The carbonr package provides a user-friendly,
open-source tool for calculating carbon-equivalent emissions based on
various sources, primarily the UK Government’s greenhouse gas reporting
guidelines (Department for Energy Security and
Net Zero 2023).
Designed for flexibility and ease of use, carbonr
enables users from different sectors to estimate emissions from travel,
construction, office environments, and, more recently, clinical
settings, thereby aiding in informed decision-making for environmental
impact reduction.
Climate change and environmental sustainability are pressing global challenges that require sophisticated methods for assessing and mitigating carbon emissions across various sectors (World Health Organisation 2021). Accurate carbon accounting is important for understanding and reducing environmental impacts; however, the tools available to researchers and practitioners often fall short in terms of flexibility, transparency, and accessibility.
Traditional carbon accounting tools often involve manual calculations using spreadsheets or proprietary software. For example, the UK Government provides Excel-based templates {Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (2023)}, and the Carbon Footprint Calculator is one online calculator to estimate emissions (Carbon Footprint Ltd. 2024). These tools, while comprehensive, are often not easily adaptable to different sectors or use-cases. Additionally, they lack the reproducibility offered by an open-source solution which could automate calculations and provide a more streamlined, adaptable approach. These limitations can hamper scientific advancements and the widespread adoption of best practices in accounting for carbon emissions.
Current open-source solutions have a limited scope; for example,
co2calculator in Python focusses on calculations related to
heating, electricity, business trips, and transportation (Pledge4Future 2024). Similarly,
footprint in R specialises in air travel emissions (Team 2021). These tools are not comprehensive
enough to address the diverse needs of users who require a broader range
of emission activities.
To address these issues, carbonr offers an open-source
solution that improves the reproducibility of carbon emission
calculations and enhances the understanding of these emissions within
the research community. Key features include its simplicity,
user-friendly Shiny interface, and adaptability to different sector
needs, making it accessible to a broader audience.
By being hosted on GitHub, carbonr encourages global
community engagement. This collaborative environment not only keeps the
tool up-to-date but also allows it to be tailored to specific sectors. A
notable enhancement in the application of carbonr is its
role in assessing emissions from operating theatres, which are
significant contributors to hospital carbon footprints. In a
collaborative initiative hosted on GitHub, carbonr was
adapted to include a set of functions that calculate carbon emissions
specifically for operating theatres (Ma and
Clements 2024).
Furthermore, the open-source nature of carbonr allows
for ongoing verification and comparison of emissions data, this is
important for accurate environmental impact assessments. Users can
easily modify the tool to suit their specific needs, share their
adaptations with the community, and contribute to the continuous
improvement of the package.
The emission calculations of carbonr are primarily based
on the UK Government’s greenhouse gas reporting guidelines (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
2023). The integration of a Shiny interface broadens its
usability beyond technically skilled users to anyone interested in
carbon management, reflecting our commitment to making carbon estimation
as inclusive and user-friendly as possible.
By bridging these gaps, carbonr not only facilitates
precise and comprehensive emission calculations, but also promotes a
deeper understanding of emissions across different sectors. Its ongoing
development and adaptability highlight its potential to significantly
influence both research and practical applications in environmental
sustainability, ensuring it remains relevant and effective in the face
of evolving challenges.
With carbonr, users can estimate emissions for various
activities such as air travel, hotel stays, and construction work using
straightforward functions like airplane_emissions() or
construction_emissions().
The carbonr package complements other R tools by
providing functions to estimate and analyse emissions from various
activities such as air travel, hotel stays, and construction work. Below
are detailed examples demonstrating common uses in estimating travel
emissions
The airport_finder function can look-up IATA codes for
airports; for example, for London Heathrow and Nairobi airports:
library(carbonr)
library(dplyr)
# Finding the airport code for London Heathrow
airport_finder(name = "Heathrow")| Name | City | Country | IATA |
|---|---|---|---|
| London Heathrow Airport | London | United Kingdom | LHR |
# Finding the airport codes for airports in Nairobi
carbonr::airport_finder(city = "Nairobi")| Name | City | Country | IATA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nairobi Wilson Airport | Nairobi | Kenya | WIL |
| Moi Air Base | Nairobi | Kenya | N/A |
| Jomo Kenyatta International Airport | Nairobi | Kenya | NBO |
Using these codes, calculate the emissions for a round-trip journey:
# Calculating emissions for a round-trip flight
airplane_emissions(from = "LHR", to = "KIS", via = "NBO")For a more comprehensive analysis, integrate information for multiple travellers and journey types:
# Example dataset of multiple individuals' travel details
multiple_ind <- tibble::tribble(
~ID, ~rail_from, ~rail_to, ~air_from, ~air_to, ~air_via,
"Clint", "Bristol Temple Meads", "Paddington", "LHR", "KIS", "NBO",
"Zara", "Bristol Temple Meads", "Paddington", "LHR", "LAX", "ORL"
)
multiple_ind %>%
dplyr::rowwise() %>%
dplyr::mutate(plane_emissions = airplane_emissions(air_from, air_to, air_via)) %>%
dplyr::mutate(train_emissions = rail_emissions(rail_from, rail_to)) %>%
dplyr::mutate(total_emissions = plane_emissions + train_emissions)| ID | Rail from | Rail to | Air from | Air to | Air via | Air emissions | Rail emissions | Total emissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clint | Bristol Temple Meads | Paddington | LHR | KIS | NBO | 2.091 | 0.007 | 2.098 |
| Zara | Bristol Temple Meads | Paddington | LHR | LAX | ORL | 3.086 | 0.007 | 3.093 |
The ongoing development of carbonr is focused on
enhancing its utility and sustainability as a key research tool. We are
committed to multiple objectives.
First, we aim to expand carbonr’s capabilities to
process annual data from both companies and individuals, enabling
detailed emissions reporting with advanced visualisations and tailored
data tables. This feature would support researchers in tracking temporal
trends and assessing long-term environmental strategies.
Futhermore, reflecting on successful collaborations, such as the one
that led to the inclusion of operating theatre emissions (Ma and Clements 2024), we encourage the
community to actively participate in carbonr’s evolution.
Our GitHub platform is open for researchers, developers, and
environmental practitioners to contribute insights, refine
methodologies, and address emerging challenges.
We plan to regularly update carbonr by integrating the
latest research findings and environmental reporting standards. Our
release cycle includes bi-annual updates to maintain relevance and
accuracy, supporting both practical application and scientific
research.
By integrating these changes, we hope for carbonr to
both remain relevant as a practical tool and to grow as a research tool.
This can contribute to the scientific community’s efforts to combat
climate change through better data understanding and informed
policy-making.