CARBON FOOTPRINT EVALUATION AND REDUCTION AS A CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TOOL- CASE STUDY OF FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
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The knowledge of carbon footprint evaluation cooperation have since been striving to set an
example of environmental responsibility by establishing environmentally sound policies and
practices, and by developing curricula and research initiatives to support an environmentally
sustainable future. One of the most recent efforts in this quest was the urge to create
awareness and evaluate carbon footprint for the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta
(FUNAAO) for the period August, 2011 to July, 2012. It stressed the need to conduct a
detailed and comprehensive carbon footprint analysis for the whole University. The aim of
this analysis was to determine the carbon footprint of FUNAAB, not only to give a tangible
number with which the University's carbon sustainability level can be compared with other
academic institutions, but also to provide the much needed baseline against which future
mitigation efforts on the university campus can be measured.
In this paper, boundary conditions were set out to identify the various emission sources on
campus using international standards like the GHG emission factor. Using a genuinely
analytical questionnaire, surveys, and interviews, data on the various emission sources were
collected. The data collected was analyzed and used for the calculation of C02 emissions in
FUNAAB using the appropriate emission factors from the Department for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs (DERFA) guidelines and GHG emission data respectively. FUNAAB's
carbon footprint for the 201112012 session was found to be about 5,935 tons C02, with
Transportation, Campus energy consumption and Farm machineries contributing about 63%,
35% and 2%respectively. Staff and student commuting alone contribute about 55% of all the
emissions associated with University activities. FUNAAB's per-capita emissions with a total of
about 10,256 students for the 2011/2012 session amount to about 0.6 tons C02 emissions
per student. By this study, FUNAAB contributes a total of 5,935 tons of C02 for all emissions
released into the atmosphere yearly.
These C02 emissions contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer causing Greenhouse
effects and global warming. FUNAAB can reduce her carbon footprint by introducing green
energy sources such as solar energy in place of the standby diesel generators that
contributes an estimated 84 tons of C02 monthly. Also, transportation emissions can be
reduced by implementing a transportation routine programme to reduce the amount of cars
that commute to the University daily.
Keywords
TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering