1.

0 INTRODUCTION

The phrase "carbon footprint" refers to the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other
greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions that result from industrial and human activity as well as
written in the standard unit tCO2e (tons of carbon dioxide equivalent). The production and
use of food, materials, timber, fuels, manufactured goods, roads, buildings, and services are
all major sources of greenhouse gas emissions. A carbon footprint is the total amount of
greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane that human activity produces. Instead of
the greenhouse gas emissions linked to production, carbon footprints focus on the greenhouse
gas emissions associated to consumption.

One of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions are human activities.
The quantity of energy used at home is a crucial factor, as inefficient dwellings waste a lot of
energy due to inadequate insulation, inefficient appliances, draughts from incorrect sealing,
and excessive water use. As heat quickly escapes the house, inadequate insulation is a major
factor. Consumption, which includes clothing, footwear, household products, and personal
items, all contribute significantly to a person's carbon footprint because they all generate
emissions during the collecting of raw materials, production, and transportation. Additionally,
a lot of people are aware that transportation has a big impact on carbon emissions simply
because driving a car is polluting. Although trains and buses have fewer emissions per
passenger than individual vehicles, they still produce emissions. The amount of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere is rising because of humans' excessive reliance on fossil fuels, energy
consumption, and ongoing deforestation, which makes it more difficult to reduce a
greenhouse gas footprint.

Enhancing energy efficiency, altering lifestyles, and altering consumer behaviours can
all help lower carbon footprints. Changing one's energy and transportation habits can reduce
one's overall carbon footprint. For instance, compared to driving, taking public transportation
like buses and trains lowers a person's carbon footprint. By installing energy-efficient
lighting, insulating buildings, or generating the necessary electricity utilising renewable
energy sources, people and businesses can each lessen their respective carbon footprints. For
instance, the production of electricity with wind energy results in zero carbon emissions.
Additional lifestyle choices that can lower an individual’s secondary carbon footprint include

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reducing one’s consumption of meat and switching one is purchasing habits to products that
require fewer carbon emissions to produce and transport.

2.0 THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL KNOWLEDGE

Definition

Increasing industrialization, deforestation, and melting glaciers are all consequences that are
changing the earth's life cycle year by year. All these issues are linked, for example, to the
production of carbon and its gaseous byproducts, which are the primary drivers of global
warming and climate change. Grub & Ellis (2007) “A carbon footprint is a measure of the
amount of carbon dioxide emitted through the combustion of fossil fuels. In the case of a
business organization, it is the amount of CO2 emitted either directly or indirectly because of
its everyday operations. It also might reflect the fossil energy represented in a product or
commodity reaching market.”

Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST 2006) “A carbon footprint is

the total amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, emitted over the full life cycle of a
process or product. It is expressed as grams of CO2 equivalent per kilowatt hour of
generation (gCO2eq/kWh), which accounts for the different global warming effects of other
greenhouse gases.” Definitions Of 'Carbon Footprint' From The Grey Literature Source
Definition bp (2007) "The carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide emitted due to
your daily activities – from washing a load of laundry to driving a carload of kids to school."

A carbon footprint is a measurement of the environmental impact of our activities,

namely climate change. It refers to the quantity of greenhouse gases created in our daily life
because of the usage of fossil fuels for power, heating, and transportation, among other
things. Plastic, metal, and concrete all require a significant amount of energy to extract raw
ingredients and create. These materials all have low carbon footprints. Wood has a negative
carbon footprint because to the carbon dioxide fixed by the original living tree. The emissions
connected with the harvesting, transportation, and processing of wood products are minor in
comparison to the overall amount of carbon contained in wood. This indicates that even after
accounting for energy used in harvesting, transportation, and processing, wood still has a
negative carbon footprint. When the carbon footprints of wood and non-wood items are
compared, employing wood products reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Table and Figure

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following illustrate some examples of footprints. These are "cradle to gate" rather than
"cradle to grave” (Kumar, 2014)

Concept

The massive world population increase lead to the demand of the housing increase, as the
needed of house for shelter and as asset for consumer to obtain it. This also led to the urban
areas to spread with concrete building as for more economic activities can be run. The social-
economic activities related to the consumption of environmental sources to produce some
products for the demands asked. Approximately 80% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
worldwide are caused by people living in urban areas and related activities, with China
becoming as the world's greatest emitter of GHG as a result of both economic expansion and
urbanization(Fry et al., 2018). Since they can invent and launch low-carbon infrastructure
solutions and promote changes in lifestyles, urbanized areas also play a major role in
environmental sustainability and social change mitigation.

