A clearer route to carbon footprinting

Arguing that PCTs face particular problems in collecting data, he believes there is a need for concise practical pointers to help Trusts complete such an exercise, a number of which he presents in this article.                                     

Halton and St Helens Primary Care Trust covers parts of Merseyside and Cheshire, including the towns of Runcorn, Widnes and St Helens, a mixture of urban and rural areas. The Trust decided to commission a carbon footprint study following the launch of the NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy in 2009, which gave the NHS a target of a 10% reduction in carbon from 2007 to 2015. The purpose was to establish the base year data for 2007, so that the Trust could effectively develop a strategy for carbon reduction, and so that its progress in meeting the target could be measured in subsequent years. The NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy1 provided the strategic objectives for the Trust, and detailed guidance on carrying out a carbon footprint study was available in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Guide2 and its accompanying carbon conversion factors.3 The Guide is based on the international standard, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.4 The conversion factors are downloadable as an Excel spreadsheet, and enable the carbon equivalent of emissions to be calculated. The raw data in kWh for energy, or km travelled for vehicles, are input, and a combined total of carbon emissions from the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, given in kg/CO2e. Carbon dioxide is by far the largest component of this “basket” of gases.

Deciding on the scope