The Wild| What Is Our Carbon Footprint?
Awards & Nominations
The Wild has received the following awards and nominations. Way to go!
What Is Our Carbon Footprint?
GHG Emissions NC
Summary
GHG Emissions NC is a front facing website accessible to the general public. This resource displays government collected data related to green house gas emissions in North Carolina. Using the reports and datasets available to us we have created several graphs displaying carbon emissions, sinks and net emissions.
How We Addressed This Challenge
To address the carbon footprint challenge, our team has developed an easily accessible website displaying graphs of carbon emissions data in North Carolina, Western North Carolina emissions data and a tool to help individuals calculate their carbon footprint. To begin, we collected data from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality, using their Green House Gas Inventory a source that displays past, present, and future greenhouse gas emissions as well as carbon sinks data in North Carolina. Using that data, we produced graphs displaying North Carolina’s main sources of greenhouse gas emissions and data related to carbon sinks. Furthermore, we built graphs displaying North Carolina’s data on carbon sinks, and we wrote a paragraph about the vitality of such on our website. Next, we mapped local sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and found the Jackson Manufacturing Company and Evergreen Packaging plants contribute to a large portion of our local area’s carbon footprint. We made this information clear and accessible, as members of Jackson and Haywood counties are now able to access data regarding the emission factors in the area. By creating this, we hope to achieve environmental awareness in Western North Carolina, encourage environmental sustainability, and educate policy makers.
As time progresses, we hope to add more reliable information to our website, make our graphs interactive for users and create further future predictions. If we had unlimited resources and time, we would make the graphs fully interactive, gather more unique local data, and add more pages to the website.
How We Developed This Project
With the overall environmental state of our planet destabilizing everyday, our team decided to choose a topic that every human relates to, carbon footprint. The inspiration came from simply looking at the world around us. The wildfires spreading across the globe, witnessing global warming first-hand, and a decision to take action. We approached this project with an open hand, wanting to take into consideration every greenhouse gas emission we could. First, we brainstormed ways in which we could develop the most effective tools to help inform the local communities and those around the world. Second, we gathered information about carbon emissions in North Carolina and proceeded to develop the information into a user friendly website.
The tools and software we utilized were mainly NASA worldview, animoto video, and the client facing website maker Godaddy. With the time provided, we were able to achieve and integrate informational graphs/datasets about GHGs, lay out easy-to-read statistics about local plants’ emissions and redirect viewers to an emission calculator.
How We Used Space Agency Data in This Project
Due to the data.NASA site's unavailability during the challenge, we were not able to incorporate as many NASA sources as we were hoping too. However, the sources used for our data points were pulled from reliable, government sites and NASA's Worldview was accessed to create a video resource.
Project Demo
GHG Emissions NC - Website: https://ghgemissionsnc.godaddysites.com/
GHG Emissions NC - Introduction Video: https://youtu.be/kcoGwSbvJRI
GHG Emissions NC - Google Slides introduction: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Bz_eZLZMyuaZ7cFco2uV9tJYW2ubhgM1evw5H4BYdJo/edit?usp=sharing
Data & Resources
Gavin Newsom, Governor of California. Executive Order N-79-20. September 23, 2020. https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/9.23.20-EO-N-79-20-text.pdf
- This executive order details how the sale of new gasoline fueled vehicles is forbidden within the state of California. This executive order has been reviewed and included in reference to current efforts being made toward reducing carbon emissions.
Johnson, B. Canton Mill Ups its Air Quality Game. March 28, 2018. https://www.themountaineer.com/news/canton-mill-ups-its-air-quality-game/article_a991e096-31b9-11e8-86d1-7f881c12b790.html
- This resource is included for its research behind converting a local mill from coal fuel to natural gas. The related datasets based on tons per year of SO2 emitted are sourced as well.
NASA. Worldview. Accessed October 4, 2020.https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/
- This resource was used to track surface air temperatures in yearly increments. We created an animated gif showing the surface air temperatures in the USA every July 1st from 2003 until 2020.
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. Air Quality Trends in
North Carolina. December 2018.
https://files.nc.gov/ncdeq/Air%20Quality/Air_Quality_Trends_in_North_Carolina_122118.pdf
- This article is sourced to provide a comparison in North Carolina's SO2 emissions. We used the data to compare the average emissions to Evergreen Packaging and Buncombe County's Duke Power Plant.
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. Jackson Paper Manufacturing Company -Application Review. July 25, 2018. https://files.nc.gov/ncdeq/Air%20Quality/permits/2019_public_notice_documents/permit_reviews/20190204_Jackson_rev.pdf
- This application contains the carbon emissions data from the Jackson Paper Manufacturing Company paper mill and what fuels are consumed within the plant.
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality. NC Green House Gas Inventory Report. January 2019. https://files.nc.gov/ncdeq/climate-change/ghg-inventory/GHG-Inventory-Report-FINAL.pdf
- This data set displays green house gas emissions data collected from 1990-2018 and estimates from 2019-2030. Using the dataset we compiled graph data and predictions for future emissions levels in NC.
Roy Cooper, Governor of North Carolina. State of North Carolina’s Recommendation on Boundaries For the 2010 1-Hour Sulfur Dioxide National Ambient Air Quality Standard. January 13, 2017. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-01/documents/nc_so2_boundary_recommendation_narrative_01_13_2017_-_final.pdf
- This publication was sourced for its existing dataset of SO2 emissions from North Carolina manufacturing plants.
Tennessee Valley Authority. Bull Run Fossil Plant. Accessed October 4, 2020. https://www.tva.com/energy/our-power-system/coal/bull-run-fossil-plant
- This article is sourced to help a viewer of the site understand the magnitude of the issue behind GHG emissions.
Thompson, A. What is a Carbon Sink? December 21, 2012. https://www.livescience.com/32354-what-is-a-carbon-sink.html
- This article is sourced to provide insight on what a carbon sink is and how they impact net CO2 emissions.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. Carbon Footprint Calculator. Accessed October 4, 2020.
https://www3.epa.gov/carbon-footprint-calculator
- This carbon footprint calculator is linked within our website to assist people with understanding their personal carbon emissions.