Calculating the carbon footprint of publications
Computing power and travel are a major factor of theoretical research. Prof. Jens Eisert proposes a simple table to record these greenhouse gas emissions
HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM BERLIN FÜR MATERIALIEN UND ENERGIE
Jens Eisert
image: Prof. Jens Eisert is not only an award-winning scientist, he is also concerned about global warming. Last year, on the initiative of Ryan Sweke, he and his team published a proposal that deserves attention: scientific publications on theoretical physics or chemistry could include a simple table listing the greenhouse gases emitted during the research. view more
What is the aim of this proposal?
Jens Eisert: Science is important: it is the basis of our knowledge, a cultural activity, the engine of our prosperity. But it does not come for free, we need computing power and laboratories, we fly to conferences. All of this releases greenhouse gases and contributes to global warming. I think we should make this transparent and keep it in mind in all our work. It's about raising awareness.
How did the idea come about?
We were working on a joint scientific publication, and out of interest we calculated how much greenhouse gas this work produced. It was a surprising amount. We then turned it into a small side project, writing a programme that allows you to easily generate a table that clearly shows how much greenhouse gas your own research work produces. We attached this table to our own paper, which was published in Communications Physics, a Nature group journal. The editors of Communications Physics then contacted us and persuaded us to write another paper on the subject. Of course we were happy to do it.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/989422
