How to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save money and maintain

How to reduce greenhouse gas

emissions, save money and

maintain quality of life

Rose, B J. 2009

Disclaimer: Author Ben Rose accepts no liability whatsoever, by reason of negligence or otherwise, arising from the use or

release of any of the information in this booklet or any part of it.

Copyright Ben Rose, 2009. Contact [email protected] for permission to make multiple copies of this publication.

1

Introduction

This booklet is designed to educate the

Australian community and schools towards:

• Awareness of the causes of global

warming, sources of greenhouse gases in

Australia and emissions abatement

measures.

• Sustainable, energy efficient domestic

consumption habits that reduce

greenhouse gas emissions.

Global Warming and its Causes

Global warming is caused by increasing

atmospheric concentrations of gases emitted by

human activities, primarily combustion of fossil

fuels. These emissions are occurring at a rate that

is double the capacity of the Earth’s oceans and

forests to assimilate them. CO2 concentrations in

the atmosphere are now over 380 ppm, which is

higher than any measured in ice core records over

400,000 years and is increasing at 2.5 % per year.

The IPCC points to the need for reductions in

global emissions of around 50 per cent by 2050

and 80 per cent by 2100 in order to limit global

warming to between 1.2 deg. and 2.3 deg. C by

the year 2100.

The main sources of anthropogenic greenhouse

gas emissions are, in order of magnitude:

• Stationary energy generation

• Agriculture and land clearing

• Transport

• Industrial processes

Emissions are first and foremost a problem

created by the affluent industrialized nations. The

USA and Australia have greenhouse gas

emissions averaging 22 and 28t per head

respectively, compared to less than 1t for many

developing nations, including China. The

sustainable level of emissions has been estimated

to be about 2 t for every person on planet Earth.

Emission abatement and the Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is a legal international

agreement under which 162 industrialized countries

will reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse

gases by 5.2% compared to the year 1990, by 2010.

The goal is to lower emissions from six greenhouse

gases - carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,

sulfur hexafluoride, HFCs, and PFCs - calculated as

an average over the five-year period of 2008-12.

National targets range from 8% reductions for the

European Union and some others to 7% for the US,

6% for Japan, 0% for Russia, and permitted

increases of 8% for Australia and 10% for

Iceland."(Wikipedia, 2005). The KP came into force

in Feb 2005. Participating nations have introduced

emission abatement schemes in the form of carbon

taxes or ‘cap and trade’ CO2 trading schemes.

Australia and the US have only recently ratified the

Protocol and are in the process of enacting

emissions abatement schemes. The UNFCCC has

been meeting annually to develop and international

agreement to come into force in 2012 and reduce

GHG emissions by 50% by 2050. Most developed

nations see an urgent need to achieve this, and keep

atmospheric CO2e concentrations below 450 ppm.

Although a large proportion of Australia’s

emissions are from primary resources exports, there

is great potential to reduce emissions from these

industries by energy efficiencies and changing

energy sources from coal to renewable fuels and

gas. Considerable progress has been made over the

past 5 years. Mandatory Energy Efficiency Audits

and Reporting have been enacted by the Australian

Government for the 200 largest corporate emitters.

A Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is about to

be enacted and a Mandatory Renewable Energy

Target for electricity generation of 20% by 2020 has

been enacted

Australia has joined the Asia Pacific Partnership on

Clean Development, in which the United States,

Australia, the People's Republic of China, India,

Japan and South Korea agreed to cooperate on

development and transfer of technology which

enables reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

2

These countries are major coal producers and

consumers and their major focus is cleaner coal

combustion and geo-sequestration. To achieve the

emissions reductions of 50-60% that are required

to stabilize greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by

the middle of the century and avoid catastrophic

climate change (>2degree temperature rise), all of

the world’s major nations must join an

international agreement to reduce emissions.

Without the fiscal incentives provided by carbon

trading and carbon taxes, significant emissions

reductions are unlikely.

The issue of emissions from the developing world

is a vexed one, but it is clear that high

consumption ‘western’ lifestyles contribute a

large portion of greenhouse gas emissions. Figure

2 clearly illustrates how per capita emissions

relate to lifestyle and consumption. It is generally

agreed that China, which has surpassed the US as

the world’s highest emitting nation and India,

with their rapidly expanding economies and

increasing emissions, must be included in a global

emissions abatement scheme.

Fig.1.1. Sources of greenhouse gases globally

(IPCC, 2005)

Figure 1.2 Domestic greenhouse gas emissions – 3 person household – different lifestyles

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

Consumption category

GHG Emissions, tonnes CO2e/ year

HIGH (105 t) 15.1 12.7 40.2 9.0 5.6 13.4 1.4 8.0

AVERAGE household (48t) 8.9 7.6 8.4 5.2 4.2 7.7 0.9 4.8

ENERGY WISE (19 t) 4.2 3.6 0 2.0 1.6 4.9 0.8 1.0

THIRD WORLD (3.4 t) 0.4 0.5 0 0.3 0 2.0 0 0

Domestic-

heating, cooking,

appliances

Vehicle fuel

Air travel

(operational +

embodied)

Housing,

possessions

(embodied)

Cars (embodied)Food, groceries

(embodied)

Water supply

(embodied +

operational)

Waste

(embodied+

methane)

3

Domestic Sources of Greenhouse

Gas emissions

Australians produce, on average 28 tonnes of

greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per person; the

highest in the world and 14 times the sustainable

level per head necessary to prevent global

warming of more than 2 degree C (IPCC, 2001).

We must reduce our emissions because these

levels are obviously sustainable. CO2e pollution

is also a useful ‘proxy’ or indication for other

impacts such as depletion of energy resources,

land use footprint and toxic air pollutants.

About 13 tonnes are from our domestic energy

use, consumption of goods and travel, excluding

services. If services are included, 58% of our

emissions are from household consumption. Of

this about 58 % is from consumption of home

energy, food and goods and 42% from transport

for private purposes. By making informed

decisions in all aspects of home and transport

energy consumption, most Australians can reduce

the emissions for which they are responsible by

half or more. Emissions from a typical Australian

household of 3 people (Figure 12) can be

classified as follows:

1. Car travel, fuel use for privately

owned vehicles 27%

2. Overseas travel air and sea 15%

3. Public transport bus/ train <1%

4. Electricity used in the home 14%

5. Other fuels gas, wood etc 3%

6. Food, water and groceries embodied emissions 22%

7. Waste embodied and methane

emissions 11%

8. House, appliances and other

possessions embodied emissions 12%

Figure 1 is a graph of emissions for a typical

Australian household (Australian Bureau of

Statistics Year Book, 2001; Rose, 2009), produced

using the GHG-Energy Calc.

The Calculator is designed to encourage self-

auditing of energy use and emissions by households

and small businesses. It estimates all energy and

emissions resulting from our consumption of energy

and goods:

1. Direct energy and emissions from fuel and

electricity used.

2. Upstream energy and emissions from the

extraction/ refining of the fuels and generation of

the electricity that we use.

(1+2 =’ full cycle’ energy and emissions)

3. Embodied energy and emissions from the

production and manufacture of:

• Food, groceries and water that we consume

and municipal solid waste.

• Vehicles and other transport modes, housing

and other possessions.

Want to estimate your energy consumption

and emissions? Do your own audit in a few

minutes using GHG-Energy Calc on

http://www.ghgenergycalc.com.au

* Greenhouse gas emissions are expressed in

tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (t CO2e)

** The energy used in the production of all

goods, e.g. food, vehicles, houses, containers

and packaging is termed Embodied energy.

Most of the embodied energy comes from fossil

fuels, and the greenhouse gases emitted in the

process are called Embodied emissions (EE).

