PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Tourism is a global phenomenon involving the annual movement of over 800 million people across international boundaries. It has a major impact on the environment. The World Tourism Organisation provided the first overall estimate of global tourism’s carbon footprint in October 2007: 1 300 mega tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent or 5% of total global emissions. In 2005, transport generated 75% of the CO2 equivalent emissions from global tourism, with 21% coming from accommodation and its associated activities. Therefore, the tourism accommodation sector accounts for 1% of total global carbon footprint. Many enterprises in the accommodation sector have considerable options for reducing their CO2 emissions, which can also deliver economic benefits. The tourism sector has been relatively slow to adopt measures to reduce its climate impact, but it is highly exposed to climate change, for example, with negative impacts already seen on the attractiveness of some Mediterranean resorts. Tourism is a major contributor to the economy of the Region of North Aegean, and the autonomous government is very interested in climate change impacts.
OBJECTIVES
The objective of the CARBONTOUR project was to develop an integrated methodology for measuring CO2 equivalent emissions from tourism accommodation facilities, and to strategically plan mitigation measures. The main planned output was a user-friendly software tool, with accompanying operation manual, to identify emissions from sources such as energy consumption, water and wastewater management. The aim was to optimise the software tool through its demonstration in two accommodation units in Greece and Cyprus. Once the tool was finalised the project planned to launch a large-scale demonstration, involving 80 accommodation units in the Northern Aegean islands and Cyprus. Strategic plans to mitigate the carbon footprint will be proposed for these accommodation units.
RESULTS
The CARBONTOUR project developed a methodology for identifying and measuring energy consumption, greenhouse gases emissions, water supply, waste and wastewater treatment activities from tourist accommodation facilities. It developed, pilot tested and optimised an innovative and robust software tool that calculates the energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions equivalent resulting from the identified operation and maintenance activities. The project team applied the tool in 80 accommodation units in the North Aegean region of Greece and in Cyprus, to fine-tune the model, develop relevant benchmark indicators, and to identify the activities that contribute most to the carbon footprint of the tourism accommodation sector.
Based on the results of the demonstration actions, the project team developed guidelines and strategic CO2-offsetting approaches for owners and managers of accommodation units. Its pilot studies showed that even minor and inexpensive interventions could significantly reduce an accommodation unit’s carbon footprint, and bring economic benefits by simultaneously reducing energy consumption.
The project team produced a user-friendly manual for the software tool and implemented training seminars and awareness-raising events for hotel owners and managers. It also raised awareness of tourists through noticeboards and a ‘carbon neutral tourist’ publication.
The main environmental benefits achievable from the project’s methodology are:
The innovative software tool is the first of its kind that models and calculates analytically all energy, waste and wastewater related activities in an accommodation unit to calculate carbon footprint in a holistic way. Currently-available software for energy audits, in accordance with Greek and Cypriot regulations, only consider the energy needs of the building. The new software incorporates a database for climatic conditions and other factors, and incorporates parameters that model human behaviour, such as hours per day a tourist spends in their room, and the energy and water they consume and waste they produce.
The project’s demonstration phase showed a large number of participating hotels throughout the North Aegean and Cyprus the advantages of using the innovative CARBONTOUR tool. It showed them that they can get an analytic profile of their hotel's/accommodation unit's energy and CO2 emission profiles, and identify the most wasteful and polluting components. This enables them to focus interventions to effectively reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, to gain both financial and environmental benefits. This is the first time that such an activity has taken place in Greece on such a large scale. The results identified cooling as the activity producing the most CO2 emissions, followed by lighting and waste management. Recommendations to improve the climate footprint of hotels included better insulation, replacing old light bulbs with LED lighting, and alternative waste management schemes. The project’s outcomes help implement a range of waste-reduction and climate change mitigation related EU policy and legislation. Socio-economic benefits could result from the widespread implementation of the CARBONTOUR tool. Substantial cost reductions could be achieved for tourist accommodation, due to reduced energy and water consumption and improved waste management. Improving a hotel's environmental and social responsibility profile could attract more tourists, so increasing revenue and competitiveness. Finally, reducing polluting practices can lead to long-term improvements in health and a better quality of life.
Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section).
