ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT

Economy

Stephen Morse
CES room 19AZ04
Tel (01483) 686079
Email: s.morse@surrey.ac.uk

Sustainable
Development
Community

Ecology

Sustainability 2012

Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Date
8/2
15/2
22/2
29/2
7/3
14/3
21/3
28/3
2/5
9/5

Topic
Introduction and Meaning of Sustainability
Material Flows
Maximum Sustainable Yield
Ecological Footprint
Energy systems and sustainability
Economics and sustainability
Assessing sustainability
Case study: The University of Surrey
EASTER BREAK
Case study: Sustainability in Malta
Test

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Lecturer
SM
SM
SM
SM
MP
SM
SM
JD
SM

Lecture will:
Introduce the concept of the Ecological Footprint and
Ecological Balance
Calculation of the EF and example for one of the components
Introduce the concept of Carbon Footprinting
Relevance of carbon footprinting for engineers
Conclusions

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ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
The ecological footprint is often expressed quantitatively as the
bioproductive land area required (in global hectares; gha) for
one person (per capita).

Ignores what are assumed to be nonbioproductive areas of the Earth

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Total surface area: 510,072,000 km2

Land area: 148,940,000 km2 (29.2 %)
Water area: 361,132,000 km2 (70.8 %)

NASA

How much of this is potentially productive?

Guesstimate: 18% of land and 4% of sea (=22% in total)
BUT much can depend upon science and technology
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The larger the footprint then the greater the area of

land, and by implication resources, required to
sustain its existence.
EF is a very powerful device very visual

Taps into a human frailty that most are

sensitive to:
GREED
and has deep issues of equity embedded
within it.
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Some examples of the Ecological

Footprint for nation states (2005)
United Arab Emirates
United States of America
Kuwait
Ireland
Greece
Spain
United Kingdom
Switzerland
Austria
France
Germany
Hungary
Mongolia
Latvia
Mexico
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Argentina
Nigeria
Gabon
Guinea
Cameroon
Congo Dem Rep
Bangladesh
Congo
Haiti
Malawi

EF (2005)
(gha/capita)
9.46
9.42
8.89
6.26
5.86
5.74
5.33
5.00
4.98
4.93
4.23
3.55
3.50
3.49
3.38
2.68
2.62
2.46
1.34
1.30
1.27
1.27
0.61
0.57
0.54
0.53
0.47

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Ecological Footprint for nation states

(2007 data; Global Footprint Network)

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It can help make sustainability very personal! You can

calculate your own EF
(www.ecologicalfootprint.com)

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Calculated by summing footprints (area units

per person) for 6 components of consumption:

crop land

grazing land
forest land
fishing
built-up land
Carbon uptake land
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Example in book is based upon Hungary

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EF employs an assumed biological equivalence

for different land use categories
Grazing land is not very productive

Crop land is more productive

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Equivalence factors re-draw (re-scale) the

actual global productive surface area
Actual area
(billion ha)

Equivalence factor
(gha/ha)

Equivalent area
(billion gha)

2.89

0.4

1.15

Crop land

1.6

2.64

4.22

Forest/CO2 uptake

3.95

1.33

5.25

Grazing land

4.8

0.5

2.4

Built-up area

0.165

2.64

0.44

Bioproductive unit
Fisheries
Land

Total

13.41

13.46

Note that these are roughly the same

(also actual is not the same as potential)
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 crop land
grazing land

forest land
fishing

built-up land

The bioproductive area

equivalent which is
required to absorb the
produced CO2

Carbon uptake land

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Carbon uptake land

CO2 emissions for the various sectors in Hungary
20
18.1

Production of CO2 (million tonnes/year)

18

17.3

16
14
11.92

12
10

Total CO2 emissions = 57.68 million

tonnes/year
8.46

6
4
1.9

2
0
Electricity and Other Sectors
Heat Production

Transport

Manufacturing
Industries and
Construction

Other Energy
Industries

Source of data: Global Footprint Network (2005)

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Assume that ocean sequestration (capture) of CO2

is approximately 25% of this production.