Several classifications of the word "green building" have been established, and it now
plays a significant role in sustainable development in the twenty-first century. This term
"Demonstrates to the attributes and benefits of the foundation in reality created using the
benchmarks and methodologies of green development," according to one definition (Algburi
et al., 2016). To promote sustainable living, green buildings are typically recognized as those
that are designed to reduce the indirect consequences of real estate development on the
environment and public health.

In this perspective, cities are crucial to both the mitigation of various environmental
problems as well as the fight against climate change. By 2050, it's anticipated that 60 percent
of the world's population will reside in cities, up from the current level of more than 50%
(Rama et al., 2021). Cities have so evolved into areas with a high population density and high
material and energy flow requirements. As a result, cities are accountable for most
environmental effects brought on by human activity. Therefore, the various daily activities of
residents account for 70% of global GHG emissions, 75% of natural resource extraction, and
50% of trash generation globally. One of the major consumers of natural resources is the real
estate industry, especially in terms of power use. Buildings are responsible for over 74% of
all power used in the US, equally split between commercial and residential applications
(Clayton et al., 2021). The interaction of urban development, environmental sustainability,

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and economic growth is now being studied by geographers, planners, and political ecologists.
Urban greening, according to community activists and academics, building a green urban
brand includes initiatives like rail-to-trail parks, revitalized lakefront with green walking
paths, canal restoration, greenways and green streets, and expansive parks (García-Lamarca
et al., 2022).

Based on Clayton et al.(2021)there are two types of clarification on the usage of

power buy real estate industry, the first reveals that plug loads account for approximately
40% of the electricity used in office buildings and that 75% of the plug loads in private
offices occur while no one is there, indicating the user's spillover effect into times when the
office is not in use. Second Power building-related inadequacies linked to HVAC and lighting
are addressed as certification and labelling initiatives become established and building rules
are enforced with regard to energy consumption, leaving user-related inefficiencies as that of
the new leading cause of energy inefficiency.

As for the statement, the expansion of urbanization lead to the demand of the
construction of building for the economic activities. Therefore, the development needs to
sync with the sustainable of the environment as the consumption of usage need to payback
the nature by the safety of the environment as well as the consumers. Plus, the consumption
of power in the building for the daily activities serious on the high utilization need to be
handle and control very efficient in case to make sure no bad effect to the resources. In
previous study also reveals that the unoccupied building that wasted in consumption of
energy can be a waste. So, some idea of certification and labelling building guideline are
established to ensure the carbon footprint are control very well.

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3.0 ISSUES RELATED TO THE CARBON FOOTPRINT

The case study is related to the carbon footprint in Kulim. (Kulim (Malaysia) Berhad,)
is a wholly owned subsidiary of Johor Corporation with a total land bank of 115,378 hectares.
At the end of 2016, Kulim had a total oil palm plantation area of 55,680 hectares spread
throughout Malaysia and Indonesia. This case study only involves in Malaysia, namely in the
states of Johor and Pahang in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia. Kulim produces
Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and Palm Core (PK).
Previous land use was the largest share of Kulim’s emissions. This is because most of
Kulim’s land reserves are oil palm replanting or converted from other agricultural crops with
a similar emission profile like rubber, the uptake associated with oil palm cultivation largely
offset these emissions. This resulted in net cultivation emissions of more than 67,000 MT
CO2e in 2016.

The figure above shows Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions (MT CO, e) for Kulim's
operations in Malaysia including smallholders for the year 2014 - 2016Methane (CH4)
emitted by Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) contributed to the major increase in emissions by
Kulim in 2016, amounting to over 227,000 MT of CO2e. This increase is due to the factory
cleaning process. Meanwhile, Kulim’s 2016 emissions from peat remained high at around
74,000 MT CO2e, but with no significant change from 2014 and 2015. Combined emissions
from nitrous oxide (N2 O) fertilizer use and transportation accounted for 68,000 MT CO2e,

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also in line with 2014 and consumption increased fuel for plant and field use, emissions from
these activities remained low at over 23,000 MT of CO2e.
3.1 EMISSIONS SOURCES

3.1.1 Land clearing

Land clearing accounted for 65.23% of Kulim’s carbon emissions in 2016, making up
a total of 734,449 MT of CO2e, including external emissions. The largest share of
these emissions is derived from oil palm replanting, with small areas converted from
rubber plantations, sentang and agricultural crops. There were no conversions from
non -agricultural land in Malaysian operations in 2015 and 2016. Due to replanting,
reduced the absorption value of the crop and partly due to an increase in the default
value.

3.1.2 Fertiliser use and Nitrous Oxide (“N2 O”) emissions

GHG emissions from the use of fertilizers in oil palm cultivation accounted for 67,112
MT CO2 e of Kulim's total emissions in 2016. These emissions were generated
through the production, transportation and use of fertilizers on farms in both Kulim
and farms. The amount of CO2 emitted by each chemical component in the fertilizer
varies, from 44 kg to 2,380 kg of CO2e per MT of fertilizer used.

