Determination of carbon footprint in the Salesian University, South Campus, Quito, base year 2012

Abstract

This paper calculates the carbon footprint of the Polytechnic Salesian University, south campus, the value obtained for the year 2012 was 873, 88 tons of equivalent carbon dioxide. The methodology used was the “Greenhouse gas protocol” that calculates three scopes. For UPS-South, Scope 1-related to fuel use—was measured at 16, 82 tons of equivalent CO2; Scope 2-it has to do with power consumption-was 209, 07 tons of equivalent CO2; and, Scope 3-considers GHG emissions for the acquisition and use of inputs, through the decomposition of organic solid waste and liquid discharges—had a value of 647, 99 t CO2 eq. Because in 2012 there were 3870 individuals doing activities in the UPS-South campus, it was possible to establish an annual per capita value for carbon footprint of 225,81 kg CO2 eq emitted to the atmosphere. SimaPro 7.3 software was used to verify this result, in which a total of 861, 03 t CO2 eq were obtained. The difference between the two values of carbon footprint is due to the software’s different treatment for organic solid waste and the liquid waste discharges, which are ignored form the calculations.