbanera
Department of Economics, Engineering, Society and Business Organization, University of Tuscia,
Viterbo, Italy
e-mail: m.barbanera@unitus.it
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to
Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
S. S. Muthu (eds.), Carbon Footprint Case Studies, Environmental Footprints
and Eco-design of Products and Processes, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9577-6_1
1
Methodology and Calculation
Flavio Scrucca, Grazia Barberio, Valentina Fantin, Pier Luigi Porta,
and Marco Barbanera
Abstract Carbon footprint (CF) is nowadays one of the most widely used environmental indicators and calculations of CF have been recently in very high demand.
Many 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 estimations. CF evaluations are, in general, focused on products
and organizations, but calculation approach have been developed also for specific
themes/sectors, such as for instance cities, individuals, households, farms, etc. This
chapter is aimed at giving an updated and comprehensive overview on the concept of
CF, and also on methodologies, technical standards, protocols and tools for its calculation. Attention is focused on the two main and usual scopes of CF assessment, i.e.
products and organizations, but also on other relevant specific study subjects, also
discussing methodological differences and issues.
Keywords Carbon footprint · Methodology · Life cycle assessment · Product
environmental footprint · Carbon footprint calculators · Environmental labelling ·
Greenhouse gas emissions · Global warming
F. Scrucca (B) · G. Barberio · V. Fantin · P. L. Porta
Department of Sustainability, ENEA - Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and
Sustainable Economic Development, Rome, Italy
e-mail: flavio.scrucca@enea.it
G. Barberio
e-mail: grazia.barberio@enea.it
V. Fantin
e-mail: valentina.fantin@enea.it
P. L. Porta
e-mail: pierluigi.porta@enea.it
M. Barbanera
Department of Economics, Engineering, Society and Business Organization, University of Tuscia,
Viterbo, Italy
e-mail: m.barbanera@unitus.it
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to
Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
S. S. Muthu (eds.), Carbon Footprint Case Studies, Environmental Footprints
and Eco-design of Products and Processes, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9577-6_1
1