Decarbonization has been at the heart of my career for years. As a professor, I’ve spent countless hours investigating technologies to reduce emissions, from carbon capture and utilization to waste-to-energy systems. I’ve worked on projects that integrate hydrogen production, develop cutting-edge direct air capture technologies, and even reimagine how we can remove CO2 from the atmosphere at costs below £100 per tonne. But recently, I realized by that while my work focuses on system-wide solutions, I hadn’t fully explored my own carbon footprint.
This led me to ask: Am I practicing what I preach? What does my own path to net zero look like?
Like many of you, I navigate the same daily decisions about heating my home, traveling, and managing household consumption. And while the scale of my footprint is small compared to industrial emissions, I believe that individual actions can add up — especially when shared and multiplied.
So, I decided to embark on a personal journey to net zero, starting with an honest assessment of where I stand today. This is not just an experiment or a side project; it’s an extension of my professional commitment to a decarbonized future. By sharing my progress in this newsletter, I hope to inspire, learn from, and engage with others who are on similar journeys.
The Episode #1 lays out my starting point. I’ll reveal my emissions, reflect on the challenges ahead, and outline my plans to make meaningful changes. Whether you’re just beginning to consider your impact or you’re further along in reducing your footprint, I hope you’ll find this series relatable, practical, and maybe even inspiring.
Unpacking My Carbon Footprint
When measuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, we often categorise them into three scopes. In commercial setting, we use scopes to help understand where GHG emissions come from and who is responsible for them. Here’s a quick overview:
Scope 1: Direct Emissions
These are emissions that come directly from activities under your control. For example, burning gas for heating your home or using petrol in your car falls into this category.
Scope 2: Indirect Emissions from Energy Use
These emissions come from the generation of electricity or other energy that you use. While the emissions occur at the power plant, they are attributed to you as the end user of that energy.
Scope 3: Other Indirect Emissions
These are emissions from activities you influence but don’t directly control. This includes emissions from flights, the water you consume, the goods and services you buy, and even the waste you produce.
Understanding these scopes helps to map out the sources of emissions and focus on areas where reductions can make the most impact. In my footprint, for example, Scope 1 includes gas heating and driving, Scope 2 comes from electricity use, and Scope 3 includes flights, water, and lifestyle emissions.
Assumptions
Here’s the breakdown of my annual emissions and given the following inputs:
– we live in North East of England
– our home is standard new-built from Dec 2022, no fancy energy or water recycling tech (yet)
– my wife and I are working from home quite often
– we on a single car, Vauxhall Astra, petrol
– we use gas for heating and cooking, electricity for anything else
Scope 1: Direct Emissions (3,017 kgCO2/year)
These emissions come directly from my use of fossil fuels, primarily for heating and transportation using assets that my household owns.
Gas Heating and Cooking: 1,397 kgCO2/year
My household consumed 6,832 kWh of gas this year (as of 30/12/24), primarily for heating and cooking. At an emission factor of 0.2044 kgCO2/kWh (DEFRA, 2024), this is one of the largest sources of emissions. While my home is relatively new and efficient, relying on gas still has a significant environmental impact. Transitioning to a lower-carbon heating system could reduce this substantially.
Car Travel: 1,620 kgCO2/year
Driving my Vauxhall Astra (a petrol car with 46.4 MPG fuel efficiency) contributed a significant portion of my emissions. With only 5,990 miles driven in 2024, my car emitted approximately 0.2705 kgCO2 per mile (DEFRA, 2024). This highlights the importance of considering alternatives, such as reducing travel, switching to an electric vehicle, or using public transportation where possible.
Scope 2: Indirect Emissions (394 kgCO2/year)
These emissions are from 1,900 kWh of electricity my household consumed in 2024.
Electricity Usage: 394 kgCO2/year
While electricity is generally cleaner than gas in the location where I live (North East of England), the grid still relies partly on fossil fuels. First, I decided to use location-based emission factor rather than market-based emission factor. This was because my supplier claims the electricity they supply is 100% renewable, but how can I be cartain that my household actually uses 100% renewable energy. Hence, I uses an emission factor of 0.20705 kgCO2/kWh (DEFRA, 2024). My electricity use of 1,900 kWh/year to date this year added 394 kgCO2/year to my footprint. My home already features efficient LED lighting and a heat pump dryer, but adding solar, battery storage or improving household efficiency (i.e better class white goods) could help reduce this further.
