Carbon Footprint | News & Views

What’s the carbon footprint of … a load of laundry?

The carbon footprint of a load of laundry:
0.6 kg CO2e washed at 30°C, dried on the line
0.7 kg CO2e washed at 40°C, dried on the line
2.4 kg CO2e washed at 40°C, tumble-dried in a vented dryer
3.3 kg CO2e washed at 60°C, dried in a combined washer-dryer

Depending on how you do it, and how many loads you get through each week, laundry can contribute a surprising amount to your carbon footprint. Washing and drying a load every two days creates around 440kg of CO2e each year, which is equivalent to flying from London to Glasgow and back with 15-mile taxi rides to and from the airports.

Modern washing powders work just as well at 30°C, so there is a very simple saving to be had here of 100g per wash just by turning the temperature down. But the much bigger savings relate to drying. As the numbers above show, for a typical 40°C wash nearly three-quarters of the carbon footprint comes from the drying rather than the washing – which reflects the general rule of thumb that the more heat an appliance generates, the more energy it takes to run.

Part of the problem is that tumble dryers (like dishwashers and washing machines) generally use electricity to generate their heat. This is typically more than twice as carbon-intensive as creating heat from gas – for the simple reason that, in the case of electricity, most of the energy in the fuel gets wasted up the cooling tower of a power plant, with yet more getting lost in transmission to the home. Gas tumble-dryers do exist but aren’t yet popular, despite consuming far less energy.

However your dryer is powered, if you use a conventional vented model, most of the heat is simply pumped out to the outside world, which is sensible in the summer but wasteful in the colder months when you will simultaneously be heating the home by other means. Unvented condensing dryers use a little bit more energy per cycle, but in the winter all that heat stays inside your house, where theoretically it should reduce the burden on the heating system. So the relative impact of each depends on whether you use the dryer all year around or just in the winter when the clothes-lines doesn’t work as well. (Where the machine is positioned is also relevant, as the captured heat will be more of a benefit in, say, the kitchen, than it will in a garage.)

Ultimately, though, all tumble drying is wasteful. A household running a dryer 200 times a year could save nearly half a tonne of CO2e by switching to a clothes rack or washing line. When drying clothes inside on a rack, the evaporation from the wet fabrics will cool the home to cool down a fraction but this is a marginal effect – and although it’s a disadvantage in the winter, it’s a bonus on a hot summer’s day, when you’ll get some free air conditioning.

Whichever way you dry you clothes, it makes sense to use a washer with a good spin function. It is much quicker and more efficient to remove most of the water by spinning it off than by evaporating it in a dryer.

All the figures listed above are based on a full 5kg load (half loads use a little less energy each time but they work out as much less efficient per garment washed). They include around 220g per wash for the embodied emissions in the appliances themselves. If this estimate is correct, the manufacture and delivery of the appliances accounts for nearly 10% of the total carbon footprint of each wash.

You can probably improve on the lifetime of your washer and/or dryer if you look after it and get it repaired when it breaks. Switching from a typical 1998 machine to a new one with an ‘A’ rating might gain you around 10% in efficiency – just enough to offset the emissions created in the new machine’s manufacture and delivery. In other words, unless your machine is particularly cranky and inefficient there is no real carbon case for getting a new one unless you have to.

The final piece of the puzzle is the frequency with which you wash stuff. No one wants to go around smelly, but it’s worth at least asking the question: does stuff go in the wash unnecessarily often? If you can reduce the number of loads you do without yourself or anyone else noticing any difference, there is a time saving to be had, too.

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Nuclear opposition ‘has added to carbon emissions’

One billion extra tonnes of carbon has been emitted because of opposition to nuclear power generation, experts have claimed.  Speaking to producers of a Channel 4 documentary, campaigners claimed that environmental advocates are in danger of repeating the mistakes of the past by continuing to oppose nuclear power, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Campaigner Mark Lynas said that nuclear opposition has already added to the levels of carbon in the atmosphere, because the objection to the technology in the 1970s and 80s led to the construction of highly-polluting coal power plants.  ”In hindsight that was obviously a mistake, but it is one that today’s environmental lobby groups seem determined to repeat,” he is quoted by the news provider as saying.  But, Ben Stewart from Greenpeace, said a real debate on the issue is needed.

