How a German man is shrinking his carbon footprint
361 views · Published 16 December 2018 · 4:17 · Indexed 24 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(11 Dec 2018) Some people count their calories, but Dirk Gratzel counts his carbon emissions. The software entrepreneur from Germany is among a growing number of people looking for ways to cut their personal greenhouse gas emissions from levels that scientists say are unsustainable if global warming is to be curbed. A keen hunter, Gratzel says the time he spends outdoors has sharpened his senses to the need for drastic action. Gratzel decided to take a big leap two years ago. But when he looked for ways to shrink his environmental footprint, the 50-year-old found few practical instructions for doing so. After much searching, he turned to Matthias Finkbeiner, who heads the Institute of Environmental Technology at Berlin's Technical University. Finkbeiner is a leading figure in the field of environmental accounting, but much of his work has been for companies and international organisations trying to calculate carbon footprints at a much larger scale. He had never assessed a single person before, but after accepting that he was serious, Finkbeiner and his team agreed to help Gratzel calculate his footprint as precisely as possible, including the emissions he had been responsible for since birth. Gratzel was shocked to find that his annual emissions were the equivalent of 27 metric tons of carbon dioxide - more than twice the German average of 11 tons. "We found that his footprint was pretty enormous," said Finkbeiner, who attributed a substantial share of emissions to Gratzel's extensive business travel. "There were many insights that may not have been new to us, but they were to him," he added. "For example, cheese causes a lot of environmental damage." With the help of Finkbeiner and two environmental groups, Gratzel then set about shrinking that footprint wherever possible. This included improving the insulation in his house, getting rid of his sport utility vehicle and travelling mostly by bike and train. His current annual emissions are about six or seven tons per year. The final stage is the most daunting: Finkbeiner and his team have calculated that Gratzel's lifetime emissions amount to almost 1,180 tons of CO2 so far. Scientists believe an annual budget of about two tons per person is sustainable, which means Gratzel is 12 times over budget. Planting trees, a common means of 'offsetting' emissions, would require Gratzel to grow enough oaks and beech trees to cover an area equivalent to 100 football pitches. He and the researchers are still trying to work out how to lower his current emissions further and undo the damage done. The issue is one that negotiators at the UN climate talks in Katowice, Poland, this week are also debating, albeit on a global scale. Experts say top-down measures alone won't be enough. Individuals will need to change the way they consume, travel and work if carbon emissions are to fall enough to keep the world from warming by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit), a threshold that's still considered safe. Fritz Reusswig, a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, says efforts such as Gratzel's are "important and interesting" but perhaps too elaborate. Reusswig has spent the last year leading a similar experiment, monitoring the efforts of 100 Berlin families trying to reduce their carbon footprint. "We give them advice on how to save energy or reduce CO2", such as by adjusting their refrigerator, switching electricity supplier or changing their eating habits, he said. So far, the Berlin families have managed to cut their emissions by about 20 percent, he said. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/6989401da49eb569956bfb55a864ee03
