In 2019, the university was screened using ADEME’s bilan carbone® benchmark method. Knowing your carbon footprint is the essential first step in any institution-level energy-transition initiative. Estimating UCLouvain’s overall greenhouse gas emissions using a recognised and credible method allows us to adopt a macroscopic point of view conducive to the development of a relevant action plan.
Calculation parameters :
- Baseline year : 2017
- Operational area : almost all campuses (excluding hospitals, private housing, and the Charleroi campus).
- Operational realities: activities related to administration, teaching, research, or student life.
The largest contributor to the university’s emissions is the mobility of more than thirty thousand students and six thousand staff at 54% of the overall carbon footprint. This is followed by 35% for energy consumption linked to educational and office buildings. The fastest growing component is digital data exchange on the internet, which accounts for 3.3%. In 2019, data increased by 50% compared to 2017, the baseline year.
The university’s total emissions:
-
68 500 tonnes éq. CO2
-
which comes 2,23 tonnes éq. CO2 per student
-
or 1,88 tonnes éq. CO2 per person, students and employees combined.
CO2 equivalent is the unit used when assessing carbon impact. It was created by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) in order to compare different greenhouse gases and calculate emissions.