Carbon Calculator

An interesting new site which calculates carbon emissions from particular places in the UK.

PBCC is a free tool which estimates the per-person carbon footprint for every Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) in England. LSOAs are small statistical areas with a population of about 1,500. It draws on a wide range of data and research to give a representative view of how carbon footprints vary across the country. PBCC is intended to help communities and policy makers understand where their carbon footprints come from and what we need to do to reduce them.

Use the map to zoom to your area of interest then click on an LSOA for more details.

How are the carbon footprints calculated?

To calculate an exact carbon footprint requires a lot of detailed information on individual behaviours and consumption patterns. Unfortunately, this kind of data does not exist for everybody in England. Instead, this tool draws on the best available data and research for each part of our carbon footprint. When we have detailed local data, we use it, such as for gas and electricity consumption. But for other types of consumption, such as food, we rely on surveys and modelling to fill in the gaps. Together these methods give an overview of the total carbon footprint for an LSOA. We then divided the total footprint by the number of people living in the LSOA to get an average carbon footprint per person. We use this measure as it easy to understand and compare across different areas. But it is important to remember that within an LSOA there may be significant variation from person to person.