ESTIMATIONS OF CARBON FOOTPRINT FROM ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION DURING COVID-19 LOCKDOWN AND PRE-LOCKDOWN IN BUTUAN CITY

Abstract

Abstract. The electricity consumption for commercial, residential, and industrial sectors is considered the primary cause of increasing carbon dioxide emissions. To calculate the carbon footprint, the researcher used Carbon Footprint Ltd. This study aims to quantify the carbon footprint associated with the consumption of electricity by sectors (residential, commercial, industrial, public buildings, and streetlights) in Butuan City during the pre-lockdown period (January and February), and then compare these with the carbon footprint calculated during the lockdown period (March and April 2020). A GIS-based approach was applied to generate the spatial distribution across the 86 barangays of Butuan City. The study findings that the carbon footprint in the lockdown period is ∼ −17% lower than the mean carbon footprint calculated for the pre-lockdown period. In absolute values, the total estimated carbon footprint during the pre-lockdown and lockdown period was ∼ 10,947 mtCo2e and ∼ 9,138 mtCo2e, respectively. Furthermore, the findings imply that the central and northern areas have the highest impact of savings on average ∼ 130 mtCo2e of greenhouse gas avoided by barangays. This research provides quantitative insight to understand the measured generated in lockdown and pre-lockdown periods.