What is a Carbon Footprint?

The vast majority of energy we use today is derived from the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, wood, or biomass. A carbon footprint, as commonly known, is simply the weight of carbon or carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere each year from the burning of fossil fuels. The carbon footprint, however, can be expressed in other ways that are more useful and more consistent with the original ecological footprint concept: the area of the Earth’s surface needed to absorb those emissions. On average, it takes roughly 41 acres to absorb one ton of carbon emissions. Other gases that contribute to global warming — such as methane from waste — are converted into “carbon equivalent” units then added to the carbon footprint.