4

Figure 1

GHG emissions for a typical 3 person Australian

family

15,000 km

11%

24,600 km

23%

35 kg/wk,

typical diet

21%5000 kWh/yr

18%

Waste

11%4 brm brick house

4%

Bus/train

1% water

2%

gas 3%

possessions

7%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Transport - car

and public

Travel - air/

overseas

Food/groceries

and water

Home energy -

electricity and

gas

Embodied

energy of house

and

possessions

Waste

%

Figure 2

Greenhouse Emissions (kilograms

CO2e/Gigajoule) of Fuels

020406080100120140

Brown coal briquettes

Black coal

Kerosene, petrol, heating oil

LPG

Natural gas

Wood (residential heaters)

Wood biomass firing boiler

Fuel Type

kg CO2e per GJ

5

Greenhouse gas emission

checklist

If you are serious about reducing greenhouse gas

(GHG) emissions, start with your own household

or small business activities/ items that produce

most GHG emissions. The check list below

summarizes the 6 major areas of domestic energy

consumption and emissions. Use GHG-Energy

Calc to estimate your emissions and use a

‘scorecard’ approach to see where to most

effectively reduce your ‘annual GHG emission

score’.

1. Are you a frequent flier?

If so, air travel will

produce more GHG

emissions than

anything else you

do. For example an

economy return trip

by jet aircraft to

Europe for one person results in about 10 tonnes

of greenhouse gas emissions (20-30 tonnes if

traveling business or first class). The real cost of

air travel is not paid by travelers today. A pre-

WW II international agreement makes aviation

fuel virtually exempt from tax.

2. Do you own a car?

Traveling in large

vehicles that are not

utilized to capacity is the

most polluting activity

that Australians do. If

you travel the average

distance of 16,600 km

per year on your own in

a large car, add 6.6 tonnes CO2e per year to your

scorecard (4.8 t from fuel burned and 1.8t of

embodied emissions). Traveling the same

distance with 4 people in the car, GHG emissions

are 1.6 t per person and by bus, about 1.0 t. If

your household uses two medium to cars for

commuting, these are likely to account for about

10 t of greenhouse gases and car transport will be

by far your greatest source of emissions.

Although a fuel excise of 38c per litre on petrol

and diesel is paid to fund roads and road trauma,

this is low compared to the other OECD nations

most of which pay 60–95c/ L (Australian Institute

of Petroleum, 1999). There is a compelling case to

for Australia in increase its fuel taxes to at least

these levels and include license and insurance in

the cost of fuel, to ensure that users pay more

proportionally to their road usage and impacts. A

carbon price and tax should also be applied to

road and air transport fuels.

3. Do you have electric space heating

and cooling and water heating; are your

appliances efficient?

Coal-fired electricity is the

most polluting form of

energy in terms of

greenhouse gas emissions.

In Australia, 80% of

electricity is from coal fired

power stations (Australian Bureau of Statistics,

2002).

Transport is a major contributor to global

warming and pollution. You can help change

government and corporate action by:

• Purchasing a smaller, more efficient

vehicle from a company with good

sustainability accreditation.

• Switching from driving your own car

to going by bus, train or bike

wherever possible.

• Voting for political parties that have

policies to enact emissions abatement

schemes, improve bus, train and

bicycle transport and increase tax on

aircraft fuel.

6

Space and water heating account for at least 50%

of home energy use and emissions. Gas heating

appliances produce only 1/6th as much greenhouse

gas emissions as electric equivalents. Solar

appliances produce even less. Cut your home

energy emissions by up to 50% (about 5 tonnes)

or more by:

• Converting from electric to gas or solar

water and space heating systems.

• Insulating the home.

• Use fans instead of air conditioners and if

you must have an a/c ensure it is ‘4 star

plus’ efficiency rated.

• Switching heating and cooling appliances

off at the power point when they are not

being used.

• For more details, see ‘Simple ways to save

Energy’ on www.sedo.energy.wa.gov.au/

uploads/simple_ways_4pg_39.pdf

4. Are your house, cars and possessions

used to capacity?

Energy is used in the

production and manufacture

of everything we own. This

energy, termed the embodied

energy, varies according to

the type and weight of

materials, and also the manufacturing processes

used. The resulting embodied emissions can be

apportioned over the life of the product, for

example:

• A typical large car traveling 15,000

km/year for 15 years accounts for 1.1 t

CO2e / year in embodied emissions. This

is about 1/4 of the emissions from fuel

used by that vehicle.

• The average Australian double brick and

tile house of 185 sq. metres with typical

furnishings, plus the household’s

possessions for 3 people accounts for

about 4.3 t of embodied emissions per

year.

• Down-sizing house and cars to half the

sizes stated above would reduce embodied

emissions by over 2 tonnes per year and

fuel/ energy emissions by 5 tonnes.

5. Do you consume much meat, dairy,

and highly processed food?

If so, your emissions

score for food is likely

to be about 3 t / year /

person in your

household. This can

easily be reduced by 1.5

t per person (4.5 t for

the household of three)

by minimizing consumption of:

• Red meats, dairy products, other meats

and imported foods

• Foods, drinks or groceries in glass or

plastic bottles, cans or cartons.

Replace some or all of your meats, diary and

butter with nut and grain based foods (breads,

pastas and pulses such as soy and lentils) and

vegetable oils. To reduce packaging/ container

waste, consume home cooked food and home-

brewed drinks. Purchase products with minimal

packaging

5. How much do you throw in the bin?

Embodied fossil fuel

energy contained in the

waste we throw out and

methane from landfill

accounts for an average of

about 1.4t of emissions per

year for every Australian.

By reducing, reusing, recycling and composting

this figure can easily be halved.

7

Greenhouse gas

emissions per

passenger km for jet

aircraft travel are

about equal to one

person traveling in a

medium-sized car (30 kg CO2e per 100 km). A

passenger traveling on an average long-haul flight

by jet aircraft uses about 4 L per 100 km. (Boeing

website). However, in addition to CO2, aviation

turbine fuel burned in jet engines at high

temperatures produces, much higher levels of

nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2) than internal

combustion engines. These react in the upper

atmosphere to form ozone, a potent but short lived

greenhouse gas. Water vapor and a small amount

of soot are also produced from combustion of the

fuel and these form contrails, which in turn form

high ice clouds which also have a global warming

effect. The combined effect of ozone formation,

contrails and CO2 causes approximately 2.7 times

more global warming than the CO2 that would be

emitted by a car burning the same amount of fuel.

(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,

1999, in www.rmi.org; Chooseclimate, 2002;

Climate Partners, 2002). Added to this are the

embodied emissions incurred in the building and

maintenance of the aircraft and airport facilities.

Business and first class seats take up 2-3 times the

space of economy class, therefore account for 2-3

times the emissions. ‘All economy’ configuration

can fit up to twice the number of passengers than

3 class configuration on the same type of aircraft.

Short-haul jet flights produce even more

emissions per km than long-haul flights, because

much more fuel is consumed on take-off, ascent

and landing than is used in level flight. Often,

short-haul plane flights are taken as a time saving

alternative to bus and train services to the same

destination. An economy return flight of 1,000 km

produces about 370 kg of emissions per person −

6 times more than by bus. Is a time saving of

several hours really worth this much more damage

to the atmosphere? When taking the bus or train,

more luggage can be carried, such as a bicycle or

camping gear to use on arrival. Sight-seeing can

be enjoyed en route and the service usually

terminates near the destination, eliminating airport

commuting and the resultant emissions.

Unfortunately, traveling by ocean liner incurs

even more emissions than jet aircraft. Budget

class liners emit about 34 kg CO2e per 100

passenger km. (About 10 % of this figure is the

embodied energy of the ship). Emissions from

luxury liners can be over twice this figure. The

main reason for the inefficiency of travel by ocean

liner is the huge mass – about 20-50 tonnes – of

ship that is required to transport every passenger.

@ote that shipping is the most efficient means of

transporting bulk products because only 1-2

tonnes of ship are required per tonne of freight.

• For land travel, go by bus or train rather than jet where possible . • Travel economy class – business or first class incur 2-3 times the emissions due to

greater space taken up. This applies to travel by aircraft, ocean liners and overnight trains. • Take fewer overseas trips and stay longer. For example, every economy return flight from

Sydney to the US or Europe not taken reduces your emission score by around 10 tonnes. • Calculate flight emissions before taking flights – about 0.27 t/ 1000 km for economy long-

haul economy and 0.38 t / 1000 km for short-haul. Use GHG-Energy Calc for quick calculation. Pay into a ‘Carbon Neutral’ program to offset your flight emissions (see section 7).

• Support introduction of a tax on jet fuel so users pay the real cost. Aviation fuel is currently tax exempt, so cheap air fares do not begin to cover the real environmental cost of flights.

