The World Resources Institute has put a calculator online that promises fun for all ages:

The average American is responsible for about 20 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, a far greater per capita number than that of any other industrialized country. In fact, the US accounts for more than 20% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. You can reduce your carbon footprint by driving a more efficient car, or driving less. You can also plant trees or help preserve forests to offset your emissions, since trees are a sink for carbon.

I guess it is targeted for Americans.

I have often wondered how people calculate their carbon footprint when they talk about offsetting it. I mean the political mudslinging lately seems to have been linked to who has the bigger footprint and what can be done individually to compensate. For example, what is President Bush’s carbon footprint? Is it higher or lower than prior Presidents? Is testing Bush on compliance going to end up down the same road as the “Click It or Ticket” campaign where he promised to support a crackdown on drivers who disobey the law, while he paraded around in disregard?

Bush did not violate Texas law. “On private property, you’re not required to wear your seat belt,” said Tela Mange, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. She said “it’s fairly common” in the ranchlands of Texas.

Will Bush try to come up with a similar justification for carbon emissions exemptions? Should the calculator have an option “click here if you are a member of the Bush family”?

After all, isn’t the reason for the seatbelt law to prevent some people from causing harm to themselves that others ultimately have to pay for (through the externalities of the insurance and emergency response system)? Or perhaps the Department of Safety is simply saying they have no jurisdiction on private roads, which raises a whole other discussion (libertarians, start your engines) about the “corporal” right to pollute on personal property.

Anyway, it would be nice if politicians could publish their carbon footprint data as a matter of public record, including the impact from private spaces.

In case anyone is interested, the calculator says my footprint is apparently far less than the national average. I suppose that has something to do with driving a biodiesel car that gets almost 40mpg and walking to work on most days.

Seems to me that the calculator should end with “and this is what you can do to offset your footprint: plant x trees…”. And it should perhaps also offer a range, or some measure of certainty, since the calculations are really just estimates.

Composites companies, such as TPI, are reported to have been hired by the US military to find ways to save weight on vehicles. The objective is to compensate for armor and weapons, but the same technology will be excellent for fuel efficiency if used in the civilian market:

The cab was designed for the U.S. Army’s tactical wheeled vehicle fleet and addresses serious vehicle issues by being lighter in weight, highly durable, and strong enough to carry the heaviest of armor and mine blast protection.

TPI’s lightweight, all-composite cab allows soldiers to carry more protective armor, ammunition, and equipment because it weighs hundreds of pounds less than cabs constructed with conventional materials. For example, TPI’s cab would allow the accommodation of 400 more pounds of weight than a comparable integrated A-kit aluminum based design.

That is a lot of weight savings. Efficiency is a better real-world security value than big or heavy.

Another example, this time from Reuters, of a country forging ahead with clean-fuel legislation that includes biodiesel:

The Philippines’ biofuels law came into effect on Sunday with little fanfare or information and only a partial rollout of the much-vaunted 1 percent coconut blend diesel.

Motorists were surprised to hear use of the cleaner fuel was now mandatory.

The government seems to have confidence in the ability of the private industry to handle the education of consumers, once the laws have corrected the market forces back to a more neutral position and less dominated by petroleum-based interests.

Chemrez, the largest bio-diesel producer in the country, has some interesting data on their site:

The firm’s premium coco-bio-diesel brand, BioActiv, has been tested in various government and public laboratories worldwide and has been found compliant with accepted national and international standards for bio-diesel.

ChemrezTech’s successful completion and passing of the IMS certification requirements consolidated three aspects of manufacturing excellence– adherence to global quality standards, complying with environmental laws, regulations, and promotion of a safe and healthy working environment.

ChemrezTech is the first bio-diesel plant to get all three certifications and within the shortest time for all IMS-certified firms.

It should not take long for results, including new market opportunities, to come to fruition. I suppose many people had no idea how they could improve things on their own but now they see a better path ahead, as the Reuters article points out:

Motorists said they would be willing to shell out extra if it meant less pollution.

“If it will serve the environment, why not?” said Jimmy Gochang, 70. “The air here is really terrible.”

Shell out extra? Funny. Not only will prices decrease, given the ubiquity of natural oils (the Philippines can also produce diesel fuel from sugar, jathropa, palm oil, soybeans and fishing industries), but local and global competition for transportation fuels are already fundamentally altered. For example, Chemrez benefits from the largest supply of coconut oil in the world as it now exports their diesel fuel to Germany.