THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY ANGELICA MILETTE SUNICO ADRIANO CARBON FOOTPRINT ESTIMATION OF TRANSPORTATION OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY STUDENTS IN THAI NGUYEN, VIETNAM BACHELOR THESIS Study Mode: Full-time Major: Environmental Science and Management Faculty: Advanced Education Program Office Batch: 2018 – 2021 Thai Nguyen, 01/10/2022 Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry Degree Program Bachelor of Environmental Science and Management Student name Angelica Milette Sunico Adriano Student ID DTN1754190026 Carbon Footprint Estimation of Transportation of Thai Thesis Title Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry Students in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam Supervisor (s) Dr. Ho Ngoc Son Supervisor’s Signature ii Abstract: Global warming is an issue that is needed to be addressed all over the world. Human activities have been the main source of climate change. Vietnam ranked 30th of the world’s biggest energy emitter of CO2.
The transportation sector in Vietnam plays a big role in that number. One of the sectors that use transportation on a daily basis is school moreover, universities. Universities must provide annual environmental assessments which also indicate the CO2e of students, faculty and staff. Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry needs to have a tangible value of the CO2e of students’ transportation to allow the decision makers to assess the environmental impacts of the said activity.
Using distance-based method and emission factors, the researcher was able to identify the estimated tCO2e of students which was ranging from 0.93 tCO2 per semester. And at the 5% level of significance, the study show that there is a sufficient evidence to conclude that the CO2e from academic transportation of students living in the dormitory and students living in their hometown has a significant difference. The CO2e of students from hometown is higher because the distance travelled by vehicles is longer and farther than of the students from dormitory. carbon footprint, carbon footprint analysis, transportation Keywords: emission factors, university, greenhouse gas (GHG), online survey Number of pages: 01/10/2022 Date of Submission: iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I’m very grateful to the Lord for giving me His grace, love, mercy, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.
If it weren’t for Him I wouldn’t be able to these things. His supplication is what kept me going and He is also my inspiration to continue doing the best in life. I can’t take the credit for this success because you alone shall be glorified for your greatness and your mercy. Thank you, Lord! I would love to give many thanks to my family, Mommy Rolette and Daddy Mike for your undying love and support.
I hope I made you both really proud and honoured. I love you both so much! To Henry, thank you so much for always being by my side and helping me in every way that you can. You are truly amazing and such a wonderful soul. Cheers for all the all-nighters we pushed through just to finish our thesis.
To my Vietnam family, JC, Elisha, Jemimah, Stefanie, Raphael, Duc, Isaiah, James, Ronnieca, and Hanna, many thanks for always supporting each other no matter what situation we’re in. To my baby girl, Elibap, thanks for making me sane and for being my “pahinga” in all the stress/mess I’m in. You are such a blessing. To my advisor, Dr.
Ho Ngoc Son, thank you for accepting me as your student and thanks for helping me finish my research paper. And to everyone that has been a part of this journey, with all of my heart I would like to give thanks. Angelica Milette Sunico Adriano iv This Bachelor’s Thesis is dedicated to God the Father and my family for their undying love and support. Lord God My dad, Mike Erwin Baluyot Adriano & My mom, Rolette Sunico Adriano You have always been my source of strength and my inspiration all throughout this journey.
Finally, we can all say, I made it. v TABLE OF CONTENT List of Figures. 1 List of Tables. 2 List of Abbreviations.
Research Question And Hypotheses. Scope And Limitations. Definition Of Terms. Carbon Footprint Emission Calculation In Universities.
Transportation Carbon Footprint Data Analysis. Gathered Transportation Carbon Footprint Data. Co2 Emission Of Students (Per Semester). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION.
30 vi vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2. Transportation Accounts For 29% of U. Greenhouse Gas Emissions…. Annual CO2 Emissions in the World………………………………….
University CFs per capita and year relative to national per capita footprints………………………………………………………………………………12 Figure 3. Different Modes of Transportation Used by Students Staying at the Dormitory……………………………………………………………………………. Different Modes of Transportation Used by Students Staying on Their Hometown……………………………………………………………………………. Estimated CO2e of Students' per Mode of Transportation (From Dormitory)………………………………………………………………………….
Estimated CO2e of Students' per Mode of Transportation (From Hometown) ………………………………………………………………………….23 1 LIST OF TABLES Table 3. List of Emission Factor for Each Mode of Transportation in tCO2e/km………18-19 Table 4. Descriptive Statistics………………………………………………………24 2 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AEP – Advanced Education Program CF – Carbon Footprint GHG – Greenhouse Gas INDC - Intended Nationally Determined Contribution PEMS - Portable Emission Measuring Systems TUAF – Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry 3 PART I. RESEARCH RATIONALE Carbon dioxide matters because it absorbs and radiates heat that is essential to balance Earth’s temperature but due to the excessive anthropogenic carbon dioxide emission, it became responsible of the two-thirds of Earth’s total energy imbalance.
