CO2-accounting concepten: gate-to-gate, cradle-to-gate, cradle-to-grave

[Nr.10]

Het principe van deze accounting-concepten is eenvoudig:

determine CO2 emissions in supply chains from stage to stage recursively and simply pass the data on to the next actor in the chain

Uit: http://www.climate2008.net/?a1=pap&cat=2&e=56

Producenten die zich inschrijven in deze logica kunnen drie concepten aanwenden binnen de CO2-accounting:

• gate-to-gate
• cradle-to-gate
• cradle-to-grave (*)

(*) Cradle-to-cradle is een specifieke vorm van cradle-to-grave (met recyclage aan het einde v/d levenscyclus)

If consumers are to be supported in shopping decisions, for instance by a product label (Walter and Schmidt 2008), it is necessary to take manufacture, product properties and product use into consideration. Only an LCA or a detailed carbon footprint could highlight differences between various products here. However, such procedures are very costly and hence not very efficient. It makes more sense to offer consumers other key indicators that are more significant, comprehensible and verifiable. For instance such indicators might be whether the product is made from secondary raw materials, whether it is produced locally (= less transport), or whether it was produced using only renewable energy resources. One very efficient alternative would be to quote the cumulative emission intensities of the manufacturer, though strictly speaking this would not simply represent a product assessment but instead an assessment of the whole manufacturer.

The customer must be informed about the utilisation and waste disposal phases of the product too. How much energy does the product consume in use? (How) Can this be influenced? A Carbon Footprint definitely needs such complementary information.

Finally there is the field of emissions compensation. Cash paid for the CO2 emissions caused by a product is used to fund projects with which emissions can be saved. Such compensations are already popular for air passenger traffic. Emission calculations for these flights are kept very simple. They are not oriented to specific aircraft, weather conditions, flight routes etc. but instead are based on average values (essentially the mean distances flown). If this system is transferred to compensating emissions caused by product manufacture, simplified carbon footprints that roughly estimate the emission volumes using generic values or Input/Output analyses and calculate the cash amount of the compensation payment on this basis could be used. The prime aim would be to fund meaningful environmental protection projects with cash provided by business and industry. The companies involved could include this aspect in their advertising and publicity. What is important here is not whether a product generates 6 g or 8 g CO2, but instead whether the figure is 6 g or 30 g or even 100 g. For this the carbon footprint as cradle-to-gate balance is quite sufficient, as private energy use (e.g. electricity) can be recorded and compensated separately via individual household metering.