LIMIT ANALYSIS OF CARBON FOOTPRINT

Direct emissions

Amount of greenhouse gases released immediately upon the existent activity, such as electricity generation, heating, burning fuel or landfill of waste. This footprint can be easier to determine and also better controled or reduced.

Indirect emissions

Amount of greenhouse gases released during the entire life cycle of products, from their manufacture to their eventual disposal. Examples are emissions associated with housing construction and production of construction materials or automobile manufacturing. Data from the analysis of life-cycle assessment (LCA) are necessary for indirect determination of the footprint. It is very difficult to determine them at the macro level, such as the city level, it is rather used at the level of enterprises or households.

• Scope 1 (direct emissions) – activities that fall within the particular enterprise and are controlled by it, in which emissions are released directly into the atmosphere. These are the direct emissions. They include, for example emissions from furnaces in companies, company cars or emissions from industrial processes.
• Scope 2 (indirect emissions from energy) – emissions associated with the consumption of purchased energy (electricity, heat, steam or cooling), which are not generated directly in the company, but are the result of the company activities. These are indirect emissions from sources which are not directly controlled by the company.
• Scope 3 (other indirect emissions) – emissions that result from the company activities, and which are generated from sources beyond the control or ownership of the company, but are not classified as Scope 2 emissions. Examples are business trips by means of transport that company does not own or control directly (e.g. by plane), waste disposal in landfills or purchase of materials and fuels.