“With the threat of climate change we look at all options but in our opinion [nuclear power and GM] do not stack up,” he is quoted as saying.  A KPMG report released earlier this year suggested that investment in nuclear power is needed if the UK is to meet its carbon reduction targets.

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Show world leaders how you see climate change

Amateur filmmakers from around the globe are encouraged to participate in the “1 minute to save the world” competition which closes in two months. The winning entry will be screened at COP16 in Mexico.

The international film competition is open to all ages and is free to enter; budding filmmakers must submit a short film (roughly one minute in length) about climate change. The films will be judged by professionals in the film and environmental industries, including Ben Kott of Google Europe Environmental Operations. The deadline for entries is December 17; entries from filmmakers under 18 in the Best Youth Film category must be submitted by November 12.

As well as winning a variety of electronic and cash prizes, the winning movie in the Best Youth Film category will be screened in front of world leaders at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP16 in Cancun, Mexico, which runs November 29 – December 10 (http://www.cc2010.mx/en/).

Last year’s winning entry was titled My Paper Boat and was made by Arun Bose from India; the short film depicts a young boy searching an arid desert for somewhere to play with his paper boat.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has also launched its second video competition to promote awareness of climate change. This year’s competition is called My View H20 and requires entrants to make a short film about water; the competition is open to all of ADB’s 67 member countries and closes to entrants on January 31, 2011.

For more details about how to enter 1 minute to save the world see: http://www.1minutetosavetheworld.com/awards/

Watch last year’s 1 minute to save the world winning entry at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gasMl5DdhkA

For more information about My View H2O see: http://www.adb.org/MyView/2010/

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UK’s largest smart grid project unveiled

Homes and businesses in the north-east and Yorkshire are to benefit from the largest smart grid project ever to take place in the UK.

Some 14,000 homes are due to take part in the £54 million project, which will aim to assess the impact of electric cars, solar panels and other low carbon technologies on the electricity grid.   All homes taking part in the study will install smart meters, while 1,500 will use air or ground source heat pumps, 800 will install solar PV panels and 150 will drive electric cars.

The findings will then be applied to the whole of the UK using data from 160,000 smart meters. Solutions will then be trialled to see how the capabilities of the grid can be improved.  Durham, Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield are among the major cities participating in the project, which is being supported by CE Electric, British Gas, Durham Energy Institute and EA Technology.

Phil Bentley, managing director of British Gas, said: “It is vital that Britain makes the transition to a low carbon economy – and no single company has all the answers.”  Figures released from Ofgem recently, in relation to the Feed-in Tariffs, revealed that solar panels account for 97 percent of installations under the scheme

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TUC: Govt cuts could hamper green economy

The opportunity to create thousands of green jobs could be missed if the government cuts investment in the low carbon economy, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has claimed.

In a letter to Chancellor George Osborne, the TUC, Friends of the Earth and the Aldersgate Group warned that the market cannot be relied on to “drive the move to a low carbon economy”.

A reduction in government investment would also be a “huge blow” to the development of carbon capture and storage technologies, the document added.

Speaking at the TUC Alliances for Green Growth Conference, deputy general secretary Frances O’Grady said that green investment is “essential” to ensure the economic recovery of the UK.

“Cutting green funding in the spending review would not just risk economic recovery, it would also mean many lost opportunities to create green jobs, develop technologies that could reduce our carbon emissions, and save businesses and taxpayers billions of pounds,” she said.

Ms Grady also reiterated the needed for the Green Investment Bank to provide capital for green initiatives.

Mr Osborne will be announcing the comprehensive spending review, which lays out the government’s spending plans for the next four years, on Wednesday October 20th.

