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CORRELATION BETWEEN THE PHILIPPINE SCIENCE STUDENTS’ ANNUAL
FAMILY INCOME AND CARBON FOOTPRINT
Proponents:
Amoncio, Hannah Joyce
Batulan, Trenah Dyne
Josol, Geremy Fe A.
Langahid, Kathy Claire
Ong, Dorothy Ann S.
Pique, Kenny
Taula, Japhet
Yu, Marian Isabel D.
Adviser:
Michael A. Casas
Philippine Science High School- Southern Mindanao Campus
Davao City, Philippines
INTRODUCTION
Climate change is one of the world’s greatest problems today. It is primarily caused by
greenhouse gases that are trapped in the atmosphere. The most common greenhouse gas is
carbon dioxide (CO2) that may be released artificially through the burning of fossil fuels, solid
wastes and many others or naturally through the carbon cycle (Mogil, 2006). On the other hand,
carbon emissions are increasing at an accelerated rate in these recent years because of human
activities and industrialization.
Carbon Footprint is the representation of the effect of an entity or organization on the
Earth's climate in terms of the total amount of greenhouse gases produced expressed in units of
carbon dioxide (WWF, 2012). This study aims to identify the activities that contribute greatly to
the release of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in order to identify solutions on how to reduce
carbon emissions in the city. The purpose of this project is to determine the carbon footprint of
PSHS students belonging to different scholarship categories and family income through by
asking participants to answer a developed survey form. This provides a small scale, yet
representative picture of how families belonging to different economic status vary in their carbon
footprints.
The different scholarship categories of students in PSHS-SMC are full, partial, and
special. The classification of a student into any of the scholarship categories is dependent upon
his/her socioeconomic bracket as determined from his/her parents' income tax returns and other
indicators (e.g. family size, assets, liabilities, etc.) (Pisaybicol,2012).
METHODOLOGY:
Four students belonging to each of the three scholarship categories from first year to fourth year
high school were asked to answer the survey form. After which, the proponents collated the data,
tabulated the results and converted the answers of the students to kilograms carbon dioxide using
CRAG’s Carbon Footprinting Worksheet. The survey form that the participants filled out is
shown below.
Name: Year and Section: Scholarship Category: FROM DECEMBER 2011 TO FEBRUARY 2012 ELECTRICITY
December 2011 January 2012 February 2012
Kilowatt hour (kWh) of conventional energy
CAR ( If any ) Enter the total ____ you consumed for the past months
December 2011` January 2012 February 2012
Litres petrol
Gallons petrol
Litres diesel
Gallons diesel
OR
Petrol Car: How Many:
Total Kilometers: December 2011 January 2012 February 2012
Small
Medium
Large
Diesel Car: How Many:
Total Kilometers: December 2011 January 2012 February 2012
Small
Large
LPG Car: How Many:
Total Kilometers: December 2011 January 2012 February 2012
Any size
Public Transport
Specify mode/s of transport: From ____ to _______: How many times a day?
Jeepney
Bus
Taxi
Have you travelled by plane during December 2011 to February 2012? If so, from what location and to where?
Table 2: CRAG’s Carbon Footprinting Worksheet
CALCULATE YOUR CO2 EMISSIONS
Enter in this column
amount of fuel used or
distance travelled.
Then multiply it by the number in this column to find how many kg of
CO2 that makes and enter that in the next
column.*
Personal CO2 Emissions Subtotals
(in kg of CO2)
HEATING
GAS Enter a figure for just one of the following!
New style units (Cubic metres) of mains gas 2.2
Old style units (100's cubic feet) of mains gas 6.2
Kilowatt hours (kWh) equivalent 0.206
COAL One sack of coal usually weighs 50kg
Kilogrammes of Domestic coal 2.5
HEATING OIL Enter a figure for just one of the following!
Litres of heating oil 3
Gallons of heating oil 13.6
WOOD PELLETS
Per tonne 132
ELECTRICITY
Kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity (including all green
tariffs) 0.55
* Remember to divide by number of people in household
for heating and electricity.