8

Figure 3 Comparison of greenhouse gas emissions intensity of travel modes

Figure 4.

Figure 4

Transport emissions per passenger km

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

Short haul jet economy seat(<800 km)

Long haul jet economy seat

Med. Car, driver only, 20,000 km/yr

Bus (20 Passengers)

Emissions, kg CO2e/

passenger km

Fuel burnNOX/contrails athigh altitude

Fuel burn CO2

embodied

Return economy flight Sydney to Europe or USA, 34,000 km

1 PASSENGER , 10 TONNES CO2e; (20 t for business and 30t for first class)

Due to the extra global warming effect of nitrous oxides and contrails emitted in the upper atmosphere, jet emissions have 2-4 times more global warming effect** than the CO2 from the same amount of fuel used by a road vehicle.

9

Australians, like Americans seem to be addicted

to traveling in cars. Average car ownership is 600

per 1000 people and most households have two or

more cars. Through the 20th century, Australia

has developed with the automobile and our cities

have been designed around it. Most suburban

dwellers now live further than walking distance

from shops, services and work and habitually

drive to all these places. More than 80% of trips

are done by car and average car occupancy is only

1.2 persons. Although most Australians have

grown up with the car and see individual car use

as normal, this situation has only existed for about

60 years and is already unsustainable.

Car transport is the largest source of greenhouse

gases from Australian households. Added to this

is the fact that world demand for oil is projected

to ‘peak’ before 2010, after which demand for

limited oil will drive prices up. Even worse,

Australia’s crude oil reserves are projected to run

out in about 40 years (ABS, 2001).

We have to change our energy-hungry ‘car

culture’ This can be achieved by increasing our

uses of the more energy-efficient modes of travel,

such as bus, train, bike and shared car.

New technologies for hybrid, bio-fuel and

hydrogen-powered vehicles are ‘in the pipeline’.

However, many of these still use substantial

amounts of fossil fuels and both vehicle and fuel

costs are much higher than today’s cars.

Figure 5 illustrates greenhouse gases emitted by

existing commuting options. It shows that we can

continue to travel the same distances with only

10–20 % of the GHG emissions by simply

switching from ‘driver-only car’ to mass transit,

shared transport or ultra light-weight personal

transport. Table 2 shows dollar and GHG savings

from changing to more efficient transport modes.

The main problem today is the use of heavy

vehicles for transporting one or two people. One

person driving alone in a medium to large car as is

common in Australia today uses 9 to 15 litres of

fossil fuel, and emits 24 – 43 kg of greenhouse

gases for every100 km traveled.

To keep the per passenger fuel consumption to a

minimum, we need to travel in vehicles loaded to

their design capacity (Table 1). A useful ‘rule of

thumb’ for vehicle efficiency is a maximum 0.25

tonnes of vehicle weight for every passenger.

Table 1. Guide for efficient travel by motor vehicle

Vehicle Vehicle

weight

(tonne)

8o. of

passengers

Fuel

consumption,

L/100 km

Per passenger fuel

consumption, L /

100 km

Per passenger

emissions (kg

CO2e/100 km)

Bus

9 36 40 1.1 3.2

Moped bicycle

<25cc .03 1 1.2 1.2 5.5

Light car

.9 4 6 1.5 4.3

Large car

1.7 6 12 2.0 5.8

Motor cycle

250cc 0.15 1 3.5 3.5 10.1

10

Figure 5. Greenhouse gas emissions and cost of fuel used per passenger to travel 10,000 km by

different transport modes (sources: Rose, 2002; Lenzen, 1998)

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500

Large 4WD, 1.8 t, 4 L

Large car 1.5 t, 4 L

Medium car, 1.1 t, 2 L

Small car 0.8 t, 1L

Motorcycle, 250 cc, 0.2 t

Moped, 50 cc, 0.05 t

DRIVER ONLY VEHICLE

Pool Car petrol, 1.4 t, 4 L, 4 passengers

Bus (30 passengers)

Train (120 passengers diesel)

PUBLIC/ SHARED TRANSPORT

Walk/ pushbike/ electric bike

Emissions (kg per year); Cost of fuel ($ per year)

Emissions from fuel only (kg CO2 eq) Fuel cost $ per passenger

• Take the bus or train – you can read, chat or sleep on the way and will save dollars on

parking. Commuting 10,000 km by bus or train instead of driving the car will reduce your annual GHG score by up to 4 tonnes.

• Try ‘car pooling’ instead of driving the car on your own. Commuting 10,000 km with four

people in the car can reduce your GHG score by 3 t, and save hundreds of dollars on fuel and parking.

• Live closer to your place of work. An hour’s travel saved is an hour that can be spent on

recreation or with family. • Cycle or walk instead of driving to shops or nearby workplace – you can cycle 5 km or

walk 2 km with little or no sweat. There are electric and moped bicycles for the ‘athletically challenged’ Reduce your emissions 0.5 t by walking or cycling 2,000 km per year instead of driving. Use bike paths where possible; wear bright clothing and a helmet for safety.

• If you have a large car and must drive on your own, changing to a small car or motor

scooter will cut fossil fuel consumption by 50 - 70%. Owning two small cars (<1 t) causes less emissions than owning one large car (>1.5 t) if traveling with less than 3 passengers.

11

Table 2 Dollar and emissions savings from changing to more efficient transport mode (20,000 km)

Change from Change to Approx. Dollar savings,

for 1 year 20,000 km

CO2e emission

savings tCO2e

Bus or train

$9,500 5

Car with 5 occupants

sharing cost $8,800 4

Scooter 125 cc

$4,000 4

Large near new car,

driver only, cost

(including fuel, parking

at $18 per day and

depreciation) for 20,000

km = $11,000 Light car, hybrid or

small diesel, driver only $3,000 2 – 3

The only really effective way to reduce your

vehicle emissions is to select the lightest, most

fuel efficient model that you would use to at

least 50% capacity most of the time. Modern

petrol fuel injected vehicles of 1.0 to 1.6 litre

engine capacity and 0.8 to 1.0 tonne weight are

fuel efficient. These small models are the most

cost effective and lowest emitting option for most

families of up to 5 people.

Are diesel and LPG vehicles less polluting?

Diesels are used nearly all heavy load

applications, such as trucks and buses. Diesel

engines use up to 30 % less fuel than petrol

engines when used in large cars. Diesel is a higher

energy fuel than petrol and the engines are more

efficient. However CO2e emissions are only about

15% less because diesel has a higher emission

factor than petrol. Bio-diesel incurs about 50% of

the GHG emissions of diesel but the oil crop feed

stocks displace forests and food producing land,

making it a poor option environmentally All

diesels are generally worse for particulate

emissions (smoke), which can have negative

health effects.

LPG vehicles emit about 15% less CO2e than the

equivalent petrol vehicles and LPG is a cleaner

fuel. LPG has lower energy content than petrol, so

more is used per km, but it has a significantly

lower emission factor (Appendix 1). It is a cost

effective option for light commercial vehicles and

large cars such as taxis doing high mileage. The

increase in cost and weight over petrol models

offsets these benefits for smaller sized cars.

Diesels can be modified to run on up to 70%

compressed natural gas (CNG) Bus and truck

fleets and diesel power stations are increasingly

converting to this cheaper and cleaner fuel. CNG

vehicles are significantly cheaper to run as natural

gas is cheaper than diesel and the emissions

reduction is similar to LPG. Examples of cities

converting to CNG buses are New York and

Perth.

12

Figure 6. Fuel costs and emissions from traveling 10,000 km in petrol, diesel and LPG vehicles of the

same size and weight

$1,035$918

$689

1,1501,020

1,530

33303240

2870

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

petrol diesel gas

$ fuel cost @ 95c/L petrol/diesel;45c/L gas

Litres of fuel used for10,000 km

Kg of greenhousegas emissions for10,000 km

• The weight and size of the vehicle is the biggest factor affecting fuel consumption, for example, 0.75 tonne (4 seat) car with 1 litre engine – 5.5 L/ 100 km; 1.6 tonne (5 seat) car with 3.8 litre engine – 11 L/ 100 km.

