- Increasing wealth, environmental concerns and education are changing attitudes to energy consumption and carbon footprints
Ecological and carbon footprint
- Awareness of carbon footprints and ecological footprints has increased
- An ecological footprint is a measure of a person or groups use of natural resources
- It is calculated in global hectares (gha)
- Ecological footprints are higher in developed countries - USA 15.5 gha per person
- In developing countries they are lower - Haiti 0.7gha per person
Ecological footprint
- The global average carbon footprint is 7 tonnes CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) a year
- People in developed countries have the highest carbon footprints - USA average is 21 tonnes CO2e a year
- People in developing countries have the lowest carbon footprints - Malawi average is 0.2 tonnes CO2e a year
- All activities, individuals, organisations, places and products have a carbon footprint
Average CO2 emissions per person
Increasing wealth
- Increasing wealth leads to greater demand and use of energy due to:
- Increasing numbers of cars
- More imported food, increasing food miles
- Greater amounts of technology which uses energy
- Greater wealth also means that more people can afford:
- Energy efficient appliances
- Homes improvements such as insulation, double glazing
- Sustainable energy sources such as solar panels and air source heat pumps
- Electric and hybrid cars
- More investment in renewable energy