{"id":15007,"date":"2012-10-17T09:56:38","date_gmt":"2012-10-17T15:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=15007"},"modified":"2017-08-02T18:36:58","modified_gmt":"2017-08-02T22:36:58","slug":"carbondiem-transportation-emissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/carbondiem-transportation-emissions\/","title":{"rendered":"CarbonDiem: a New App for Tracking Transportation Emissions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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garryknight<\/a> via photopin<\/a> cc<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In between business leaders speaking about their organizations\u2019 construction projects, and ministers breaking down their government\u2019s emissions targets\u00a0at Base London<\/a>, Andreas Zachariah took to the stage to introduce CarbonDiem<\/a>: a smartphone app<\/a> that measures users\u2019 carbon footprints precisely and on an individual basis. Results can then be scaled up to show whole communities\u2019 habits. The result is both micro and macro carbon monitoring.<\/p>\n

CarbonDiem tracks how users travel: by foot, bicycle<\/a>, car, train, bus, subway or even by plane. It calculates their carbon footprints using an algorithm factored with local transport emissions, and the user\u2019s mode of transport, while preserving privacy by never disclosing users\u2019 locations. This appeals to the self-quantifier in all of us, and appeases the paranoid part that fears being tracked.<\/p>\n

“Self-quantifying” our lifestyle choices \u2013 through pedometers, calorie-counters etc – is a trait of the smartphone age in which we all understand we are ourselves tiny, and so we identify with the tiny details in our own lives. It\u2019s a Feltron-style<\/a> obsessing over details. And, like calories and other quotidian details, our carbon use amounts grain by grain to something far more substantial when seen on a massive scale. CarbonDiem is the interface that gets you closest to your carbon emissions.<\/p>\n

Zac projected a series of graphics onto the wall revealing how delegates had travelled to the conference that morning: whether on foot, by bicycle, car, train, subway or even plane. The data was viewable in various graphs, in terms of carbon, distance, mode of transport etc. Afterwards, Zac explained to me the global potential of CarbonDiem: smartphone density in the US and UK is already over 53% and new transport networks can be loaded to accommodate new territories.<\/p>\n

Transport emissions, smartphone density and travel infrastructure are typically at their highest in the same highly developed countries. A smartphone app is the ideal technology to calculate carbon footprint in these places. Zac and the CarbonDiem team have received awards and won significant contracts in the UK (BBC and BT being the only ones they can disclose). Currently CarbonDiem runs on Blackberry and Android, with Apple capability coming soon. Zac expects they will be operational in North America in the very near future.<\/p>\n

Interview with Zac, founder of CarbonDiem:<\/h3>\n

Hello Zac. What are the most compelling stats on transport and carbon emissions?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Transport is a serious problem. It\u2019s the only sector in the last twenty years not to go down: it currently accounts for around a third of all emissions and is forecast to be more than half of all emissions in the next twenty years.<\/p>\n

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\"european<\/a><\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong> Towards the decarbonization of EU\u2019s transport sector by 2050; www.eutransportghg2050.eu<\/a><\/p>\n

At the same time, North America and the EU are recognised as the two largest contributors of transport Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) and consequently they represent the greatest opportunity too as they suffer from being reliant on imported oil. Fortunately these two economic zones also have the greatest smartphone penetration with more than half of their populus already owning smartphones.<\/p>\n

Emissions from the U.S. transportation sector accounts for 27 percent of the GHG emissions of the entire U.S. economy and 30 percent of the world\u2019s transportation GHG emissions. Without shifts in existing policies, the U.S. transportation sector\u2019s GHG emissions are expected to grow by about 10 percent by 2035, and will still account for a quarter of global transportation emissions at that time.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.c2es.org\/category\/topic\/federal<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What is CarbonDiem?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The CarbonDiem subscription service provides enterprises with transport emissions data and engages their employees with detailed, highly personalised transport carbon profiles. Our USPs include:<\/p>\n