Diagram taken from a sceptical website of human-mediated

global climate change The Resilient Earth
(www.theresilientearth.com)

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Assume that ocean sequestration (capture) of CO2

is approximately 25% of this production.
e.g. of the 18.1 million tonnes gross output of
CO2 produced by the electricity and heat
production sector then 4.56 million tonnes
would be sequestered by the oceans.

20
18.1

Production of CO2 (million tonnes/year)

18

17.3

16
14
11.92

12
10

Remaining 13.54 million tonnes

of CO2 represents the net output
from Hungary.

8.46

6
4
1.9

2
0
Electricity and Other Sectors
Heat Production

Transport

Manufacturing
Industries and
Construction

Other Energy
Industries

BUT how to convert these 13.54 million

tonnes of CO2 emissions to area?
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Assume that we can use a global average

production of CO2 to estimate area
Average global production of CO2 from the electricity and
heat production sectors is 3.59 tonnes CO2/ha/year

Thus the production of CO2 from Hungary is equivalent to:

= 13.54 / 3.59 = 3.77 million ha
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Assume that CO2 producing land area can be

equated to bioproductive land
Actual area
(billion ha)

Equivalence factor
(gha/ha)

Equivalent area
(billion gha)

2.89

0.4

1.15

Crop land

1.6

2.64

4.22

Forest/CO2 uptake

3.95

1.33

5.25

Grazing land

4.8

0.5

2.4

Built-up area

0.165

2.64

0.44

Bioproductive unit
Fisheries
Land

Total

13.41

13.46

= 3.77 million ha X 1.33 (equivalence factor for forests)

= just over 5 million gha of bioproductive land.
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Repeating this process across all the

major CO2 emitting sectors
Production
(Million tonnes
CO2 per year)

Source of CO2

Bioproductive
equivalent (gha)

Electricity and Heat Production

18.1

5,021,882

Other Energy Industries

1.9

527,159

Manufacturing Industries and Construction

8.46

2,347,244

Transport

11.92

3,307,228

Other Sectors

17.3

4,799,920

Totals

57.69

16,003,433 gha

This increases slightly to 16.53 million gha once other minor emissions of
CO2 are taken into account.
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ALSO need to take into account the CO2

emissions associated with imports/exports of goods

= 16,527,224 (production) + 24,650,241(import) 26,180,211 (export)

= 14,997,254 gha

Once divided by the population

size of Hungary the footprint for
carbon uptake
= 1.49 gha/capita.

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Similar calculations repeated for all the

components of the EF and summed to give
an EF for Hungary of 3.55 gha/capita.
EF
(gha/capita)
Crop land

1.48

Forest land

0.38

Fishing grounds

0.01

Grazing land

Carbon uptake land

1.49

Built-up land

0.2

Totals

3.55

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United Arab Emirates

United States of America
Kuwait
Ireland
Greece
Spain
United Kingdom
Switzerland
Austria
France
Germany
Hungary
Mongolia
Latvia
Mexico
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Argentina
Nigeria
Gabon
Guinea
Cameroon
Congo Dem Rep
Bangladesh
Congo
Haiti
Malawi

EF (2005)
(gha/capita)
9.46
9.42
8.89
6.26
5.86
5.74
5.33
5.00
4.98
4.93
4.23
3.55
3.50
3.49
3.38
2.68
2.62
2.46
1.34
1.30
1.27
1.27
0.61
0.57
0.54
0.53
0.47

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BUT
EF refers to consumption of resources both internal and
external to the countrys borders.