Scope 3: Indirect Emissions from Other Activities (1,518 kgCO2/year)
Scope 3 emissions cover areas like air travel, water use, and other indirect activities.
A single return flight from Leeds to Krakow (2 adults, 960 miles one way, DEFRA) contributed a significant portion of my emissions. Air travel remains one of the most carbon-intensive activities we engage in, and even short-haul flights add up quickly. Finding ways to minimize flights or offset their emissions will be critical.
Water Supply and Treatment: 33 kgCO2/year
My household uses 269 liters of water per day, totaling 98 cubic meters annually. This is hI Though the emissions from water supply and treatment are relatively small, reducing water consumption through fixtures or behavior changes can have broader environmental benefits.
Other Activities: 369 kgCO2/year
This category includes emissions from groceries, shopping, dining out, and other indirect activities. Estimation of this component of my Scope 3 emissions is rather uncertain and based on the figures provided by my banking provider. While these emissions are more uncertain and lower than those from heating or travel, they reflect everyday habits that I’ll aim to refine as part of this journey.
What Do These Numbers Mean?
Total Emissions: 4,929 kgCO2/year
For context, the average UK resident emits approximately 10,000 kgCO2/year. So an average household like ours should emit 20,000 kgCO2/year. While our emissions are lower than average, they’re still significant.
The numbers highlight areas where I can take action. These are in order of priority:
– Gas and electricity dominate my home energy emissions.
– Car and air travel are my largest transportation-related impacts.
– Indirect activities like water and lifestyle choices, while smaller, are opportunities for improvement.
Known Unknowns and Unknown Unknowns
Known Unknowns
These are areas I’ve identified as gaps in my data:
– Waste Emissions: I have yet to calculate the impact of household waste, including landfill, recycling, and composting habits.
– Embedded Emissions in Purchases: My estimate for lifestyle emissions lacks detail about the specific carbon intensity of the products I consume. In still glad that my bank provides such data.
– Heating Options: I need to explore which low-carbon heating systems are practical for my home.
– Offsetting Flights and Car travel: I’ve yet to identify the best carbon offset programs for reducing my travel footprint.
Unknown Unknowns
These are surprises that may emerge as I dig deeper:
– Hidden Carbon Costs: How much do digital activities or financial investments contribute to my footprint?
– Feedback Effects: Will new choices, like an electric vehicle, increase other emission, such as electricity use, and by how much?
– Shifting Emission Factors: As the grid decarbonises, how will this affect my future emissions?
What’s Next? My Decarbonization Plan
This isn’t about perfection; it’s about progress. Here’s where I’ll focus my efforts:
1. Home Energy Efficiency: Investigating ways to reduce reliance on gas, such as transitioning to electric heating systems (heat pump) and optimising electricity use.
2. Travel Alternatives: Exploring lower-carbon options for transportation and offsetting emissions from necessary flights.
3. Water Conservation: Reducing water use through efficiency measures and behavioral changes.
4. Lifestyle Choices: Examining my spending and consumption habits to identify sustainable alternatives.
5. Waste Analysis: Calculating and addressing emissions from waste, an area I haven’t yet fully quantified.
Join Me on This Journey
Have you calculated your carbon footprint? It’s a great first step in understanding your impact. If you’re curious, try this tool: [Carbon Footprint Calculator](https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx).
Already taking steps to reduce your footprint? I’d love to hear about your journey. What’s worked for you? What challenges have you faced? Your insights could help guide and inspire others—and I’d love to feature them in future editions of this newsletter.
Looking Ahead
In the next edition, I’ll take a closer look at home energy use and explore potential upgrades to reduce emissions from heating and electricity. I’ll evaluate the costs, challenges, and benefits of these options to see what’s practical for my household.
Thank you for joining me on this journey. Together, we can turn awareness into action, one step at a time.
Warm regards,
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