• Select a vehicle of a size that you will use to more than 50% full capacity most of

the time and choose from the lightest, most fuel efficient models.

• If you need more room occasionally, hire a bigger vehicle or use a trailer.

• Going without a car also saves the embodied energy used and emissions resulting from manufacturing it –up to 1.2 tonnes GHG per year depending on the size of the car.

• LPG and diesel engines give up to 15% emissions savings over petrol for larger

vehicles.

• Remember that bus, train or bike are the least polluting and most sustainable ways to travel; use these where possible.

13

In addition to the energy and GHG emissions

from the fuel used by your cars, there are

embodied energy (EE) and emissions from their

manufacture and from construction and

maintenance of roads and parking lots. Embodied

emissions of cars typically amount to about ¼ of

the fuel emissions.

Making a vehicle last longer can reduce embodied

emissions, if the vehicle is fuel efficient.

However, replacing it with a new one that is even

10% more fuel efficient will reduce the per km

GHG emissions by more than would be saved by

keeping the old vehicle on the road. New vehicle

technologies may use more light- weight alloy and

plastic components, which have about 5 times

higher EE per kg than steel. However, the reduced

weight and improved fuel efficiency more than

offset the higher EE.

As a general rule, the embodied energy of new

cars currently on the market is proportional to the

size and weight of the vehicle. GHG-Energy Calc

assumes:

• CO2e from the manufacture of cars is

approximately 10.2 t CO2e per t weight of

vehicle. (Delucci et al, 2002)

• Embodied emissions are assumed to be

proportional to fuel consumption and

allocated per km over an assumed 225,000

km life.

• CO2e from road construction and

maintenance is 0.039 t / vehicle km

(Chester et al, 2005).

Obviously these are only indicative figures. In

real-life situations there will be significant

variations, depending on such factors as energy

sources and manufacturing plant efficiency.

Accurate comparisons between vehicle makes and

models will only be possible if LCA labeling is

introduced.

• Change to a lighter vehicle. The greater the weight of vehicles you own the greater will be the fuel consumption and the amount of embodied emissions you are responsible for. By changing from a heavy (1.8t) to a light (0.9t) vehicle, you will save 1.2 tonnes of embodied emissions in addition to about 3 tonnes of fuel emissions per year.

• Your vehicle(s) should be of a size that you will usually use to near full capacity. Plan all

trips so that the vehicle is at least 75% fully loaded.

• If you need a heavy vehicle or 4WD occasionally, hire one rather and owning it and using it for commuting. Don’t keep an old ‘fuel guzzler’ to save embodied emissions. You will reduce emissions much more by replacing it with a newer, smaller, more fuel efficient model.

• Consider doing without a car. This will cut your transport embodied emissions by more than

70%. Alternatives are using public transport and having a bicycle or moped. For the occasions that you still need a vehicle, hire one or join a car pool.

• Fit a tow hitch to your small car if you want to carry more luggage occasionally. Small cars

can carry much more than you think. A 1.3 litre 5-speed car will easily tow a 400 kg trailer at 90–100 km/hr in 4th gear. Traveling long distances in a lower gear and using higher revs will not damage modern engines.

14

GHG Emissions from the average home

(percent)

Appliances

, standby

power,

lighting

33%

Water

heating

29%

Home

heating/

cooling,

cooking

21%

Fridge/

freezer

17%

Home energy accounts for about 15% of the

average Australian domestic GHG emissions. On

average at least 50% of annual home energy use is

hot water heating and space heating / cooling

appliances. In colder southern or alpine areas,

home heating may be more than 3 times average

and in the tropics, air conditioning is by far the

greatest component of home energy use.

The main reason for the high emissions from

heating is that many homes still have electric

element hot water storage and space heaters.

Australian electricity is 75-80% generated by coal

fired power stations. Coal has the highest

emissions of any fossil fuel and electricity is only

about 30% efficient. Two thirds of the energy is

wasted as heat and transmission losses. On the

other hand, burning a cleaner heating fuel, such as

gas, directly in the heater or hot water system is

about 80% efficient.

In general, an electric element heating appliance

will emit about 6 times more GHG than gas than

an equivalent gas unit. Exceptions to this rule are

where electricity is generated by wind, hydro-

electric, solar, biomass or other renewable

sources. Reverse cycle air conditioners pump heat

into the room from outside with about 200-300%

efficiency, which to a degree offsets the

inefficiency of electricity generation. These are

the best option if ‘green power’ is available and

may be comparable to gas in some states but not

in Victoria, which has brown coal-fired electricity

1. PURCHASE ‘GREEN’ or ‘NATURAL’ POWER, to ensure that your power company will install more renewable energy generators to replace less coal-fired power stations.

2. Make sure you have an efficient GAS OR SOLAR HOT WATER SYSTEM and WATER SAVER SHOWER HEAD installed. Changing from electric to GAS OR SOLAR can reduce your GHG score by up to 4 t.

3. Make sure you have an efficient space heating system installed. Changing from electric element heaters to GAS, ELECTRIC HEAT PUMP or WOOD PELLET HEATER can reduce heating emissions by 70-80% or several tonnes for a typical southern Australian home. CAUTION : SMOKE FROM SOLID FUEL HEATERS IS A SERIOUS RESPIRITORY HEALTH HAZARD; KEEP FIRE BURNING BRIGHTLY AND NEVER CLOSE AIR SUPPLY.

4. Use ‘4 plus’ star rated appliances, no larger than the family needs. Heaters, air conditioners and refrigerators are the appliances that use the most energy in your home

5. Switch electronic appliances off at the power point when not in use; they draw 6-10 W

with the set turned off. Computers use 130 W even in ‘screen saver’ mode. Laptops with flat screens use about 30% as much power as large desktop computers. Large CR or plasma screens use several times more energy than small/ flat screens.

6. Change to energy efficient light bulbs. Replacing ten 75 W incandescent bulbs with 10 - 15 W compact fluorescents reduces annual GHG emissions by about 1.0t. Energy savings cover the cost of the bulbs in about 6 months.

15

Figure 7 Annual cost and greenhouse gas emissions calculated for an average household for a variety of

hot water systems (adapted from SEDO Western Australia, 2002)

Hot Water Systems

$2

$3

$14

$8

$6

$13

$5

$5

4.8

1.9

1.6

1.3

1.3

0.3

1.2

0.5

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Electric - heat element

Solar, electric boosted, cool climate

3-star natural gas

5-star LPG bottle gas

5-star natural gas

Solar, electric boosted, warm climate

Solar, mains gas or wood boosted, cool climate

Solar, mains gas or wood boosted, warm climate

Emissions (t CO2 eq per year)/ Cost ($ per week)

Table 3. Cost savings from changing to a more efficient hot water system (for 200 L of hot water per day)

HOT WATER SYSTEMS

Existing lower

efficiency system

replaced

Energy

cost/ yr ($)

Capital

cost ($)

CHANGE TO High efficiency,

lower energy cost system

Energy

cost/ yr

($)

Capital

cost

($) *

Energy

savings

($/ year)

Payback

time*

(years)

5 star mains gas (constantflow)

$340 $800 $364 2.2

Solar- mains gas or ASA woodboost

$100 $900 $604 1.5

3 star mains gas (storage) $390 $800 $314 2.5

5 star LPG gas (constant flow) $660 $800 $44 18.2

Wood fired storage $150 $770 $554 1.4

Wood fired storage $150 $770 Solar- ASA wood boosted $60 $1,500 $90 16.7

5 star LPG gas(constant flow)

$660 $800Solar- mains gas or ASA woodboosted

$60 $1,500 $600 2.5

Electric element(constant flow)

$704 $5005 star mains gas (constantflow)

$340 $800 $364 2.2

*Cost of solar systems is after deduction of Government carbon credits

Electric elementstorage

$704 $700

@ote: Government rebate to replace electric element system and renewable energy certificates are subtracted

from cost of solar HWS.

