Carbon Footprint Information Research Articles

Will e-consumers wait longer for a more sustainable on-demand food delivery? A choice experiment using green information

ABSTRACT The rapid growth of on-demand food delivery has sparked concerns about its societal and environmental impact. While alternative solutions like group ordering and electric bikes aim to address these issues, their adoption is hindered by inconveniences, mainly due to the longer delivery times, which are critical in food delivery. Price incentives such as discounts have traditionally been used as compensation, but questions about their long-term feasibility persist. This study assesses whether providing carbon footprint information can reduce the reliance on price incentives, especially when compensating for longer delivery times. Through a mixed-design experiment with 215 e-consumers in Greater Jakarta, we found that green information effectively encourages more sustainable delivery choices, similar to discounts. However, combining green information with discounts adds little value, suggesting that emphasizing green information alone could reduce financial costs and foster intrinsic motivation. Additionally, female and younger consumers are more responsive to green information, indicating the potential for targeted sustainability efforts in the on-demand food delivery sector.

PROBLEMS OF CALCULATING THE CARBON FOOTPRINT IN SCOPE 3 USING BIM

The article presents the requirements of the EU EPBD (Energy Performance of Buildings Directive) for counting the carbon footprint (especially in Scope 3) and including it in construction projects from 2030. The obligation to count the carbon footprint will burden mainly designers, who are increasingly using BIM (Building Information Modelling) in the design process. Performing analysis and calculation of the carbon footprint in BIM models is hampered by the lack of nongraphical information on the subject in library components. The paper explains the concept of CO2 in 3 scope, also discusses currently available tools for counting the carbon footprint, and examines how many components available on the Internet already contain non-graphical information on emissions, as well as ideas for implementing this directive. The advantages and disadvantages of these approaches were presented from the perspective of various stakeholders in the planning and investment and construction processes. The aim of the paper was to present possible solutions, ensuring compliance with the EU directive by proposing specific techniques, enabling the calculation of the Scope 3 carbon footprint, using BIM. In addition to a review of existing ideas, an authorial proposal for a national repository of carbon footprint information taking into account all stakeholders was presented.

Carbon footprints on the menu: Exploring consumer choices and perceptions across real-world gastronomic settings.

Dietary changes can contribute to mitigating the environmental impact of human nutrition. Informing consumers can encourage them to choose more sustainable foods, dishes, or dietary styles. One opportunity for information transfer is through carbon footprint data. However, the impact of carbon footprint information or labels on food choices is rarely investigated in real-world settings, and findings remain inconclusive. This study aimed to understand how the carbon footprint on menus influences customers’ actual choices in various gastronomic settings.The carbon footprint of dishes was calculated and presented in different layouts on the menus of a university canteen, various company canteens, a restaurant, and a food truck. Sales figures were compared between an intervention period featuring carbon footprint information, and a control period with the same menu offerings but without such information. Customer perceptions were assessed by a survey.In the university canteen, the average carbon footprint of all chosen dishes decreased significantly by 1.5 percent during the intervention period. However, no significant difference was observed in the other participating facilities. A visualization of the carbon footprint showed no advantage over displaying the numbers alone. The survey revealed predominantly positive perceptions of the provided information among customers but also highlighted a general lack of knowledge about the climate impact of food choices.The results suggest that the effectiveness of carbon footprint information might depend on the gastronomic setting and its population. While many customers claimed that the information influenced their choices, this cannot be confirmed based on the sales figures. Further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of carbon footprint information in supporting consumers to make more sustainable food choices.

Reduced travel emissions through a carbon calculator with accessible environmental data: a case study in Madison, Wisconsin

The echoing environmental toll of the transportation system calls for a drastic need to move beyond carbon-intensive modes of transportation into more sustainable ones. With the rise of emerging modes of transportation, this transition is more promising than ever. In this work, we take a travel-centric approach to promoting and accelerating the transition away from carbon-intensive modes of transportation by informing travelers about their emissions. A carbon calculator—as a function of trip distance and Well-to-Wheel (WTW) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)—was developed and embedded on a website platform. Users would input their trip distance, and the calculator outputs the carbon footprint (CO2e) of the trip if it was to be done through seven different modes: car (gasoline), car (hybrid), car (electric), bus, electric bike, bike, and walking. In addition, the calculator outputs the equivalent of CO2e as cheeseburgers for a more intuitive display. The overall goal of this work is to understand how travelers respond to being exposed to carbon footprint information. This serves as a step forward in realizing a sustainable transportation system. We make available the calculator online through this link. Study results indicated that trip distance, environmental awareness, age, income, and mode of transportation used were the most influential features in predicting modal shifts. Importantly, the majority of modal shifts resulted in reduced CO2e emissions.

