Euros múltiples de recompensa

[eddy_declercq]

I've told in the 'A Aventura Calculada' blog that we, as the environmental advisory body in my town, should do some CO2 compensation for our meetings. I'll elaborate in this blog on how we calculated the amount of CO2 emission. In order to do this we needed to some measurements and fill in the CompenCO2 calculator. There are different types of calculators for different types of things, but it's clear that meetings are an activity. So let's start.

     
1. General info
        
   • name of the activity
        
   • does the activity takes one or more days? This is a tricky one. The meetings of the body occur several times a year, but since things happen in the town hall - which is open every work day - we decided to define it as a one day event and multiply the figures by the amount of meetings.
        
   • how long does a meeting takes? Split into hours indoor and outdoor
        
   • how many participants?
     
2. Direct use of energy
        
   • specify the size (in m³) of the rooms
        
   • specify the hours the room is heated for the activity
        
   • is the room shared with others?
        
   • how much is the room insulated?
        
   • what type of heating (fuel, gas, ...) is used?
        
   • are there any coal stoves? If so, how old are they?
        
   • are there any wood stoves?
        
   • is central heating available?
        
   • if yes, which type of  boiler (high efficiency,...) is installed?
        
   • how old is the boiler?
        
   • does boiler have a (continuous) bypass flame or electronic ignition?
        
   • what is the temperature in the room during occupation?
        
   • is the central heating warm (automatic thermostat) or cold (manual) started?
        
   • what is the temperature in the room when unoccupied?
        
   • what type of electricity is available (green, ...)?
        
   • specify the wattage of the lightning and the time switched on
        
   • is there any other electric equipment (computer,...) used?
     
3. Paper
        
   • how much kilogram paper is used?
        
   • is the paper recycled?
     
4. Mobility
        
   • Specify the distance and the vehicles used. We decided to calculate the distance travelled of all the members of the body who were actually present and choose a car as means of transport.

Result: 1033,2 kg CO2 or 73,8 kg per participant or 516,6 kg per hour. As such not so high, but we took the opportunity to set some goals/intentions in order to have less CO2 as result. Not that we are stingy when it comes to compensation, but the golden rule is still "prevention is better than cure".