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Economic factors ‘driving energy-saving attitudes’

Economic factors rather than environmental concerns are influencing consumers’ attitudes to energy efficiency, new research suggests.

The latest Attitude Tracker from The Energy Saving Trust, released this week, found that two-thirds of people are more inclined to try and save energy now that economic times are tough.

Some 53 percent of those questioned agreed with the statement “I’m more interested in the money I would save from using less energy than in the effect it would have on climate change”.

More than three-quarters of people said that energy saving is now “becoming the expected way of thinking”.

Matt Hunt, spokesperson for renewable energy advice firm BritishEco.com, said that the firm is currently quite busy with requests from homeowners.

“There is still a desire from people to make their houses environmentally sound, especially if they are rewarded with fixed tariffs and things,” he explained.

However, the Attitude Tracker survey found a five percentage point drop in the number of people who claimed to be more interested in energy saving than they were a year ago, from 66 percent in 2009 to 61 percent this year.

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Climate change ‘affecting harvests’

Crop failure could become a more common occurrence as climate change begins to take effect, new research shows.

A team made up of experts from the University of Leeds, the Met Office Hadley Centre and University of Exeter conducted the study, which concluded that the extreme weather events caused by climate change will lead to increasing numbers of crop failures.

Forest fires in Russia caused by heat and drought over the summer led to an area of crops larger than the size of Hungary being unusable.

Using spring wheat crops in northern China as the basis for the study, the researchers used a climate model to predict the weather patterns and assess how this would affect yields. Socio-economic factors related to the farmers were also taken into account.

Lead author Dr Andy Challinor, from the University of Leeds School of Earth and Environment, said that solutions must be found to the problem.

“It is highly unlikely that we will find a single intervention that is a ’silver bullet’ for protecting crops from failure. What we need is an approach that combines building up crop tolerance to heath and water stress with socio-economic interventions,” he added.

The study appears in Environmental Research Letters.

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Green fatigue hits campaign to reduce carbon footprint

Britons are less environmentally conscious than they were five years ago, with twice as many people now “bored” by talk of climate change as in 2005. Four in 10 take no action at all to reduce their household carbon dioxide emissions. Experts warn that green fatigue is a major reason why there are more cars on the roads, more planes in the sky and no reduction in the mountain of packaging waste.

As a new energy report reveals that too few people are making an effort to reduce their household CO2 emissions, environmentalists believe the recession is further undermining public commitment.

The report, by market researchers Mintel, shows that many of Britain’s 26 million homes fail to make simple adjustments such as turning down thermostats, switching off lights and switching off appliances rather than leaving them on standby. The findings also reveal people are less willing to spend money on energy-efficient appliances than they were five years ago. Analysts believe the recession together with a backlash against “extreme” environmentalist pressure has reduced people’s enthusiasm to combat climate change.

The report also found that resistance to saving the planet was greater among men: one in four said they think there is too much concern over the environment, compared with one in six women.

Other evidence of waning public interest in consumers’ carbon footprint includes a rise in air and car travel. The number of cars on UK roads has risen from just over 26 million in 2005 to more than 31 million in 2009. Air travel has also increased, the number of passengers rising from 227 million in 2005 to 235 million in 2008.

New research from the Energy Saving Trust found that climate change has taken a back seat to recession concerns. The authors of the Mintel, blaming the problem partly on consumer ignorance, recommend the Government “help consumers to help themselves” by providing them with more information about energy savings in accessible ways.

Environmentalists are still positive about the progress on green issues. “It comes in waves,” said Craig Bennett of Friends of the Earth. “Some things people have been doing for a while – [such as] buying organic tea. For people to take the next step – insulating their homes or other big projects – requires more support.”

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the country was moving towards a more sustainable future. Household recycling rates had increased from 14 per cent to 37 per cent from 2001 to 2009, and the proportion of waste sent to landfill dropped from 78 per cent to 50 per cent over the same period.

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Carbon footprint labels: the latest aid for ethical shopping

Shoppers familiar with seeing fair trade, organic or rainforest labels during their weekly shop will have to get used to anotherlogo: the carbon footprint.