Ecological Balance = Existing biological capacity - EF

If the deficit is positive: there is enough capacity within its
borders to pay for the EF (and perhaps export)
If the deficit is negative: the country has to suck in some
EF from outside its borders

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For Hungary the biocapacity can be estimated

for each of the EF components

Balance = Biocapacity EF (note that biocapacity for

carbon uptake is assumed to be zero).
EF
(gha/capita)

Biocapacity
(gha/capita) Balance (gha/capita)

Crop land

1.48

1.99

+0.51

Forest land

0.38

0.47

+0.09

Fishing grounds

0.01

0.01

0.15

+0.15

Carbon uptake land

1.49

-1.49

Built-up land

0.2

0.2

3.55

2.82

-0.73

Grazing land

Totals

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Ecological Balance (2005)

Ecological
Balance
(gha/capita)
Gabon
23.68
Bolivia
13.59
Congo
13.34
Canada
12.98
Mongolia
11.15
Central African Rep
7.79
Australia
7.62
Paraguay
6.50
Finland
6.48
New Zealand
6.36
Belgium
-4.00
Singapore
-4.13
Greece
-4.17
Japan
-4.29
Spain
-4.40
United States of America
-4.40
Israel
-4.44
Kuwait
-8.36
United Arab Emirates
-8.38

12

10

LN GDP/capita

-10.00

-5.00

0
0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

30.00

Ecological Balance

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The EF concept has its critics perhaps not surprising

given the number of key assumptions upon which it is
based and the impact that they have.
Please refer to the book for a summary of these.

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Carbon Footprinting
"A measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and
methane (CH4) emissions of a defined population, system or
activity, considering all relevant sources, sinks and storage
within the spatial and temporal boundary of the population,
system or activity of interest.

Calculated as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) using the

relevant 100-year global warming potential (GWP100)."
Wright, L.; Kemp, S., Williams, I. (2011). Carbon footprinting: Towards a
universally accepted definition". Carbon Management 2 (1), 61-72

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Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CO2e)

Global warming potential = relative measure of how much heat
a gas traps in the atmosphere (relative to a similar mass of CO2)
Global Warming Potential (relative; 100 years)

25000

20000

HENCE: emission of 1 tonne

of methane = 25 tonnes of
CO2 (in GWP terms)

22,800

14,800

15000

10000

5000
1,430

25

298

Methane

Nitrous oxide

0
HFC-134a
HFC-23
sulfur hexafluoride
(hydrofluorocarbon) (hydrofluorocarbon)

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Published standards exist for

calculating the carbon footprint

Note the need for setting a clear

and logical system boundary
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Example of CO2e figures for

different fuels
3.5

Kg CO2e per unit

2.5

1.5

0.5

Fuel oil (kg)

Burning oil Gas oil (litre) Diesel (litre)

(kg)

Industrial
coal (kg)

Petrol (litre)

LPG (litre) Wood pellets

(kg)

www.carbontrust.co.uk
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BUT as with EF the assumptions and definitions

can make a big difference
Note in the previous slide that LPG has a low(ish) CO2e
Carbon footprint (kg CO2e/h)
Definition Electric
1
9.1
2
8.3
3
13.6
4
12.5
5
5.2
6
4.8

LPG
10.2
10.2
7.2
7.2
10.2
10.2

Johnson E (2008). Disagreement over carbon footprints: A comparison of electric and LPG
forklifts. Energy Policy 36, 15691573
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Relevance for engineers

A carbon footprint is calculated to:
Compare the footprint of different project options
Help drive down the carbon emissions of the chosen option
Encourage engineers to propose innovative solutions that
mitigate the carbon footprint
Assess, benchmark and report carbon emissions of existing
and future assets/infrastructure, to assist in project and
investment decision making
ICE website: www.ice.org.uk/
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Conclusions
Ecological Footprint is an appealing concept. Very visual and strikes at the very heart
of a human loathing of greed.
Use of league tables to rank in terms of their EF (name and shame)
Number of different ways of estimating the EF. Example here was for a nation-state
(Hungary). This flexibility helps facilitate popularity of the concept.
CO2 emissions expressed in terms of the bioproductive area required to absorb them

Carbon Footprinting as an extension of the EF idea (but this time with adjustments
made for global warming potential rather than bioproductive land area)
Both EF and CF have complex methodologies with many key assumptions, all which
can be questioned.
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