CAREnter a figure for the relevant fuel(s) in litres or
gallons!
Litres petrol 2.3
Gallons petrol 10.4
Litres diesel 2.7
Gallons diesel 12.2
Litres LPG 1.5
Gallons LPG 6.7
OR enter your miles or kilometers according to your car type
Small petrol car up to 1.4 litre engine
Kilometers 0.18
Miles 0.29
Medium petrol car 1.4 to 2.0 litre engine
Kilometers 0.21
Miles 0.34
Large petrol car Over 2.0 litre
Kilometers 0.30
Miles 0.48
Small diesel car up to 1.7 litre engine
Kilometers 0.15
Miles 0.24
Mediul diesel car 1.7 to 2.0 litre engine
Kilometres 0.19
Miles 0.30
Large diesel car over 2.0 litre engine
Kilometers 0.26
Miles 0.42
LPG or CNG car
Kilometres 0.22
Miles 0.36
Medium Petrol Hydrid
Kilometres 0.13
Miles 0.20
Large Petrol Hybrid
Kilometres 0.22
PLANE enter the flight distance in kilometers or miles
Kilometers 0.51
Miles 0.82
OR use http://www.chooseclimate.org/ to calculate
emissions for each flight and record total
GRAND TOTAL (kg CO2) FROM HOUSE AND TRANSPORT
(N.B. If required, divide
grand total by 1000 to get
total in tonnes of CO2 and
then by 3.67 to get total in
tonnes of Carbon)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 3 below presents the electric consumption, private and public transportation, and
airplane services availed by the students’ families during the months of December 2011 to
February 2012. Graph 1 is also a presentation of the carbon emissions presented in a bar
graph.
Table 3: Differences in carbon footprint of students based on their electrical consumption,
private and public transportation, and airplane services of full, partial, and special scholars
Scholarship
Category
Year Level
of Student
Respondent
CO2 Emission(kg)
Electri-
city
(kg)
Private
Transpo-
rtation
(kg)
Public
Transpo-
rtation
(kg)
Airplane
Services
(kg)
Total
Emission
(kg)
Grand
Total
(kg)
Full
Average for
1st Year
120 0 30.38 0 150.38
138.504
Average for
2nd Year 90 0 30.38 0 120.38
Average for
3rd
Year 125 0 30.38 0 155.38
Average for
4th
Year 73.5 0 54.376 0 127.876
Partial
Average for
1st Year
145 47.6 19.6 0 212.2
230.1995
Average for
2nd
Year 91 95.2 2.73 0 188.93
Average for
3rd
Year 235.5 0 54.376 0 289.876
Average for
4th
Year 54.5 167.9 7.392 0 229.792
Special
Average for
1st Year
650 624 0 1316.718 2590.718
2615.5523
Average for
2nd
Year 447 2295.72 0 1316.718 4059.438
Average for
3rd
Year 256 0 30.38 1316.718 1603.098
Average for
4th
Year 347 540 5.237 1316.718 2208.955
Graph 1: Differences in carbon footprints of students from different scholarship categories
The classification of a student into any of the scholarship categories is dependent upon
his/her socio-economic bracket as determined by the Scholarship Categorization Committee
based on economic indicators (Pisaybicol, 2012). The amount of CO2 contributed to the
atmosphere by the individuals interviewed was calculated using the CO2 conversion spreadsheet
by Carbon Rationing Action Groups (CRAG) as seen in Table 2. The data was retrieved from the
survey conducted to 48 students with four students from each year level per scholarship
category. The grand total of the carbon emission of full scholars was 138.504 kg, 230.1995 kg for
the partial scholars and the special scholars released 2,615.5523 kg as presented in Table 3. A difference
of 2,477.0483 kg was computed between the carbon footprint of full and special scholars while a
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Full Partial Special
C
a
r
b
o
n
E
m
i
s
s
i
o
n
s
Type of Scholarship
CO2 Emission of different scholarship categories
Electricity Private Transportation Public Transportation
Airplane Services Grand total
difference of 2,385.3528 kg was computed between the emissions of the special and partial scholars and
91.6955 kg between partial and full scholars. Based on the data, full scholars yield the least carbon
footprint, partial scholars have the intermediate carbon footprint and the special scholars contributed the
greatest carbon footprint.