16

Replacing an electric element hot water system with a solar (gas boosted is best), instantaneous gas or electric heat pump system is first priority for reducing emissions from water heating. GHG emissions will be reduced by 60-90%, with energy savings of up to $12 per week. Showering uses at least half of your hot water. With a standard ‘water waster’ shower head, most of the water is not used for warming your body, but goes straight down the drain. Install a ‘water saver’ shower head. It will reduce hot water flow from your shower from about 12- 14 L/ min to 3-6L/ min. This is 50 % less water to heat, which means 50% less energy and emissions. You can adjust the heater temperature, taps and shower head so your shower warms you just as well as with the ‘water waster’ head. Look for the energy star rating sticker on new hot water systems and select a system with four or more stars.

If coal fired electricity must be used for hot water heating, heat pump types are up to 3 times as efficient as the common heat element units, but still emit more GHG than gas or solar or wood.

Wood heaters can cause unacceptable smoke and methane pollution and are therefore not recommended. Boosting from an ASA standard wood or pellet heater is an option, provided that dry wood is always used; the fire is kept burning brightly and the air supply never closed off.

First priority – if you have electric element heaters, replace them with gas, wood pellet heater or, if electricity must be used, heat pump (reverse cycle air conditioners). This will reduce your heating emissions by 60-80%. Set heater thermostats at about 20 degrees C and put a jumper on before using the heater. Air conditioners particularly the large ducted units are big energy users. Running one of these takes 3-5 times more power than all of your other appliances combined. Only cool the room you are in. Set A/C thermostats at 25-27 degrees C and use fans instead on warm days. Place the heater or A/C as near as possible to the centre of the space to be heated.

By spending less than $2000 to retrofit your living rooms, you can save up to 40% on heating bills and be more energy efficient: Insulate ceilings, exterior walls and suspended floors. Install close-fitting, heavy curtains & pelmets. Fit draft seals to doors. These tips can prevent up to 40 % heat loss while keeping the house cooler in summer. ‘Solar heat’ your living rooms:

• Large, north-facing windows let in the winter sun, which is lower in the sky.

• Tiled concrete floors store solar heat in winter.

• Eaves, shutters, verandahs or solar pergolas, to shade out the summer sun.

• Minimize east and west facing windows to reduce summer heat gain.

17

Figure 8 Comparison of space heating options - $ per week and GHG emissions per year

(Source: adapted from SEDO Western Australia, 2002)

Home Heating

$3.77

$4.86

$5.43

$1.39

$5.59

$4.75

$1.83

$3.10

$2.80

1.7

0.7

0.6

0.3

3.1

2.6

1.0

0.6

0.5

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

Older wood stove in poor condition or open fire

Kerosene portable heater

LPG bottled gas portable heater

Wood ASA certified heater

FUEL HEATERS

Electric in-floor or radiant panel heaters

Electric portable/ heat element heaters

Electric reverse cycle air conditioner (heat pump)

Natural gas flued heater

Natural gas portable heater

MAINS GAS AND ELECTRIC HEATERS

$ COST per week GHG emissions, tonnes CO2eq per year

Table 4. Cost savings from changing to a more efficient home heating system (for 7,000 MJ per year)

Energy cost ($)

Capital cost

Energy cost ($)

Capital cost

Energy savings ($ peryear)

Pay-back time*(years)

ASA wood heater $72 $1,500 $218 4.1

Reverse cycle airconditioner, 2000W

$95 $2,000 $195 7.2

Portable heater mainsgas

$146 $1,000 $144 2.8

Portable gas heater(LPG gas)

$282 $700 $8 12.5

LPG gas heater $282 $1,000Equivalent ASA woodheater

$72 $1,500 $210 2.4

Old type stove orfireplace

$196 $1,000 ASA wood heater $72 $1,500 $124 4.0

* The table and graph on this brochure contain average figures for estimating purposes only. Consumers should refer to the energy star ratings andprices of particular appliances and consider suitability for their heating needs before purchasing.

Low efficiency heaters High efficiency heaters

Two 3,000W bar orradiant panel heaters

$290 $600

18

Surprisingly, food, groceries and water account

for about 21% of a typical family’s GHG

emissions. Usually, fertilizers and fuels used for

irrigation and cultivation on-farm are the main

sources. Cooing and processing is the next major

source of emissions followed by packaging and

transport. About 16,000 MJ of energy is used to

produce, store, process, package and transport the

food, groceries and water that the average person

consumes in a year. This embodied energy is on

average about 3.5 times the energy content of

food. In Australia, nearly all of this energy is

sourced from fossil fuels – petroleum fuels, coal

fired electricity and natural gas. The 16,000 MJ

equates to about 2.4 tonnes CO2e of emissions per

person per year.

Some foods are much more energy and emissions

intensive than others. (Figure 9). For example,

meats, dairy and highly processed foods have

energy input: content ratios of 4 to 8; i.e. it takes 4

to 8 times more energy to produce these foods

than is contained in the food. In contrast, the ratio

is less than 1 for breads, cooking oils, fresh

potatoes, nuts and flour, which contain more

energy that it takes to produce them. For cooking

oils, pastas, nuts, fresh fruit and vegetables the

ratio about 1.0 - 1.5.

The production of red meats, cheeses, butter and

concentrates emits 20 - 30 times more GHG

emissions than minimally processed grains, pasta,

breads and fresh vegetables. Methane emitted

from the digestive tracts of ruminant farm animals

such as cattle and sheep is a major contributor to

the high emissions of attributable to red meats and

dairy foods.

Rice incurs the highest emissions of any grains

because rice paddy also emits methane. Rice also

uses a lot of water, so it is better to buy rice

imported from rain fed tropical regions rather than

the irrigated rice produced in Australia

Drink containers, particularly bottles, cans and

cartons, account for much of the embodied energy

of highly processed foods. Drinks sold in

containers, such as soft drinks, wine, beer and

fruit juice generally have energy input: content

ratios of more than 8. Food and drink containers

also pose expensive waste disposal problems and

that is another reason to buy less of these. Cutting

down or eliminating consumption of containerized

soft drinks is one of the most beneficial steps one

can take both for health and environmental

reasons

Changing from a diet high in meats, dairy and

highly processed/ packaged foods to a fresh food,

mainly vegetarian diet gives:

� Much better nutritional value for

money

� Embodied emissions reduction of more

than 50%

� Greatly reduced ‘environmental

footprint’

� Greatly reduced ‘land use footprint’

� Reduced nutrient pollution of

waterways

� Reduced packaging waste

Water supply infrastructure and pumping

uses energy and produces CO2 emissions.

Reducing your water use will have a minor but

significant effect on your emissions. Reducing

water wastage also reduces your ‘water use

footprint’, which is essential in a drought prone

country like Australia where water supply

infrastructure is expensive and has high

environmental impacts. Dams flood valuable

forest and agricultural land and bores deplete

scarce groundwater. Both deplete the

environmental water needs of the natural

environment.

19

Figure 9 Greenhouse gas emissions from production, manufacture, packaging and transport of

food categories.

• Reduce your meat, cheese and butter consumption. Replace with nuts, eggs and

vegetable oils. Try some vegetarian or ‘low meat’ meals. This can reduce your emissions score by up to 1.5 t or more for an average family.

• Reduce consumption of canned and bottled drinks. Make coffee, tea, juices, wine and

beers at home and take a drink flask with you instead of buying canned or bottled drinks. This can reduce the GHG score of an average household by up to 1.3 t or more.

• Use fresh, minimally packaged foods, rather than frozen or canned products. Buy a

juicer to make fruit and vegetable drinks. It takes 5 minutes to make a litre of fresh juice.

• Purchase local in preference to imported food products. Transporting long distances,

particularly by air can add significantly to food energy inputs.

• Conserve water. Use a low volume shower head, use a front-loader washing machine. Replace lawn with native species, mulch your garden, replace sprinklers with drippers.

Kg CO2e per kg FOOD

Fresh local fruit – veg 0.6

Dried nuts/ fruit 2.4

Chicken 3.5

Red meat/cheese 13- - 20.0

20

Table 5. Example of dollar and emissions savings that could be made by a family of four by

changing from a diet high in animal products and processed packaged items to one high in fresh

local vegetable and grain based products. (Rose, 2007; Eckard, 2007; Karlsson Kanyama, 2002; AGO,

1999).

Potential Emissions and Dollar Savings From Food Purchases

Typical Australian Family of 4

* CO2e is all greenhouse emissions from production and manufacture, including CO2 from fossil fuel energy inputs, methane and nitrous oxides from agriculture

Replace 1 kg or 1 L of

$/kg or

L

Est.

