Calculate Your Carbon Footprint Just By Carrying Your Phone
by Jaymi Heimbuch, Central Coast, California on 09.29.08
Image Credit: The Guardian
A new software app for your phone takes all the calculating part out of figuring your carbon footprint. All you have to do is carry your phone around - which most of us do anyway - and it does the calculations for you. But, that also means it knows what you're doing at all times.
In a nutshell, the app, called Carbon Diem, uses your phone's GPS to track how you're moving, guesses your mode of transportation, and figures out your carbon footprint.
Carbon Diem's inventors claim that, by using GPS to measure the speed and pattern of movement, their algorithm can identify the mode of transport being used. It can therefore calculate the amount of carbon dioxide that a journey has emitted into the atmosphere – without any need for input from the traveller.
We already know there are myriad ways to calculate carbon footprints, all of which require the user to do some inputting and figuring in order to get an output. The fact is, it might be fun once or twice, but continually inputting your info in order to track your habits can get pretty old. Systems like Carbon Diem and Ecorio make it a whole lot easier to track your habits and cut your footprint down. And with Carbon Diem, it takes virtually no effort.
He has tested the software in Nokia and Blackberry phones, using computer algorithms to predict the kind of transport a person is taking. He claims that in tests over the past year, the software was almost 100% accurate in working out when people were on airplanes or trains; it was between 65-75% accurate at guessing when people travelled on buses.
Via The Guardian
More on Carbon Footprint Calculators:
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BP's Carbon Footprint Calculator
Carbon Calculator for Online Shopping Measures Footprint of E-Commerce
More on Eco-Conscious Phone Apps:
Ecorio Shows New Android Users Their Carbon Footprint
20 Ways Your iPhone Can Save You Gas, Energy, Time and Money
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interesting concept! it wouldn't know if you were carpooling though.
What about bikes?
Nor does it know whether you car is gas, diesel, biodiese or electricl, or whether the bus is diesel, natural gas, or biodiesel. It doesn't know if you're a vegetarian or heat your home with passive solar. We need to admit that there's no way to definitively calculate our environmental impact and the only thing we know for sure is that it needs to be lower.
While there are some inherent issues with the design, any application that makes it easier for users to easily get a sense for their footprint is a good thing because if you made the App more accurate (i.e. users had to put in mode of transport, type of fuel used, etc.) we know that not many people would use it. The more simple the tool for people to use, the more people will use it. Research has shown that just being aware of your impact through a device like this one, leads to a minimum 20% reduction in actual footprint.