Methods and systems for automating carbon footprinting

Abstract

Methods and systems for automating carbon footprinting are disclosed. In some embodiments, the methods include a plurality of steps. In some embodiments, related to predetermined resources associated with an item from predetermined data sources is obtained. Then, estimated emission factors are calculated for each of the resources. Next, a contributory uncertainty of the data and of the emission factors is determined. Then, a user is guided based on a comparison of the respective contributory uncertainty of data related to the resources or emission factors. Next, both data related to the resources and the estimated emission factors of the resources are utilized to determine a carbon footprint of the item.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer storage media encoded with computer program instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a computer device to perform operations for determining the carbon footprint of an item, said operations comprising:
 categorizing at least one predetermined resource in a cluster of similar resources;   obtaining an average estimated emission factor ( EF   Cluster,i ) for each cluster;   obtaining an estimated price (Price i ) of each of said at least one predetermined resource;   calculating said emission factor (EF i,estimated ) according to the following:
     EF   i,estimated   =a+b ·ln(   EF     Cluster,i )+ c ·ln(Price i )
 
   wherein a, b, and c are coefficients.   
     
     
         2 . A system for determining the carbon footprint of an item, said system comprising:
 a data automation module for obtaining data related to predetermined resources associated with an item from predetermined data sources;   an emission factor estimator module including a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for calculating estimated emission factors for each of said resources, said instructions including:
 categorizing a resource in a predetermined cluster of similar resources; 
 obtaining an average estimated emission factor ( EF   Cluster,i ) for each cluster; 
 obtaining an estimated price (Price i ) of said resource; 
 calculating said emission factor (EF i,estimated ) according to the following:
     EF   i,estimated   =a+b ·ln(   EF     Cluster,i )+ c ·ln(Price i )
 
 
 wherein a, b, and c are coefficients. 
   a calculation module for utilizing data related to said resources and said estimated emission factors for said resources to determine a carbon footprint of said item.