Updating and further development of the UBA CO₂ calculator

Scientific basis of personal CO₂ footprints: updating and further development of relevant calculation methods and data

Since 2007, ifeu has been working in cooperation with KlimAktiv on the development, expansion, and continuous improvement of the UBA CO2 calculator.

Updating the data basis for the CO2 balance sheet

As part of the current project, the data underlying the balance sheet is updated and documented at the end of each year.

Conceptual revisions of “Other consumption” and “Nutrition”

The focus of further development in this project is on the areas of “Other consumption” and “Nutrition.” Key questions here include:

• Do the scaling factors still correspond to the latest scientific standards?
• How reliable are the consumption expenditure figures, e.g. in comparison to the disposable income figures?
• Does it make sense to differentiate the survey according to different product categories (IT, clothing, furniture)? How could this be achieved?
• Does the survey include all questions relevant to determining the nutritional balance? Are there any questions that can be omitted because they do not generate any variance?
• Can changes in land use also be included in the balance sheet?

Connection to municipal GHG accounting

In addition, the study will examine how the UBA CO2 calculator can be used more extensively for the (simple) recording of consumption activities in municipalities and what role open data concepts can play in this context.

Renewal of the data basis for “My CO2 Scenario”

Finally, the element developed in 2015 for calculating individual climate protection scenarios is to be fundamentally updated, further refined, and calculation methods documented.