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The environmental accounting sector is rapidly changing and we are constantly researching developments to stay up to date. The “Best Foot Foreword” page shares some of our findings on recent developments in the sector, media reports and our news. If you would like to be kept up to date on our blog, subscribe to our RSS feed.
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Sign up to free 10:10 version of Footprinter
Thu 03 Dec 2009
Best Foot Forward are supporting the UK’s 10:10 campaign to get businesses, government and individuals to reduce their carbon emissions by at least 10% in 2010. As well as offering technical assistance to the 10:10 team, BFF are pleased to make available a FREE version of their popular Footprinter software which has been specially set-up to meet the campaign’s reporting requirements for businesses. Register for your free 10:10 version here. Learn more about footprinter.
It is exactly rocket science ...
Tue 01 Dec 2009
BFF has been commissioned to look at the carbon footprint of satellite communications, such as television and internet services. Having previously footprinted various types of passenger and freight aircraft, helicopters and hot air balloons, the prospect of investigating the rocket-powered transport of satellites held no fear for our analysts... but it did yield its fair share of surprises.
Rockets are not quite as impactful on the environment as one might think. They are fuelled using a hydrogen/oxygen mix with the former often derived from either ethanol or extracted from water using renewable energy (there is a hydro-electricity plant at Kourou - near French Guiana Space Centre).
Once in orbit satellites are, of course, entirely solar-powered. According to one study, a launch of one Ariane 5 rocket produces fewer carbon emissions than a single jumbo jet flight from London to New York.
Footprinter.com goes live!
Thu 26 Nov 2009
Today is a big day at Best Foot Forward. We are launching our latest Footprinter™ carbon accounting software and supporting website. Footprinter™ has been in development for over three years now and has been used by many of our clients including Hertfordshire County Council and the Forestry Commission. We have also produced dedicated, standalone editions for clients including FIRA, Amec, and Chicago2016. Visit Footprinter.com for product insight, demonstrations and instant access to free versions of Footprinter™.
Snowcarbon: training to the slopes
Fri 20 Nov 2009
Personal travel and particularly flying are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, as we know. Winter ski trips are hugely popular, but from the UK the most common mode of travel is still by plane even when many European resorts can be readily reached by train.
Daniel Elkan is a journalist who has been writing for several years about better travel options to reach the slopes, but he became frustrated by the lack of any coherent travel planning resources. So, with a number of partners, Daniel developed snowcarbon.co.uk to enable skiers to plan their travel to different resorts by train.
Here at BFF we really liked his idea, which provides a solution to promote low carbon travel. We offered support in kind, with calculations of comparative emissions to reach each resort by different modes. Of course the resorts themselves still have a significant environmental impact, but research has shown that travel is the most significant source of emissions and snowcarbon offers a neat solution to help skiers to reduce their footprints. You can visit snowcarbon to learn more, and to book your ski trip by train.
Best Foot Foreword - Back to the Blog
Fri 13 Nov 2009
Apologies, it has been a prolonged absence from our ‘regular’ blog so we thought Friday 13th was a perfect date to start posting again. The period of silence (approaching two months now!) has been caused by a furious flurry of activity within the company. We have recruited two new consultants to add skills and capacity, particularly for our more strategic work, and have been kicking off a host of exciting new projects. In the coming weeks, we will be launching our latest Footprinter™ enterprise carbon accounting software, and will be updating our site with staff profiles, recent case studies, new content...and of course regular blog entries.
Earth Overshoot Day 2009
Thu 24 Sep 2009
On Friday September 25th, humanity will officially have demanded all the ecological services – from filtering CO2 to producing the raw materials for food – that nature can produce this year. In other words, more than three months before year end we will have consumed as much as the planet can sustainably provide in a year. To put it another way, to support our current level of global consumption we would need the earth to be about one-third larger.
Since the mid 1980s, humanity has been demanding ecological services faster than the planet can regenerate them, a condition known as ecological overshoot. “Our demand for natural resources is, quite simply, outstripping supply.” Says BFF’s Technical Director Craig Simmons. “The evidence is all around us; the concentration of pollutants in our atmosphere is increasing, forests are shrinking, fish stocks are being depleted, potable water is becoming scarcer and top soil is being eroded.” As a big consumer of natural resources, the UK economy went into overshoot much earlier in the year; May 22nd. Less that six months into the year, more resources were consumed than the UK could sustainably provide throughout a whole year.
BFF recruitment deadline: 30th September
Tue 22 Sep 2009
We are looking to expand our team, and specifically are interested in employing a sustainability consultant who can assist with business development, project management and project delivery. The post is for someone to join our close-knit team and bring their own expertise and ideas to strengthen the work produced by BFF. For more information please download the job specification here, and we hope to hear from you.
Guardian features print vs. online study
Fri 18 Sep 2009
The Guardian online has featured a study BFF conducted for Reed Elsevier on the relative carbon merits of online versus conventional delivery of publications. The study, which examined the journal 'Fuel', presented a number of interesting findings - for instance if a user was going to spend more than 40 minutes reading a paper online it would be better for them to print an article.
A growing percentage of Reed Elsevier's revenue comes from the online part of their business – over 50% last year compared with 37% in 2006 - and so they consider it important to properly assess the environmental impacts of new delivery methods.
The study looked at the full life cycle impact of production: preparation, typesetting, printing/distribution, online hosting, and end user behaviour. We reviewed the overall impact of production (both direct such as utilities/fuel use and indirect such as materials and waste) utilising two years of data to compare the efficiency of both delivery channels.
As a result of the study, Reed Elsevier are tackling business travel and commuting emissions (a very significant part of the product footprint). They are also surveying online customers to see if a tool providing advice on the environmental impact of their usage behaviour would be of interest.
Other recommendations included licensing remote journal printing for paper copy subscribers which would cut carbon emissions by 11%.
A summary of our report is available here.
BFF footprints Jamie's American roadtrip
Tue 08 Sep 2009
BFF was commissioned to footprint Jamie Oliver's latest culinary adventure so that the celebrity chef could offset the emissions of the new TV series as it traveled around the United States. The total carbon footprint - 243 tonnes - covered all flights, hotel stays and car travel (including early research trips by the production company). The study will also be used to see how emissions from future series can be reduced.
To offset these emissions Jamie helped fund a number of projects with Climate Care - including one to improve the energy efficiency of cooking stoves in Cambodia. This is believed to be the first time a TV travel series has become 'carbon neutral'.
'Jamie's American Roadtrip' visited New York, Los Angeles, Arizona, Louisiana, Georgia and Wyoming over an eight-month shoot but often with long gaps between each location. The series will be shown on Channel 4 in September - with a book to follow.
Supporting the 2009 Carbon Show
Tue 01 Sep 2009
BFF is pleased to have become a media partner with The Carbon Show – a one-stop-show for all things carbon taking place 29-30th September in London. Visit the The Carbon Show website to see our carbon footprint report of a previous Haymarket conference, use our carbon footprint software for free and find out more about the show. We’ve secured discount entry for our friends so you can visit us for free….we’ll keep you posted!