Footprinting in a course on energy

TL;DR

This paper discusses integrating footprint analysis into an energy course to teach students about climate impact assessment and life cycle carbon footprinting through classroom activities.

Contribution

It introduces college-level activities focused on process-based life cycle carbon footprinting for educational purposes.

Findings

Provides practical classroom activities for footprint analysis.

Enhances understanding of climate impact assessment.

Bridges theory and practice in energy education.

Abstract

Footprints provide a way to estimate the relative impact of processes and products on the global climate. Including footprint analysis in a course on energy simultaneously provides students with an understanding of this tool and a quantitative guide to approaches that address climate change. College-level classroom activities for (primarily) process-based life cycle carbon footprinting are discussed.