An Empirical Findings of the Carbon Footprint of Erbil City Residences

Abstract

Erbil is the capital city of Kurdistan Province which
has experienced recently an expansive urban development and
sudden population growth due to the mass movement of the
displaced people from the nearby troubled zones and rural
emigration. In this paper, A face to face data were collected for 72
questions, informative results have been tabulated in charts and
tables. The acquired results were reached to depict the energy
usage, the recycling, monthly expenditures, transportations, food,
electricity and water consumptions, energy for cooking, allocated
landscape, heating sources, lighting and their responses to
alternative energy usage. Different models for measuring
sustainability have been adopted to measure the degree of
sustainability in terms of CO2 emission, and carbon footprint for
many residences. An overall measured carbon footprint for Erbil
city is almost double the world average and of Iraq. On the other
hand, the CO2 emission is almost double of Iraq and the world.
The contributions of items that led to this increase are categorized
in tables and charts. Those results can be used as guide lines for
limiting the lifestyles in Erbil city. Conclusive remarks and future
suggestions have been drawn accordingly to achieve sustainable
guidelines to be implemented in future by the local authorities and
planners.