Do People Respond to the Climate Impact of their Behavior? The Effect of Carbon Footprint Information on Grocery Purchases

Food production is a primary contributor to climate change, and one way to mitigate its effect is through consumption choices. Finding the most effective way to achieve emissions reduction via consumers behavioral change has recently raised policy-makers' interest but experimental evidence about this is still scarce. In this study, we examine the impact of individualized information about greenhouse gas emissions on grocery purchases. Using a randomized field experiment, we compare the effects of individualized information on the carbon footprint of grocery purchases to individualized information on grocery spending provided through a smartphone app. Compared to the spending information, the carbon footprint information decreases emissions from groceries by 27% in the first month of treatment, with 45% reductions in emissions from beef, the highest emissions food group. Treatment effects fade in the longer run along with app engagement but persist among those engaged with the app. Our results suggest that the provision of emissions information, in particular when paired with sufficient engagement, is a promising avenue for policies to turn food consumption greener.

The influence of disclosing product lifecycle carbon footprint information on consumer purchase intentions based on the APE model perspective: An ERP and questionnaire study

BackgroundCarbon emissions are increasingly becoming the primary cause of climate change, and carbon information disclosure can affect consumer purchase intentions. However, existing studies only focus on the disclosure of carbon information for a single lifecycle stage, gnoring consumers' overall perception process. MethodsThis study uses scenario experiments and event-related potential experiments in combination, based on the associative-propositional evaluation (APE) model, to explore the differences in the impact of disclosing product information with high carbon emissions in different lifecycle stages (production stage, use stage, recycling stage) on consumers' purchase intentions. ResultsThe questionnaire results found that consumers' willingness to purchase products with high carbon emissions in the use stage was the lowest; The behavioral results found that the purchase rate of products with high carbon emissions in the recycling stage was the lowest; The brain electricity results found that products with high carbon emissions in the use stage induced the largest P2 component; Products with high carbon emissions in the recycling stage induced the largest N2 component. ConclusionThe attitudes of evaluation with proposition dominance among consumers tend to attribute carbon emissions in the use stage to their own behavioral choices. The attitudes of evaluation with association dominance among consumers reflect the cognitive conflicts existing in consumers' understanding of carbon emission information during recycling. This study expands the perspective of researching the disclosure effects of product carbon footprints and provides references for corporate marketing strategies and policy formulation.

Life cycle assessment and product carbon footprint for SHG zinc production

The industry’s environmental impact has moved into focus at global level. Regulators, supply chains, and the financial sector need credible, standardized, and transparent information for multiple reasons. These include regulatory targets for limiting emissions, downstream user optimizations, and developing science-based emission reduction strategies. By characterizing environmental impacts, companies can satisfy stakeholder demands and measure progress towards goals. In this paper, an introduction to life cycle assessment (LCA) for reporting on environmental impacts, including the product carbon footprint as global warming potential is given. Average results from the most recent global LCA update for special high-grade zinc production are summarized. Resulting carbon footprint information is then used to derive the zinc industry’s baseline carbon footprint as the starting point for the decarbonization roadmap for the global zinc industry.

How Does Carbon Footprint Information Affect Consumer Choice? A Field Experiment

ABSTRACTThis paper reports the results of a field experiment investigating how attributes of carbon footprint information affect consumer choice in a large dining facility. Our hypotheses and research methods were preregistered via the Journal of Accounting Research’s registration‐based editorial process. Manipulating the measurement units and visualizations of carbon footprint information on food labels, we quantify effects on consumers’ food choices. Treated consumers choose less carbon‐intensive dishes, reducing their food‐related carbon footprint by up to 9.2%, depending on the treatment. Effects are strongest for carbon footprint information expressed in monetary units (“environmental costs”) and color‐coded in the familiar traffic‐light scheme. A postexperimental survey shows that these effects obtain although few respondents self‐report concern for the environmental footprint of their meal choices. Our study contributes to the accounting literature by using an information‐processing framework to shed light on the information usage and decision‐making processes of an increasingly important user group of accounting information: consumers.

