This Excel based tool offers teams the opportunity to calculate their team´s carbon footprint that is related to the laboratory work. Consumables, heating and electricity consumptions can be entered to get a summary of the CO₂ emissions of the lab.

Let’s have a look at the different sheets included in the Calculator:

GHG emissions can be classified by scopes that reflect different forms of emission. “Scope 1” relates to direct emissions caused, for instance, by burning coal. This scope is not relevant for our calculation as laboratories normally do not produce any direct emissions. Moreover, “Scope 2” relates to indirect emissions caused by the generation of warmth and electricity.

Getting hands on heating data is usually difficult as data is collected for whole building complexes and not for each respective lab. To measure the power consumption of electrical devices, the actual consumption needs to be measured with powermeters for different settings and durations. Furthermore, the power consumption can also be calculated using performance parameters, but this value can largely differ from the actual value.

The unit for measuring the global warming potential of the emitted greenhouse gases (GHG) is CO₂, thus the result will be also given in CO₂ units. The different other gases occurring are multiplied with a factor that reflects their harmfulness for our climate. For instance, methane is 12.4 times as damaging as carbon dioxide, so one ton of methane accounts for 12.4 tons of CO₂.