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 3.1.3 Field fuel use
The use of fossil fuel namely diesel in Kulim field operations accounted for 1.74% of
Kulim's total emissions in 2016. This includes fuel used by equipment, vehicles and
machinery in transportation of materials and workers, farm maintenance, fertilizer use
and FFB harvesting. The emission factor for diesel use is 3.12kg CO2 e per liter.

3.1.4 Plantings on peatland

Cultivation of oil palm on peat soils results in microbial decomposition of exposed
organic carbon and releasing GHGs including N2 O into the atmosphere. Factors
influencing the magnitude of this discharge may include drainage depth, peat
subsidence and farm age. Only 1.73% of the land cleared and cultivated in the Kulim
plantation and by outside growers is peat soil. However, due to the high peat emission
factor, the contribution given to Kulim’s carbon footprint was significant, amounting
to 74,292 MT CO2 e or 6.6% of Kulim’s total emissions including outdoor growers in
2016.

3.1.5 Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) methane emissions

POME emissions, which accounted for 99% of total Kulim plant emissions. The large
increase was due to the plant clean -up process which resulted in a higher amount of
organic matter being channeled into the effluent treatment area, as well as the higher
COD value for the crude effluent.

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3.2 SOLUTION

3.2.1 Methane capture and biogas generation

Kulim had two biogas plants installed and commenced operations at two of palm oil
mills. The Palm Oil Mill facility is operational and is capturing around 30% of the
methane generated. In 2016, it produced a total of 1,445,335 cubic metres of methane
biogas for power generation and flaring with the engine clocking 2,624 hours of
operation. This plant can utilise 100% of the POME generated and the biogas will be
channeled to the mill boiler once the biogas production has stabilised. Almost 90% of
the methane derived from POME degradation will eventually be captured and
channeled for power generation in the mills and for flaring.

3.2.2 Fertiliser reduction

Kulim also addressing GHG emissions from the production, transportation and use of
chemical fertilisers as part of effort to reduce our environmental impact. In order to
minimise this risk without affecting FFB yields, Kulim have embarked on a long-term
organic fertiliser programme. In addition, all Kulim mills have established
composting projects to recycle nutrients from Empty Fruit Bunches (“EFB”) and
POME back into the fields.

3.2.3 Outgrower engagement

Kulim believe that by driving the adoption of good agricultural practices, including
the efficient use of fertilisers will enable a continual reduction in GHG emissions
among thirdparty FFB suppliers.

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4.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

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5.0 REFERENCES

Grubb and Ellis (2007). Meeting the Carbon Challenge: The Role of Commercial Real Estate
Owners, Users & Managers, Chicago.

Kumar, M., Sharma, L., Vashista, P. K., & Students, M. T. (2014). International Journal of
Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering “Study on Carbon Footprint.”
Certified Institute) Ghaziabad, 4(1), 2250–2459. www.ijetae.com

POST (2006) "Carbon footprint of electricity generation". POSTnote 268, October 2006,
Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, London, UK.
Algburi, S. M., Faieza, A. A., & Baharudin, B. T. H. T. (2016). Review of green building
index in Malaysia; existing work and challenges. International Journal of Applied
Engineering Research, 11(5), 3160–3167.
Clayton, J., Devine, A., & Holtermans, R. (2021). Beyond building certification: The impact
of environmental interventions on commercial real estate operations. Energy Economics,
93, 105039. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2020.105039
Fry, J., Lenzen, M., Jin, Y., Wakiyama, T., Baynes, T., Wiedmann, T., Malik, A., Chen, G.,
Wang, Y., Geschke, A., & Schandl, H. (2018). Assessing carbon footprints of cities
under limited information. Journal of Cleaner Production, 176(2018), 1254–1270.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.11.073
García-Lamarca, M., Anguelovski, I., Cole, H. V. S., Connolly, J. J. T., Pérez-del-Pulgar, C.,
Shokry, G., & Triguero-Mas, M. (2022). Urban green grabbing: Residential real estate
developers discourse and practice in gentrifying Global North neighborhoods.
Geoforum, 128, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.11.016
Rama, M., Entrena-Barbero, E., Dias, A. C., Moreira, M. T., Feijoo, G., & González-García,
S. (2021). Evaluating the carbon footprint of a Spanish city through environmentally
extended input output analysis and comparison with life cycle assessment. Science of
the Total Environment, 762, 143133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143133
BP (2007), What is a Carbon Footprint?, Internet site http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc
/download?doi=10.1.1.467.6821&rep=rep1&type=pdf#:~:text=Table%201%3A
%20Definitions%20of%20'carbon,carload%20of%20kids%20to%20school.%22

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