Determinación de la huella de carbono y la huella hídrica del campus Balzay de la Universidad de Cuenca en el periodo enero - diciembre de 2023

Abstract

The water and carbon footprint are indicators that allow improving the environment and mitigating the effects of climate change, measuring directly and indirectly the impact generated by human beings. Universities as institutions of higher education also contribute to the generation of greenhouse gas emissions. The main objective of this study was to quantify the water and carbon footprint of the Balzay campus of the University of Cuenca. To calculate the water footprint, the methodology of Hoekstra (2011) (Water Footprint Network) was used, which consists of four steps: establishment of objectives, calculation of the direct water footprint (blue, gray, green) and indirect water footprint (electricity, paper). The calculation of the carbon footprint was performed according to the ISO 14064-1:2018 standard, with which the first four categories of emissions were calculated. The results indicated that for the year 2023, 673.66 t CO2 were emitted, being mobility, especially air travel of teachers and researchers, which generated the largest amount of emissions with a contribution of 463.52 t CO2 eq. The total water footprint was 73 239.663 m3 /year, with the direct water footprint being the largest, with a volume of 36 921.30 m3 /year, while the indirect footprint obtained a value of 36 318.360 m3 /year, of which the majority comes from electricity consumption with a value of 31 527.48 m3 /year. Based on these results, measures were proposed to reduce both footprints, including energy efficiency, waste management, sustainable mobility and efficient water management.