The major source for global climate change is anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, an urgent issue that different countries and international organizations are working to address (IPCC, 2006). Since the 1980s, environmental challenges have developed on our planet as a result of rapid population growth, industrialization, urbanization, and technological breakthroughs (Borucke et. According to The World Bank (2016), Vietnam is in the 30th ranking of the world's biggest energy producer and emitter of CO2. As of 2014, the value of CO2 emissions (metric tons per capita) was 1.
Vietnam’s willingness to participate in responding to climate change is seen by their effort to put up Vietnam’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) which covers a wide range of national policies and specific mitigation and adaptation actions for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change. The entire economy, including the transport sector is covered by the INDC’s mitigation measures. In 2019, the transportation sector accounts for over 10.8% of the country's CO2 emissions and is expected to rise at a rate of 6-7% each year, resulting in nearly 70 million tons of CO2 (Anh, 2019). Universities, as educational, research, and community service organizations, play a vital role in promoting sustainability and should serve as a model for other 4 organizations, as well as to produce graduates that are capable in maintaining sustainable living (Cordero et.
Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry (TUAF), founded in the year 1969, is one of the trusted members of Thai Nguyen University. In a span of 50 years, TUAF was able to constantly grow and transform and is now aiming to be an eco-friendly and green campus. Activities of students play a huge role in contributing to higher carbon emissions (Qafisheh et. Furthermore, the CF is a highly useful decision-making tool that allows organizations, including universities, to exert greater control over their activities that have an environmental impact, as well as providing a tangible value that allows the environmental impact to be compared to that of other academic institutions (Robinson et.
Moreover, this study will estimate the CO2e of TUAF students. The acquired data can also serve as surveillance to Vietnamese government on what they can do to lessen personal CF of the students that are both residents and foreigners living here in Vietnam. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES This study aims to determine these objectives: 1. To estimate the academic transportation carbon emission of TUAF students.
To determine the most used mode of transportation of the students. To provide quantifiable data to the school so it can be used for future purposes. RESEARCH QUESTION AND HYPOTHESES The researcher aimed to answer these questions: • What is the estimated carbon footprint of students living in the dormitory and in their hometown by their academic transportation habit? 5 The researcher hypothesizes; 1. Null hypothesis (Ho) – The CO2e from academic transportation of students living in the dormitory is the same with the CO2e from academic transportation of students living in their hometown.
Alternative hypothesis (Ha) - The CO2e from academic transportation of students living in the dormitory is different from the CO2e from academic transportation of students living in their hometown. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS The scope of the study is mainly focused on the estimated CO2e of students’ academic transportation in the 1st semester of academic year 2020-2021. However, there are limitations considered such as; - the lack of existing annual CO2e data in TUAF, - the distance travelled is only from point a to point b, which indicates that the data acquired is only a one-way trip from the place the students are staying to their university and not vice-versa, - only the average emission factor per vehicle is used, regardless of the brand and model of the vehicle, and; - the flexibility of the schedule of the students was not indicated as a factor to consider 1. DEFINITION OF TERMS Academic transportation is the transportation of students from the point where they are staying to the place where they study such as classrooms, buildings or school itself.
6 Anthropogenic greenhouse gases is simply personal GHGs. It is due to personal activities of humans that emit GHG and precursors. Carbon footprint is the entire amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane) produced by our actions. Emission factor is a representative figure that seeks to link the amount of a pollutant emitted into the atmosphere with the activities connected with that release.
CARBON FOOTPRINT Since 1800, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels have risen from 279 to 397 parts per million, owing mostly to fossil fuel use (EPA, 2008). Over the last few years, the term "carbon footprint" has become quite popular, especially in the media (Qafisheh, 2017). The carbon footprint is essentially the total amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) released that can be linked to a certain action, process, organization, or entity. The concept is adaptable, and it is strongly reliant on scope and technique specifications (Li, 2015).
For example, depending on the amount of gas consumed and the distance travelled, the combustion of petrol produces a specific amount of CO2 (Qafisheh et al. Food transportation between countries utilizing air routes has been reported to emit a large quantity of carbon in recent years (Konicyzni, 2013). Our vehicles have one of the highest product-specific carbon footprints (McIntosh & Pontius, 2017). Transportation plays a major role in our daily lives.
Even before we use different modes of transportation to go a desired place. 95 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions from transportation are carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is produced by cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks that run on normal gasoline, diesel, and other fuels. These cars account for nearly two-thirds of transportation-related emissions, making transportation the second-largest source of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States (see figure 2.
Transportation Accounts For 29% of U. Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration, 2010) Construction, housing, food, clothes, mobility, manufactured items, services, and trade are the eight areas we look at (Hertwich & Peters, 2009) when quantifying GHGs especially carbon emissions. Carbon calculations are in high demand since the generation of significant amounts of greenhouse gases has had a negative impact on global climate conditions.
Several strategies, ranging from simple online calculators to extensive lifecycle examinations or input/output based systems, have been proposed to provide approximations (Terry, 2015). And to be able to compute such CF it needs to be associated with ecological footprint. The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted is commonly measured in tons per year (Qafisheh et al.