Carbon Footprint Calculation of a Mexican Academic Institution

The Carbon Footprint (CF) is the quantification of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) generated by human activities, expressed in CO2e units. It is a voluntary instrument for monitoring and mitigating the impact of Global Warming. Mexico is expected to reduce its GHG emissions by 22% by 2030. In this regard, the academic sector has served as an example for other sectors to join national efforts.
Therefore, the objective of this study is to estimate the 2019 CF of the academic
institution “Centro Roberto Garza Sada” (CRGS) of the University of Monterrey,
Mexico, and to propose three GHG emission mitigation scenarios in order to contribute to the university's sustainable initiatives.
Using the GHG Protocol methodology, the total CF of the CRGS was calculated in
2,089.5 tCO2e, where Transportation was the most relevant source of GHG emissions (50.17%), following Energy Purchase (28.45%), and Travels (19.62%). The per capita value resulted in 1.17 tCO2e. Finally, three mitigation scenarios were proposed, including various strategies regarding transportation, energy, collaborators and student mobility, and material resources reduction. Implementing these schemes through community participation, GHG emissions could be reduced around 47% by 2037. In addition, it is recommended to establish a monitoring committee to ensure the correct execution of the strategies and to measure their impact.