The data also reveals that special scholars consume the highest amount of electricity
while full scholars consume the least amount. On the other hand, full scholars often take public
transport or commute to school while special scholars less frequently take it because they opt to
use private cars. It was observed that only the special scholars used the airplane services thus
making their carbon footprint greater. Overall, it was observed that the carbon footprint is
highest for the special scholars followed by the partial scholars then the full scholars.
Special scholars have a larger overall income as compared to the students belonging to
the other two scholarship other categories; there is a possibility that those scholars own more
gadgets and appliances that emit more carbon dioxide (e.g. air conditioners, refrigerators).
According to May (2009), people with more urbanized lifestyle have higher carbon footprint
because of more advancements in technology and because of more resource consumption. A high
emission of carbon dioxide results to a rise in the atmospheric temperature, thereby resulting to
global warming (Philander, 2008).
According to Carbon Footprint Ltd. (2012), some evidences gathered proved that climate
change has been primarily caused by human activities such as burning of fossil fuels and kaingin
(slash and burn). Meaning, human activities have caused the alteration of the chemical
composition of the atmosphere by causing the build-up of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide,
methane and nitrous oxide.
CONCLUSION
Based on the findings in this experiment, special scholars released the largest carbon
footprint with a total of 2615.5523 kg; partial scholars yield the second largest carbon footprint
with a total of 230.1995 kg while the full scholars yield the least carbon footprint among the
three with a total of 138.504 kg. The special scholars contribute more to climate change than the
other two scholarship categories because they have the largest overall income that’s why it is
possible for them to own gadgets and appliances that emit more carbon dioxide.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based from the research, it is recommended that a partnership with the local government
be done in to provide a concrete avenue in enacting a comprehensive “Climate Change Agenda”
to ensure that greater awareness among people and sustainable practices be adopted by the local
residents. Moreover, educational campaigns will be very helpful in the second phase of this
research to promote alternative lifestyle among the residents. This means that a lifestyle which is
of low carbon footprint should be embraced by people and that, other luxurious activities and the
use of some gadgets should be avoided as much as possible especially when not that necessary.
Finally, the proponents would recommend that the project be extended to the city, national or
even international level to extend the results of this research. This will create a clearer picture on
the level of carbon footprint contributed by various sectors, communities and nations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Book sources:
Bishop, A. (2008). How to reduce your carbon footprint. USA:Crabtree Publishing
Company. pp. 22-25.
May, E. (2009). Global warming for dummies. USA: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
pp. 334-341.
Mogil, H. (2006). The New Book Of Knowledge, vol.3.
USA: Scholastic Library Publishing, Inc. p.364
Philander, G. (2008). Encyclopedia of global warming, vol.1.
USA: Sage Publishing,Inc. p. 356.
West, K. (2008). Carbon chemistry. USA: Infobase Publishing. p. 84.
Schiffman, H. (2011). Green issues and debates. USA: Sage Publishing, Inc. p 98.
Internet sources:
Carbon Footprint Ltd. (2012). Climate change. Retrieved on January 29, 2012, from
http://www.carbonfootprint.com
David. (2007). CRAGs carbon footprinting worksheet. Retrieved on January 10,
2012, from http://www.carbonrationing.org.uk/file/files/crags-carbon-
footprinting-worksheet?
Pisaybicol. (2012). Admission. Retrieved on March 19, 2012, from
http://sites.google.com/site/pisaybicol/admission
Journals:
Pertsova, C. (2007). Research trends. Ecological economics.p. 93.
Sugar, L. (2011). Cities and greenhouse gas emissions: moving forward. Environment
and Urbanization, vol.23 no.1.pp. 207-217.
Weidema, B. (2008). Carbon footprint. Industrial ecology, vol. 12, issue 1.pp. 12-16.