Is sufficient carbon footprint information available to make sustainability focused computer procurement strategies meaningful?

End user computing generates 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions therefore contributing to environmental pollution, global warming and ultimately climate change. Research indicates the carbon footprint is predominantly produced by production and use-phase electricity consumption. As such, new international legislation exists to ensure businesses include sustainability criteria when assessing and purchasing computers. Such criteria must include valid science based evidence that the selected devices, contribute to greenhouse gas abatement and net-zero emissions strategies based upon exhibiting a low life cycle carbon footprint. As such, it is reasonable to suggest that sufficient carbon footprint information must be publicly available to enable the selection process to be meaningful. The rationale being that if information is limited or misleading, then accurate identification and comparison between computers cannot be assured. Consequently, the research objective is to quantify availability of end user computing carbon footprint information, examine data uniformity and validity and propose a solution to overcome identified issues. To enable this, asset profiling of 71,990 end user computing devices located at six organisations is undertaken to generate an unbiased data pool representing popular devices used by organisations subject to the new procurement rules. Carbon footprint reports are sought for each unique model identified to examine both scope 2 use-phase emissions and scope 3 supply chain manufacturing emissions data. The findings substantiate that 22% of the 707 unique end user computer models identified have associated published information. The predominant limitation being that only six of the forty-two computer brands identified participate in product carbon footprint reporting. Additionally, methods used to form and present the carbon footprint data are incongruent for both emissions sources. Scope 3 is affected by a feasible range of emissions methodology being adopted by 50% of manufacturers compared to exact values published by the remainder. Scope 2 emissions are affected by a lack of uniformity applied to use location and device retention periods. To overcome the parity issue, a dynamic carbon footprint application is developed to harmonise available data. Consequently, it is concluded that sufficient carbon footprint information is not currently available to make sustainability focused computer procurement strategies meaningful. However, the diffusion of the proposed application and illustrated increased participation from manufacturers to publish data in the near future will enable such strategies to achieve legislative compliance and most importantly, reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with end user computer procurement and use.

Challenges and requirements of exchanging Product Carbon Footprint information in the supply chain

The reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is of high importance to society. Companies therefore have an increasing interest in understanding and reducing the GHG emissions of their supply chains and to generate data to track and prove this, for example by calculating product carbon footprints (PCFs). Besides serious gaps in PCF data within companies and in LCA databases, there is still missing experience and knowledge on how to consistently prepare and exchange these data. Based on our experience as LCA practitioners in the industry, we discuss the key challenges and requirements such as data formats, data quality, confidentiality concerns and comparability issues of PCF data. Aiming to contribute practical recommendations to ongoing initiatives working to enable PCF-exchange along value chains, we scope approaches that match industry requirements.

Determining the impact of information technology greenhouse gas abatement at the Royal Borough of Kingston and Sutton Council

Personal computing generates 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions created by the production, use and end of life treatment of devices such as desktop computers and notebooks. Consequently, legislation exists to encourage organisations to procure computers with a low total carbon footprint. The rationale being that both scope 2 use-phase and scope 3 supply chain emissions can be reduced in the long term to contribute to wider reaching abatement targets. However, research finds that current computer product carbon footprint information is both insufficiently available and inconsistent to enable such a strategy. Further research determines barriers including associated incremental cost and perceived impact also prevent the diffusion of sustainable computing strategies. As such, the case study objective is to examine the impact of overcoming such limitations and barriers within an organisation subject to both the new legislation and a holistic climate emergency. By doing so the research question, 'Can meaningful representation of end user computing carbon footprint data drive human behavioural changes to abate greenhouse gas emissions?' is answered. Conducted over 3-years using newly developed methodologies, end user computer related emissions are quantified within a Greater London Council. Presented in a format reflecting the triple bottom line of corporate and social responsibility accounting, values for planet, people and profit are defined using standard emissions units, environmental equivalents, a per capita ratio and monetary savings. Subsequent behavioural changes driven by access to the new information are fourfold. Firstly, adoption of low energy devices reduces annual scope 2 emissions by 15,841 kgCO2e. Secondly, extended device retention periods displaces 515,190 kgCO2e of supply chain emissions. Thirdly, a new technology enabled remote working scheme is justified and adopted, avoiding 4,516,584 kgCO2e of commuting emissions. Finally, new computer procurement assessment practices are adopted to ensure ongoing abatement is maximised and compliance with legislation exceeded. Consequently, the council responds to the climate emergency strategy via the newly proven sustainable end user computing strategy by reducing energy consumption, waste and contributing to sustainable transport. In total, related emissions are reduced by 39% per year whilst saving £228,418 annually. As such, it is proven that the barriers of cost and perceived impact are surmountable and significant emissions abatement achievable when presented with meaningful information that drives behavioural change.