CO2e*

/kg with 1 kg or 1L of

$/kg or

L

Est

CO2e* /

kg

Typical kg or

L replaced

weekly, family

of 4

saving per week

(kg CO2eq)

$ saving /

week

$

saving

/ year

COOL/ JUICE DRINKS(can/bot) 2 1.5

CUPS CORDIAL/ TEA/COFFEE 0.35 0.3 7 8.4 $12 $601

LAMB/ BEEF 15 14

BEANS, PASTA &sauce 5 3 3 33.0 $30 $1,560

BEEF 20 20 NUTS 12 3 1 17.0 $8 $416

BEEF 25 20 CHICKEN 8 4 2 32.0 $34 $1,768

MILKS interstate UHV 2.2 2 fresh local or soy milk 2 1.2 10 8.0 $2 $104

BUTTER 7 13 OLIVE OIL 12 4 0.5 4.5 -$3 -$130

CHEESE 10 13 NUTS 10 3 0.5 5.0 $0 $0

BEER OR WINE(bot/can/ctn) 3 2.5

HOME BREW BEEROR WINE 0.5 0.8 3 5.1 $8 $390

CANNED FRUIT/VEG 3 1.7

HOME COOKEDFRESH/DRIED 2 0.8 2 1.8 $2 $104

CANNED BEANS/PASTA 3 2.1

HOME COOKEDDRIED EQUIVALENT 1.5 1 2 2.2 $3 $156

BREAKFAST CEREAL(WHOLE GRAIN) 3.1 3.1

OAT/GRAIN PORRIDGE 2 1 0.5 1.1 $1 $29

BREAKFAST CEREAL(PROC.) 3.9 3.5 MUESLI 3 1.4 1 2.1 $1 $47

FROZEN VEG 7 1.6 FRESH VEG 5 0.6 3 3.0 $6 $312

35.5

123.2 $103

kg CO2e dollars

6.4 $5,356

t CO2e dollars

Copyright Ben Rose, July 2007. Contact [email protected] for permission to use this publication

TOTAL SAVING PER WEEK

TOTAL SAVING PER YEAR

21

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) comprises

mainly food scraps, packaging, containers,

and discarded consumable items such as

newspapers and magazines. Australians on

average discard 71 kg of plastic and 184 kg of

paper products each year plus about 200 kg of

food scraps into kerb-side collection bins

(Waste Wise WA, 2002). This contributes to

greenhouse gas emissions in two ways:

1. Embodied emissions from fossil fuel

used to make the discarded materials. This

accounts for more than 80% of the total GHG

from waste.

2. Methane generation from anaerobic

decomposition of organics in landfill.

Woody garden waste is not included from the

calculations as it is essentially a non-

manufactured, renewable product and the fossil

fuel energy used to dispose of it would be

negligible compared to the other waste streams. It

is also assumed that very little garden waste is

buried in landfill and that no methane is generated

from it, as most municipal councils collect and

treat it separately by mulching or composting.

It is best to reduce and re-use, then finally re-

cycle the remaining waste. Recycling saves an

estimated 10% of emissions.

Table 6. Estimated average embodied energy and emissions of waste streams

Waste stream Average

embodied

energy, MJ/ kg

Average embodied

GHG emissions, kg

CO2-e/ kg waste)

Methane

emissions, kg

CO2-e/ kg waste

Organic- paper, cardboard, food scraps

to landfill

8 1.5 .3

Organic - paper, cardboard, food scraps

recycled or composted.

4.2 0.8 0

Inorganic - plastics, metals, glass, waste

to landfill

50 9.5 0

Inorganic - plastics, metals, glass

recycled or re-used.

16 3 0

Table 7. Embodied Energy of Virgin vs. Recycled Materials

Material Virgin MJ/kg Recycled MJ/kg

Aluminium 196 27

Polyethylene 98 56

PVC 65 29

Steel 40 18

Glass 30 13

Nylon(carpet) 120 32

Sources: Alcorn, 1998; Gregory et al, 1997

22

Recycled metal, plastic and paper materials have

significantly less embodied energy and emissions

than virgin materials (Table 7). The energy saved

is to some extent offset by the energy required to

collect and sort the recyclables but there is still a

net saving in energy and emissions. There are the

additional benefits of reducing landfill:

• Less methane emissions from organic waste

• Less impact on the environment

• Reduced dollar and land costs of landfill.

Methane emitted from landfill counts as GHG

emissions because it is produced from a man-

made source − anaerobic decomposition in

landfill. It would not have been produced if the

organic materials were decomposed or burned

aerobically.

Disposal of organic wastes by high temperature

incineration or aerobic composting produces carbon

dioxide, but it does not count as greenhouse

emissions as it is not from fossil sources. The CO2

taken up by the plants from which the organic

materials are made is cycled back into the

atmosphere, producing negligible net GHG

emissions. Although the energy contained in the

materials is wasted unless it is used as a source of

heating energy, high temperature incineration of

most wood and paper is preferable to disposal in

landfill.

Exceptions are CCA treated pine, particle board and

plastic wastes. Burning these materials is illegal as

toxic gases are emitted.

• Reduce, re-use and if possible recycle what is left.

• It’s best to minimize purchases of containerized drinks and food in the first place. Look for fresh minimally packaged alternatives such as fresh or dried foods. Buy food from fresh and bulk food markets and refill your own containers.

• Substitute home brewed drinks such as tea, coffee, and cordial for drinks bought

in cans and bottles. Why pay for drinks that are 95% water when you can get it straight from the tap?

• Where possible choose containers that have less embodied emissions. In order

from lowest to highest emissions: Wet proof cardboard cartons< UHT ‘tetrapak’ < plastics <aluminium or steel < glass.

• Compost your food scraps. This reduces emissions of methane (a potent

greenhouse gas) from landfill and enriches your garden soil.

• Buy fewer newspapers and magazines and refuse advertising ‘junk mail’. Over 30% of municipal waste is paper and cardboard. Follow the news on TV, radio or internet instead.

23

Embodied energy is the energy used to produce

the raw materials, process, manufacture,

package, transport, retail and maintain all of the

goods we acquire or consume.

Annualized embodied energy and emissions of

house contents and possessions are generally at

least as much as those from the house itself.

This is because houses have a lifetime of 60

years or more years whereas possessions such as

appliances and clothes may have a life of 5 – 20

years. Also, metals, plastics and textiles have

much higher embodied emissions per kilogram

than building materials.

Most embodied energy is provided by fossil

fuels in three main ways:

1. Use of fossil fuels as material feed-

stocks, e.g. coal is a feedstock for

making plastics and steel.

2. As direct energy sources, e.g. coal

and gas for heat; diesel for transport.

3. To generate the electricity used by

factories, wholesaling and retailing.

4. Fossil fuels – mainly coal and natural

gas – are the main fuels used in

power stations worldwide. Coal

generates 80% of the electricity used

in Australia.

The embodied fossil fuel energy results in

emissions of gaseous pollutants, termed

embodied emissions. Greenhouse gases –

mainly carbon dioxide and smaller amounts of

nitrous oxides, methane and hydrocarbons –

comprise the major, though invisible part of

these emissions. There are other pollutants, such

as sulphur dioxide, toxic gases, particulates

(smoke) and aerosols, emitted from

manufacturing processes but these are beyond the

scope of this publication.

Embodied energy used and emissions have been

calculated for some products by a process termed

Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). There is considerable

variation between different brands of a product

and between factories and production locations.

Some factors that influence embodied energy and

emissions are:

• type of fuel used in the power station

• efficiency of production technology

• transport distance.

Nevertheless, useful average embodied energy

and emissions can be estimated for foods and

goods, so long as qualifications are given as to the

production location, scale of production and the

variation that can be expected for that product.

For example, the embodied energy of bread made

in Australia in large bakeries can be between 6

and 10 MJ per kg. By comparison, the embodied

energy of cheese can be between 40 and 100 MJ

per kg, most of which is from the production of

the 10 L of milk required for every kg of cheese.

