Personal carbon footprint reduction: ICT as a key enabler

During the past decade, one of the key concerns being faced around the world is climate change, primarily caused by global warming. This warming of the Earth has been attributed to the ‘enhanced greenhouse effect’, which is in turn caused by human induced release of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere . Human beings contribute to this enhanced greenhouse effect in their daily activities through different main sources, including household energy use and travel . Since it is easier to manage what can be measured, it is important to effectively measure and quantify carbon emissions. One popular quantitative expression of GHG emissions from an activity is ‘carbon footprint’ and is helpful in carbon emissions management as well as assessment of mitigation measures. However, manually determining the carbon footprint of an individual involves formula-based calculation and has been found to be complex due to the involved parameters in the calculation process. As a solution to this problem, several online carbon footprint calculators have emerged that do not only help human beings to measure their carbon emissions, but also help to track and advise on mitigation practices. This paper discusses how ICT is a key enabler of personal carbon footprint reduction after a study conducted within a tertiary education institution so as to understand whether employees are effectively using this emerging tool to mitigate the problem of growing carbon emissions around the world.