Leading food brands are increasingly using the Government’s black footprint logo and, according to research published today, it will become the second most common ethical label in UK shops by the end of this year.

The Centre for Retail Research forecasts that annual sales of the Carbon Reduction Label run by the publicly funded Carbon Trust would hit £2bn by the end of 2010, putting it behind only the Red Tractor farm assurance scheme (£10bn), but ahead of the Soil Association’s organic mark (£1.5bn); Fairtade (£800m); RSPCA Freedom Foods (£800m), and the smaller Rainforest Alliance and Marine Stewardship Council schemes.

For shoppers, the black footprint logo shows that producers are working behind the scenes with the Carbon Trust to identify and reduce carbon emissions that cause global warming.

In some cases, the labels also display the amount of CO2 generated by each product, giving consumers a greater insight into how much unseen pollution is caused by their purchases – sometimes with surprising results. The amount of CO2 emitted generally weighs more than the product, and there can be substantial variations between different brands or types of the same product.

Tesco has been the most enthusiastic supporter of the scheme, carrying out a commitment made three years ago to carbon label all of its 70,000 food lines. It has so far put footprints on 100 own-brand products, including semi-skimmed milk (800 grams per pint); orange juice (1.1kg per litre); and toilet roll (1.1 grams per sheet).

Walkers, the UK’s best-selling crisps, and baker Kingsmill, which is owned by Primark’s parent company Associated British Foods, have adopted the idea too. Shoppers can already see that at 1.3kg of CO2 per 800 grams, a loaf of wholemeal bread generates 15 times more carbon dioxide than a small packet of crisps (80 grams).

However, other products have not been included, possibly because shoppers would be put off by how much pollution they generate. Meat has “astronomical” emissions according to one supermarket source, something borne out by research. A study by Japan’s National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science found three years ago that 1kg of beef released the equivalent of 36kg of CO2.

Alcohol, too, has high emissions. While a 330ml can of Coca-Cola has 170 grams, Adnams eco-bitter East Green has 432 grams per half-litre. Consumers can, however, slash the impact of their purchases by using the same products differently – washing clothes at 30C rather than 40C saves 160 grams of CO2.

Currently, these insights are interesting, but they could become more important. Two years ago the Commons Environmental Audit committee said the Government should give everyone a personal carbon allowance.

Euan Murray, the Carbon Trust’s head of footprinting, said he did not know if all products would eventually be carbon labelled, but added: “We are increasingly seeing people recognise that things have a carbon footprint, and they want to do something about it.”

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Smart meters ‘may not cut energy use’

Installing smart meters may not result in households saving energy, a study has suggested. Smart meters had been considered as one component in an infrastructure to help use energy more effectively, and cut bills and emissions. Research by a University of Oxford scientist found that the devices alone were unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in the demand for energy.

The findings appear in the journal Building Research and Information.

“A lot of us are using gas and electricity without realising we are using it,” explained author Sarah Darby from the university’s Environmental Change Institute (ECI).

“If you had a wood fire and went away for the weekend, then the fire would go out. However, if you leave the central heating or electrical appliances on when you go away, you may be none the wiser.”

However, she observed, there was still a lot of confusion of what a smart meter was, despite the devices being hailed as key in the effort to curb energy use in the UK.

“Essentially, a smart meter is a meter with communications technology. You can use that technology in different ways: it could turn your water heating on and off, according to the needs of the utilities, to fit in with load balancing.”

However, another paper in the Building Research and Information journal warned that the benefits of smart meters could become less effective over longer periods of time.

Dutch researchers questioned the findings of studies around the world because they were often only conducted for a relatively short-period of time – four months or less.

When the team from Delft University of Technology carried out a study that lasted for 15 months, they found that early energy savings were lost unless the features provided by smart meters became incorporated into consumer habits and routines.

The Decc/Ofgem consultation lasts until the end of September, and the government is planning to give the green light to the roll-out programme in mid-2012.

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