Carbon Footprint of Products (CFP) – Measuring and analyzing greenhouse gas emissions: challenges for our future

DQS works with the German Association for Standardization (DIN) to develop an international standardThe Carbon Footprint of any given product comprises all green-house gases that arise during that product’s entire life cycle and along the entire chain of value generation. In the context of the ongoing discussion on global warming and reduction of CO2 emissions, the term “Carbon Footprint” has become the popular benchmark term for measuring environmental impact. It allows for the identification and analysis of emission generators and poten-tial for reduction. In line with the goal of becoming “CO2-neutral”, this potential may be found in increased energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy, or the compensation for unavoidable emis-sions using offset certificates.

The generic requirements of ISO 14040 (Environmental manage-ment – Life cycle assessment -- Principles and framework) and ISO 14044 (Environmental management – Life cycle assessment -- Requirements and guidelines) can be used to calculate Carbon Footprint. Currently, there is neither a uniform method nor uni-form databases available for calculating CFP. On account of the significance of this topic, therefore, ISO has established a work-ing group (ISO/TC 207 Carbon Footprint of Products) to develop a standard for CFP. International standard ISO 14067 Carbon Foot-prints of Products is scheduled for publication in spring 2011.

For Germany, input is being delivered by a national mirror com-mittee that Fred Wenke, DQS Product Manager for Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety Management, is a member of. In addition, the German DIN has tasked DQS with participation in their INS Project (Innovation through norms and standards), where Dr. Eric Werner-Korall is team leader.

DQS starts pilot project in Malaysia While all this seems to be going on in Europe alone, the impact of such legislation has far-reaching effects throughout the world. DQS just finished the first pilot audit on the basis of the German Bio-mass-Electricity-Sustainability Ordinance (BioSt-NachV) in Malaysia. The ordinance, which is designed to promote the use of biomass for the production of energy, has international significance: the Malay-sian company that was assessed will use this to demonstrate that their products come from responsibly managed plantations. An in-depth report on this can also be found in this Newsletter.

For more information on these and related subjects, see the following bi-lingual websites:

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/energy/renewable_energy/en0009_en.htmhttp://www.pcf-projekt.de/main/news/?lang=en

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