Part of the Smart grid glossary:

A carbon footprint is the measure of the environmental impact of a particular individual or organization's lifestyle or operation, measured in units of carbon dioxide.

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A carbon footprint is composed of two parts, a primary and secondary footprint. The primary footprint is the sum of the direct carbon dioxide emissions of burning of fossil fuels, like domestic energy consumption by furnaces and waters heaters, and transportation, like automobiles and airplane travel. The secondary footprint is the sum of indirect emissions associated with the manufacture and breakdown of all products, services and food an individual or business consumes.

This was last updated in March 2010
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

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