Behold, the carbon footprint calculator. It usually helps individuals and households identify how much carbon dioxide they produce each year, and appears in conjunction with appeals to fund carbon offset programs. These are really useful in the reduction of environmental carbon, BUT THEY COULD DO SO MUCH MORE!
What are the current problems with most carbon footprint calculators?
- They are disjointed. They do not explicitly combine carbon footprint (‘debits’) with carbon offsets (‘credits’), except for the moment in time when a user is .
- They lack longevity. Most calculators are intended for a moment in time, or in accounting terms, to create a ‘transaction’. This fails to provide a reckoning over time, or ‘balance sheet’ view representing a collection of transactions.
- They are diffuse. The offsets purchased across multiple offset schemes are not consolidated into a single carbon account for an individual or family.
- They are insufficiently accurate, especially on the carbon footprint side. While estimates have improved significantly (more on that in the future), actual measurements are hard to come by.
- They are insufficiently actionable for users over time.
- They are insufficiently comprehensible for regular people to understand, both in measure and concept.
At LOT we plan to build a better mousetrap, designed to move beyond the “carbon footprint calculator”, and towards what we are calling a “carbon account”. The plan is to imitate a consumer bank account, but instead of dollars, the unit of measure is pounds of CO2 gas, either removed or added to the environment.
How will the carbon account overcome the limitations of carbon footprint calculators? The carbon account will:
- Consolidate disparate transactions from multiple sources into a single account over the long term.
- Increase measurement precison and measurement detail.
- The carbon account, in conjunction with accompanying carbon tools will spur action, just as a currency-denominated account does.
Join us as we build a better mousetrap!