Although there is a large range for each product,

we can say that the embodied energy of cheeses

will always be at least five times (and can be up to

15 times) that of breads. @ote: Emissions from

dairy products are even higher as methane is

emitted by the digestive process of cattle.

A system of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) labeling

is needed to inform consumers. If products were

labeled with their embodied energy (EE),

concerned consumers could consider EE in their

choice of products. The LCA label would have a

star rating or similar symbols, together with

embodied energy, GHG and other air emission

and water pollutant figures. A star labeling system

is already used successfully for the operational

energy efficiency of appliances. The LCA

labeling would enable consumers to make

purchasing decisions on the grounds of

environmental impact and motivate manufacturers

to provide ‘eco-friendly’ products.

24

• Be sure that your needs justify purchasing a new item. Consider borrowing, hiring, sharing or buying a used item instead.

• The embodied energy of an item depends on its weight, the materials from which

it is made and the degree of manufacture involved. Embodied energy per tonne of aluminium and non ferrous metals> plastics> iron and mild steel> glass> paper> brick and concrete. However, a steel framed house generally has less embodied energy than a concrete and brick house because it is much lighter in weight

• If an appliance is doing the job as efficiently as a new one, consider

reconditioning or repairing it instead of scrapping it.

• Always study the energy label before purchasing an appliance or car and buy an energy efficient model.

• If you have an old, inefficient appliance such as a heater, fridge or air conditioner,

purchasing a new model will save energy if it is significantly more energy-efficient than the old one.

• Choose durable brands and materials. Longer life of items means lower

annualized embodied energy and emissions.

• Ensure that items you no longer need are re-used; pass them on to those who need them or to second hand shops

• Use recycled materials where possible. Recycled materials have much less

embodied energy than virgin materials. For example, recycled glass uses 40–50% and recycled aluminium, only 14% of the energy required to make the virgin material (Table 7).

• Ask politicians, producers and manufacturers to provide Life Cycle Analysis

information on product labels showing embodied energy and emissions.

25

The embodied energy and GHG emissions from

house construction and maintenance depends on

the type of construction. In general, lighter weight

framed construction has less EE than heavy

concrete and masonry, as shown in Table 3.1

below. Double brick / concrete construction

generally incurs about 50% more embodied CO2

emissions than an all timber house.

Table 8 Embodied emissions of housing (Source: Rose, 2009)

Construction type GHG emissions for 185 sq m house with

garage and pool (tonnes per year annualized)

Timber frame, floor and cladding, painted 1.2

Steel frame and roof, fibro-cement cladding concrete

floor painted 1.4

Timber frame, brick veneer, concrete floor unpainted 1.6

Double brick, concrete floor, unpainted 1.8

• When building a new home or extension: o Ensure that walls and ceiling are fully insulated during construction. It costs

less than retrofitting and will save thousands of dollars in energy bills. o Choose light-weight, strong components such as timber or light galvanized

steel frames and fibro-cement or colour-bond cladding where possible. o Consider using high performance glass and or double glazing. o Have the new home ‘passive solar’ designed.

• Is your house used to its capacity? The greatest energy inefficiency in housing is

under-utilization of space. A large home with few occupants means that each person uses more heating/ cooling energy and incurs more embodied energy.

• If you are a small family with a large house, consider moving into a smaller home or

unit, close to work and shops, and renting out the large home to a bigger family. • A home of energy efficient, light - weight, passive solar design, occupied to

capacity (30 sq m per person), can save over 50% on typical embodied energy per person for housing.

• Swimming pools and air conditioners use a lot of energy to run – avoid having

these or minimize size and usage. Evaporative A/C systems less than half of the energy of equivalent ducted heat pump and are suitable for most Australian cities where humidity is generally not excessive.

26

Joining a ‘carbon neutral’ (CN) program is a

way of offsetting your remaining emissions. The

CN organization calculates how many trees

need to be planted to offset your emissions and

you pay accordingly. Permanent tree plantations

or woodlots are planted, to fix the CO2 from

your fossil fuel energy consumption back into

wood, root mass and soil carbon produced by

leaf litter.

It must be stressed that ‘carbon offsetting’ is not

a ‘stand alone’ solution to the problem of

increasing atmospheric CO2 levels. For example,

if everyone in Western Australia was to have

trees planted to neutralize their emissions, the 5

million hectares or so that could reasonably be

planted would be all under trees in about 10

years.

Cutting down on emission intensive activities

and choosing cleaner technologies must be the

first priorities. Tree planting can ‘buy some

time’ while the world reduces its emissions.

Sites planted for carbon offsets must remain

under trees for perpetuity. It’s acceptable if the

trees are cut down for timber but they must be

re-established. In that way, the amount of wood

growing on a site can vary but an average

amount of CO2 fixed in wood, roots and soil on

that site can be estimated. If a site is cleared, the

fixed CO2 is released into the atmosphere and

the carbon sequestration is negated.

Carbon Neutral (CN) is a Western Australian

based program linked to the Men of the Trees

organization. You can go on-line (see below),

calculate your emissions using GHG-Energy

Calc and pay CN to offset your emissions by

planting trees.

CN tree plantings are highly commended for

many additional environmental and economic

benefits to current and future generations. Re-

establishing woodlots and tree belts on

agricultural land that has been over-cleared is

urgently needed for:

• Mitigating salinity

• Providing wood products

• Providing biomass for fuel and power

generation

• Wildlife habitat and biodiversity

• Reducing soil erosion.

• Improving soil health by increasing soil

carbon

• Carbon neutralizing your emissions is not a solution to global warming; the only solution is to reduce GHG emissions. However, it does ‘buy some time’ by compensating for your emissions by fixing carbon in permanent woodlots.

• First minimize your GHG emissions and then ‘carbon neutralize’ the remainder • Join a Carbon Neutral Program. For a cost of about $50–$200, depending on your GHG

emissions, about 20–80 trees are permanently established to neutralize your CO2 for that year. The website for Carbon Neutral is http://www.carbonneutral.com.au

• Plant trees on your own land or as a volunteer for a tree planting group.

27

GHG-Energy Calc is a user-friendly calculator,

easily downloaded from ghgenergycalc.com.au).

It is two calculators in one; you only have to

type in consumption figures once. Clicking a

button near the top right hand corner of the

screen switches between energy and emissions

results. It gives instant results for 7 categories of

consumption on the one screen: air and sea

travel, private vehicles, public transport,

electricity, other fuels and food/groceries and

housing/possessions. Results are shown in kWh

of energy per year, tonnes CO2e per year and

percentages in each category. Annual fuel cost

is also calculated. The Calculator works on three

simple principles:

1. All energy sources, whether electrical or

fuel, have an energy content that can be

expressed as kWh per unit of electricity or

kilograms of fuel.

2. Likewise, every energy source has a

greenhouse gas emission factor, which can

be expressed as kg of carbon dioxide

equivalents (CO2e) per unit of electricity

or kilogram of fuel.

3. Every consumer product – food,

consumables, vehicles, housing and other

possessions – has embodied energy and

emissions, which can be expressed as kWh

of energy and kg of CO2e respectively, per

unit weight or volume of the item. Public

transport is also a consumer product and

can be attributed an energy intensity in

kWh/ passenger km and emission intensity

in kg CO2e / passenger km.

How GHG-Energy Calc works

The Energy Calculator uses energy content factors

to calculate energy used and emission factors to

calculate greenhouse gas emissions.

The factors are taken directly from Australian

Department of Climate Change Factors and

Methods workbook and are listed in the

Appendix. Embodied energy and emissions of

consumer goods are estimates derived from

various sources (see references), most of which

are available on the Internet. Details are explained

in the background paper (Rose, 2009), which can

be downloaded from this website.

Want to know your GHG emissions and energy use? You can use GHG-Energy Calc

• Go to http://www.ghgenergycalc.com.au

• Click on Greenhouse Calculator and download it. The files are about 600 KB and can be downloaded and extracted in a less than 2 minutes.

• Use GHG-Energy Calc to do your own energy and greenhouse emissions audits.

You only need to fill in your data once (it only takes 10-20 minutes). It will instantly show energy and emissions for your transport, electricity/gas, food/groceries/water, housing and possessions, all on the one screen.

28

Figure 10 GHG-Energy Calc, showing results for a typical 3 person Australian household.