Make carbon footprints available – And it is not just one value

The carbon footprint (CF) should finally have a role in the decision-making of manufacturing companies, retailers, public procurers and consumers. We consider that more systematic approaches are urgently needed for collecting, storing and presenting carbon footprint information. The key issue from the standpoint of reliability and comparability is to recognise how each CF was determined and how it has been verified. Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) and the connected barcode symbol can be used to identify products. We propose that the presented framework can help to build databases which are easy to use for the manufacturers, retailers and various service providers and which can increase the production and usability of CF information.

Worse is worse and better doesn't matter?: The effects of favorable and unfavorable environmental information on consumers’ willingness to pay

AbstractIncreasing consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for environmentally friendly products is a key challenge for sustainable development in market economies. Still, how consumers react to favorable and unfavorable environmental information of different quantitative extents is largely unknown. This research therefore uses prospect theory and competing theoretical foundations to derive pertinent hypotheses and test them by using a multi‐level structural equation model. The analysis draws on a survey‐based experiment conducted among a representative sample of the German population. Results confirm key assertions of prospect theory. The negative effect caused by unfavorable product carbon footprint information on WTP is stronger than the positive effect caused by respective favorable information. Besides this negativity bias, consumers tend to generally reward or punish deviations of a product's environmental performance from industry average instead of consistently accounting for the size of these deviations. From a sustainable development perspective, the observed patterns highlight a problematic contrast between the need for substantial environmental improvements and limited market incentives for companies. Consequently, political intervention is needed to introduce negative labeling, raise consumers’ reference points, set minimum industry standards, and subsidize companies for radical improvements.

Carbon footprint information, prices, and restaurant wine choices by customers: A natural field experiment

Growing evidence suggests that consumers should be involved in the solutions to climate change. To test the responsiveness of wine consumers to carbon footprint stimuli we set a natural field experiment in a restaurant modifying the choice architecture of wine decisions. We modified wine cards to provide different information and price incentives to consumers to test the effects of two policy interventions for reducing CO2 emissions. Specifically, we test the provision of carbon footprint information and an additional price for carbon emissions. We randomly assigned subjects to four different wine cards. Results show that carbon footprint information alone is not enough to affect wine choices, but its effect becomes significant when combined with a price change. A card showing the carbon footprint of wine bottles and proportionally higher wine prices was associated with choices leading to lower carbon emissions. However, when information about the additional price to offset wine carbon emissions was made explicitly visible to consumers on another card, an opposite effect of an increase in the choice of wines with higher carbon-emitting production processes was observed. This finding indicates that how the price increase is presented can affect wine choices, highlighting the importance of careful information policy design.

An assessment of the carbon footprint of restaurants based on energy consumption: A case study of a local pizza chain in Turkey

ABSTRACT This study calculated the carbon footprint of a local pizza restaurant chain in Izmir, Turkey, based on its operational energy consumption. In Turkey, country-specific greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have not yet been determined and based on legislation, only industrial companies with high emissions are compelled to develop GHG inventory reporting. The study faced several limitations. First, suppliers lack usable carbon footprint information. Second, there are three other local pizza chains in Izmir, which are similar to the one in this case study having more than 10 branches and offering take-home delivery. However, it was also not possible to obtain data from them to make comparisons. Finally, since the case restaurant did not integrate environmental management systems into its organizational structure, it was not possible to use carbon emission assesments under ISO 14064 or PAS 2050. Consequently, because the only reliable data were for the restaurant’s energy consumption our results should be interpreted cautiously when comparing with other types of restaurants in other countries and unavoidable errors should be considered. The Tier 1 approach of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was used to calculate the restaurant’s carbon footprint. Five years of data (2015–2020) were collected from utility bills and purchasing records, which were then converted into CO2 equivalents. Based on this energy consumption data, the restaurant’s carbon footprint was calculated as 1,919.818 tCO2e. To offset this, afforestation was proposed. Specifically, 3,062 trees would have to be planted to make its operations carbon neutral.

