The Adelaide Eco-Calculator

The Eco-Calculator is a fun way for people to compare and offset the environmental impact of their journey by different transport methods.

How this will impact Adelaide's carbon emissions

As a population we must be mobile. Our cities and towns are sparsely spread throughout a huge country. We love what urban areas like Adelaide offer in the way of events and amenities and yet many people live in suburbs or rural and regional centres.

Australians are the highest per-capita polluters in the OECD and due to our lifestyle it is perhaps unsurprising that Transport accounts for 14% of our emissions.

Through improvements in technology and infrastructure people now have access to ever more choices in how get get from A-to-B. Until recently the key considerations when choosing a method of transport have been Cost and Convenience, however increasingly it is becoming important for people to understand the environmental impact of their travel.

By providing a fun & engaging way for people to see the impact of their choice of transport you provide the incentive to change behaviour.

This change of behaviour could be to; ride a bicycle rather than drive or more seriously consider a hybrid or electric vehicle.

For some, driving may be the only appropriate option so the Eco-Calculator will provide the option to offset emissions from a journey by supporting a certified carbon offset project.

Climate Friendly will work with the Prize organisers to choose a carbon offset project from our broad suite of projects around the globe. Project options range from; protecting native Australia forest to working with communities in Southeast Asia or Africa to assist in childhood education or local employment.

Methods for calculating carbon emissions are not entirely new and whilst they may be accurate they are almost invariably dull and un-engaging. This Eco-Calculator will be based on the most robust and accurate emissions algorithms but most importantly, it will provide a user experience that is interesting, educational and engaging.

The Eco-Calculator will provide graphical representations of emissions caused by a user’s journey. This includes easy-to-comprehend comparisons of the emissions by different transport types as well as showing visual metaphors for emissions so people better understand their real impact. (A simple example of these metaphors is ’black balloons’). In the case of the project we delivered for UEFA we used the number of soccer balls filled with CO2 as the metaphor.

[The image provided is from our successful ‘Eco-Calculator’ project delivered for the UEFA EURO 2016 Football tournament - see our supporting documentation for more information]