29

APPE8DIX 1

Table A1. Energy and greenhouse gas emission factors for electricity and fuels.

(source: adapted from Australian Greenhouse Office, 2002)

Energy source or consumer item Energy content Energy Units Emission factor GHG Units (CO2e)

Coal fired electricity 3.6 MJ/unit 1.05 Kg /unit

‘Green’ or renewable electricity 3.6 MJ/unit 0.129 Kg /unit

Mains gas 53.6 MJ/kg 3.43 Kg /kg fuel

LPG 49.5 MJ/kg 3.59 Kg /kg fuel

Wood burned in ASA standard heater 14 MJ/kg 0.25-0.47 Kg /kg fuel

Wood burned in open fire or old stove 14 MJ/kg 0.84 Kg /kg fuel

Petrol 34.2 MJ/L 2.89 Kg / L

Diesel 38.6 MJ/L 3.18 Kg / L

LPG (automotive) 25.7 MJ/L 1.86 Kg / L

Aviation turbine fuel 36.8 MJ/L 3.03 Kg / L

Table A4. Global Warming Potential (GWP) for 8 categories of foods, used in the GHG-Energy-Calculator. (Rose, 2007,

unpublished)

Food class Energy inputs -

lower (MJ/kg)

Energy

inputs -

higher

(MJ/kg)

Average

EI

energy

input

MJ/kg

(a)

Methane,

8ox

emissions

(kg CO2e

/ kg

product *

Emission

s from

energy,

lower, kg

CO2/kg

food =

Emissio

ns from

energy

higher,

kg

CO2/kg

Average

totlal

emissions kg

CO2e/kg

L1- Fresh/minimally processed. Fresh fruit/veg, grains, flour, rolled

oats

3 10 6.5 0 0.285 0.95 0.6

L2 - Pasta, biscuits, rice, muesli, pulses, soy products, canned/bottled

cool/juice drinks, cakes, breads11 20 15.5 0 1.045 1.9 1.5

M1 Milks (dairy and soy)

6 10 8 0.7 0.57 0.95 1.5

M2 - Processed containerised foods. Canned/bottled/frozen fruit/veg,

dried fruits/nuts, sugar, beer, breakfast cereals, honey, soaps, papers,

eggs, pastries

21 30 25.5 0 1.995 2.85 2.4

MH1 - Chicken meat, chocolates, wine, jam, potato chips, cooking oil,

margarine, tea/herbs, ground coffee. Dairy – yoghurts, icecreams

custards

30 44 37 0 2.85 4.18 3.9

H1 - Soup powders, instant coffee, spirits; pork, fish, detergents, soap,

shampoo, disposable nappies

45 120 82.5 0 4.275 11.4 7.8

H2 - Red meats (lamb and other ruminants), Dairy -

cheese/butter/cream/milk powders44 90 67 6.4 4.18 8.55 13

H3 Beef44 90 67 9 4.18 8.55 20

30

APPE8DIX 2

Embodied emission factors for goods

Embodied energy and emission factors are difficult to estimate because production systems are complex

and often use energy from several sources. For simplicity, three emission factors have been derived for

use in GHG-Energy Calc as follows:

Manufactured goods 0.12 kg CO2e/ MJ

Foods 0.095 kg CO2e/ MJ

Building materials 0.092 kg CO2e/ MJ

Source: Rose, 2009

REFERE8CES

1. AGO, 1999."End Use Allocation of Emissions" report

2. AGO, 2002. Australia’s @ational Greenhouse Inventory. Appendices A, B.

www.greenhouse.gov.au/inventory/inventory/natinv/method.html

3. Alcorn, A., 1998. In ATLA News, issue 7 no 4, Nov 1998 http://www.converge.org.nz/atla/new-11-98-p4.html 4. Alinta Gas, 2002. Energy invoice.

5. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2001. Year Book Australia 2001.

6. Australian Greenhouse Office, 2002. Factors and Methods workbook.

7. Australian Greenhouse Office, 2002. Energy Fact Sheet, 2002. www.greenhouse.gov.au

8. Chooseclimate, 2002. Into the Sky: Aircraft Emissions of Greenhouse Gases, 2002.

http:/www.chooseclimate.org/flying/emit.html

9. Climate Partners, 2002. Greenhouse gas emissions from air travel. www.climatepartners

10. CSIRO, 2002. CSIRO Solutions for Greenhouse. www.csiro.au/csiro/ghsolutions/s4.html

11. CSIRO, 2001. Climate Change Projections for Australia.

www.dar.csiro.au/information/greenhouse.html

12. Eckard, R. University of Melbourne, DPI Victoria, 2007. Greenhouse accounting decision support

Framework calculators for beef, sheep and dairy

13. EPA NSW, 1997. @SW SoE 97 CH 5 Waste Generation and Disposal www.wastenews.com

14. Geocities, 2002. Monetization of Environmental Impacts on Roads.

http://www.geocities.com/davefergus/transportation/3chap3/htm .

15. Glover, J., 2001. Which is Better? Steel, Concrete or Wood: A Comparison of Assessments on Three

Building Materials in the Housing Sector. www.boralgreen.net.au/researchch3/chap6.htm

16. Gregory, A., Keolian, G, Kar, K, Manion, M., Bulkley, W, 1997. Industrial Ecology of the Automobile-

A Lifestyle Perspective. http://www.sustainable-busforum.org/bldgmat.html.

17. Institute of Lifecycle Analysis, 1998. Automobiles: Manufacture vs. Use.

http://www.ilea.org/lcas/macleanlave1998.html

18. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 1999, quoted in: Rocky Mountain Institute, 1999.

Climate- Air Travel Emissions. www.rmi.org/sitepage/pid600.php

19. Lawson, WR, 1996. Timber in Building Construction: Ecological Implications.

20. Lenzen, M., 1999. Total Requirements of Energy and Greenhouse Gases for Australian Transport.

Transportation Research, Vol 4 No 4, July 1999.

31

21. Leopold Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, 2001. Food Fuel and Freeways.

www.ag.iastate.edu/centres/leopold

22. Pullen, SF, 1999. Consideration of Environmental Issues when Renewing Facilities and Infrastructure.

Conf. paper. http://ausnet.rmit.au/papers/8dbmc

23. Rose, B.J., 2009. GHG- Energy Calc – Background Paper. http:/www.ghgenergycalc.com.au

24. Sustain/Elm Farm Research Centre, 2001. Eating Oil- Food in a Changing Climate.

25. Sustainable Energy Development Office WA, 2002. Home Heating- Running costs and Greenhouse Gas

Emissions.

26. US Dept of Environment, 2002. Energy Efficiency Report. www.eia.doe.gov

27. US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, 1998.

Greenhouse gas Emissions from Management of Selected Materials in Municipal Solid Waste.

28. Vale, R. and Pritchard, M., 2001. An Analysis of the Environmental Impact of Food Production.

http://evworld.com/databases/storybuilder.cfm?storyid=193

29. Victoria Transport Institute, 2000. Transport Cost and Benefit Analysis – Resource Consumption

External Costs. www.vtpi.org

30. Waste Net, 2002. Municipal Solid waste.

31. Waste Wise W.A., 2002. Fact sheets: Plastic. Paper. Steel.

32. Western Power, 2002. Energy invoice.

33. Carlsson-Kanyama, A and Faist, M., 2000. 'Energy Use in the Food Sector, a Data Survey….Appendix

6: Food processing and food preparation' (compilation from various sources). FMS Environmental

Strategies Research Group, Stockholm University.

34. FAO "Livestock-environment initiative- Fossil fuels component".

www.fao.org/WAIRDOCS/LEAD/X6100E/fossil.pdf

35. Carlsson-Kanyama et al, 2002 (Swedish figures for product in supermarkets- includes wholesale/retail).

36. Dept of Agriculture WA crop budgeting handbooks.

37. Benders, R., Wilting, Kramer and Moll, 2001. 'Description and Application of the EAP. Computer

Program for Calculating Life Cycle Energy Use.

38. MAF, NZ. 'Total Energy Indicators of Agricultural Sustainability: Dairy Farming Case Study.'

39. Wilting, H., 1998. 'An Energy Perspective on Economic Activities'.