Costs of switching to low global warming potential inhalers. An economic and carbon footprint analysis of NHS prescription data in England

ObjectivesMetered-dose inhalers (MDIs) contain propellants which are potent greenhouse gases. Many agencies propose a switch to alternative, low global warming potential (GWP) inhalers, such as dry powder inhalers (DPIs). We...

Innovative product design method for low-carbon footprint based on multi-layer carbon footprint information

At present, analysis and design methods for a product’s carbon footprint are focused mostly on its existing structures, which are difficult to integrate with the conceptual design process of low-carbon, innovative products. To solve this problem, this study proposes a new low-carbon design method based on a multi-layer carbon footprint information model. The hierarchical carbon footprint information model is the combination of direct structural design elements with indirect design elements such as functions and principles. The study also proposes a method for qualitative/semi-quantitative carbon footprint calculation. To achieve this, design information is combined with product structure tree (PST) to form a greenhouse gas (GHG)-product structure tree (G-PST) based on the carbon footprint design information. The influence degree (Id) of each design element in the G-PST is evaluated by the analytical network process (ANP) method and the optimizable degree (Od) of each design element for low-carbon design is obtained. The low-carbon product design is divided into four categories—structure optimization design, principle optimization design, function optimization design, and process optimization design—and the corresponding innovative design strategies are proposed. The results of this research can effectively obtain and standardize various low-carbon design elements, and provide targeted methods and tools for guiding designers to implement innovative low-carbon designs. The effectiveness of this low-carbon design method proposed is then tested on a Haier automatic washing machine, EB72M2JD.

Restaurant menu re-design as a facilitator of more responsible consumer choice: An exploratory and preliminary study

Abstract Food service provision imposes significant environmental and societal impacts. The contemporary customer is getting increasingly conscious about these impacts, which is often reflected in restaurant food choice. The catering industry should foresee this trend in consumer choice and architect it so that it becomes more responsible. This study employs a qualitative method for primary data collection and analysis to explore how various environmental (provenance and carbon footprint) and health (nutritional and calorific) characteristics of food displayed on restaurant menus affect customer choice in the UK. It finds that while presenting the carbon footprint information is generally viewed positively by consumers, managerial and policy reinforcement is necessary for it to become a determinant of consumer choice. Displaying food provenance, nutritional and calorific values is considered paramount and these food attributes should become conventional menu items.

Carbon information on vegetables: How does it affect the buying process?

AbstractInformation on the climate impact of a food product has practically not been communicated in Germany, even though it could provide important acknowledgement of producers’ actions in low‐carbon production. So far, carbon labelling has predominantly been discussed without taking into account German consumers’ opinions (proven by empirical data) on this issue, even though involving the consumer in the considerations of a Carbon Label is essential for its success. Especially the question, if information on the product carbon footprint is a considerable factor within the search process of a purchase decision, was of special interest in this work. To answer these questions, we analysed consumers’ information‐seeking behaviour using an information display matrix (IDM) experiment with 232 participants. The IDM is a process tracing technique which allows to track the information search in a buying process. Our results show that basically the place of origin is the most important criterion for the purchase decision, followed by price and production method (conventional/organic). In contrast, the sustainability information (i.e., carbon footprint and water consumption) are at a low level of importance. Comparing two locally produced products with the help of a multinominal logistic regression‐model, it seems that the group of consumers preferring organic products is influenced in the purchase decision by the carbon footprint information. In summary it can be stated that although some people may be basically interested in carbon labelling of fresh food, the purchase decision would probably be hardly influenced by a carbon label on vegetables at present. The majority of people are more concerned about factors like origin and price so that Carbon Labelling would only be a viable option for a small group of consumers.

Using augmented reality to inform consumer choice and lower carbon footprints

Consumers who wish to consider product attributes like carbon footprints in their purchasing decisions are often blocked from meaningful action by a lack of information. We conducted a randomized controlled trial at a grocery store to evaluate the effects of providing such product attribute and carbon footprint information via augmented reality (AR) displays on bottled water and breakfast cereal, two frequently purchased goods. Using an AR smartphone app that combines comparative and detailed product information into personalized data and recommendations, a 23% reduction in carbon footprint was found for bottled water, and non-significant reductions for breakfast cereal. However, AR informed choice lead to healthier cereal purchases with an average of 32% less sugar, 15% less fat, and 9.8% less sodium. This research suggests that AR techniques can help facilitate complex decision-making and lead to better choices.