Lesotho
When it comes to the carbon footprint of each country, Lesotho is near the bottom of the list. Per-person, the average emission in Lesotho as of 2010 was 0.1 tons of carbon dioxide compared to a worldwide average of 4 tons. The small carbon footprint left by the average person in Lesotho can, in part, be attributed to the fact that nearly 90% of households in Lesotho don't have access to an energy grid and only 16% of the population has electricity. Additionally, all of Lesotho's electricity comes from hydropower and 11% of the country's energy comes from other forms of renewable energy. If every human lived like an average person from Lesotho, well under one Earth would be needed to sustain the current population. However, more and more people are moving to villages and the population continues to increase, which is likely to increase the carbon footprint. Therefore, Lesotho is looking into many ways to reduce their energy consumption and, consequently, their carbon footprint.
The leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Lesotho are land-use and forestry. Although this sector re-absorbs some if it'‘s emissions(largely through abandoned land), substantial amounts of greenhouse gases are released from agriculturally impacted soils and grassland conversions. Emissions released from agriculture are largely produced from the burning of rangelands, enteric fermentation within livestock(which makes up about 30% of methane emissions worldwide), as well as from waste. Waste is a major producer of greenhouse gases in Lesotho, particularly agricultural waste. There is no national waste-management system (including sewage system), so each person is left to deal with their own agricultural waste and human waste.
Additionally, trees and scrubs are a major source of energy for rural communities in Lesotho and are a producer of greenhouse gases. The majority of domestic energy, including energy in small-scale commercial sectors, usage is reliant on fuelwood. Reducing the demand for firewood would reduce deforestation and decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Some strategies that would result in a lower demand for firewood are fuel-efficient stoves. An energy efficient household project, which aims to distribute efficient wood stoves, could potentially decrease the use of fuelwood by 80%. If deforestation in Lesotho is reversed, and 200 ha(hectares, or 10,000 square meters) of forest are planted every year, there could be nearly 40,000 t(metric tons) of carbon dioxide emissions reductions per 200 ha of forest. Both reforestation and afforestation --the planting of trees in an area with no previous tree cover-- provide potential in decreasing climate change in Lesotho.
Another source of greenhouse gases in Lesotho is the production of charcoal. Although the reduction of the use of firewood in Lesotho is a step that can be taken to reduce Lesotho's greenhouse gas emissions, firewood would be a more eco-friendly alternative to the production of charcoal that is currently being used. The annual charcoal production in Lesotho for 2011 was approximately 96,631 t (metric tons). If fuelwood (from sustainable plantations) was used in place of all of Lesotho's charcoal production, instead of the open kiln production that is currently in use, emissions reductions could be as high as 75,082 t (metric tons) carbon dioxide per year.
Despite Lesotho being at the bottom end of the spectrum when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, efforts are still being made to reduce the country's emissions. Worldwide (especially in the United States), the average person lives with a much greater carbon footprint than the average person from Lesotho. Therefore, if Lesotho has the ability to reduce their very small carbon footprint, than countries with a much higher footprint most certainly should be able to reduce their emissions. Furthermore, Lesotho is a much less prosperous country than many of the world's top emitters, and Lesotho uses an extremely high amount of renewable energy. More technologically advanced and economically prosperous countries should, without a doubt, have the ability to use renewable energy for a large portion of their energy, which would greatly reduce each country's carbon footprint. Although, it is unrealistic to think that everyone on Earth could live like someone from Lesotho, and it is important to keep in mind that a balance between quality of life and carbon footprint must be maintained. It is clear that countries across the globe have the ability to reduce their carbon footprint, as demonstrated by Lesotho.
This shows that Lesotho uses hydropower for energy and to lower their carbon footprint.
This is a charcoal kiln that is energy efficient, which also lowers their carbon footprint, while still giving them access to non-renewable resources.
US
The average person in the world uses 4.5 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels each year. As of 2014, the average person in the US used 16.2 tonnes, which is more than triple the world average. Historically, the US is responsible for more emissions than any other country, although we are not the world's largest single emitter of greenhouse gases anymore. About a decade ago, China surpassed us, and their emissions today are double the amount of the US. However, the US has been burning coal, oil, and natural gas for far longer. The US makes up about 4% of the entire world's population, but is responsible for almost a third of the excess CO2 in our atmosphere, while China is responsible for less than a sixth.
Most of our energy in the US comes from burning fossil fuels, in fact about 63% of our total energy source is from fossil fuels. Nuclear energy and other renewable sources make up the rest: about 37%. Our country is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels, even when countries like Lesotho are trying to get a lot of their energy from renewable sources and trying to cut down the amount of carbon dioxide they emit. If everyone in the world lived like Americans in term of how much carbon dioxide they emitted and the amount of resources they used annually, we would need about five earths to support all of humanity. If the American population at the beginning of the industrial era in the 18th century were given the same amount of fossil fuels as the rest of the world but had continued to use it in the same fashion, they would have run out in the year 1944, when the Allied armies invaded Normandy. However, we obviously can't go on living like this because it isn't sustainable or good for our environment.
The leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the US are from the electricity and transportation sectors, each contributing 28% of the total (56% of 6511 million metric tonnes of CO2 in 2016). The transportation and electric power sectors each produce about 1.9 billion tonnes of CO2 annually. The transportation sector includes the movement of people and goods by cars, trucks, trains, ships, and airplanes. Most of the carbon dioxide that is emitted is the result of the combustion of petroleum-based products, such as gasoline. Over half the emissions from the transportation sector come from passenger cars and smaller trucks, including pickup trucks and minivans. That means that half the emissions come from people moving around, getting from place to place, and an increased demand for travel. This is directly associated with population and economic growth as more people move to the cities for their work, also leading to lowered gas prices. However, there are some significant opportunities for the reduction of emissions in the transportation sector. These include switching fuels to those that emit less carbon dioxide, or using electric or hybrid cars. We can also come up with new advanced designs for vehicles using new and modern technologies that will allow us to improve fuel efficiency. In addition, if we plan cities so that people have more options for getting to places such as walking, biking, or building a reliable public transportation system, that will lower emissions too.
The electricity sector involves the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. Carbon dioxide is mainly produced and released during the combustion of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas to produce electricity. Most of the electricity generated in 2016 was generated from using natural gas and coal, which are known to release a lot of carbon dioxide emissions. Although greenhouse gas emissions from electricity have decreased by 1% since 1990 from fuel switching, there are still many more options we can take to reduce the amount of emissions even further. Some examples of reduction opportunities include increasing the efficiency of power plants to combust fuels more efficiently and using renewable energy sources to generate electricity instead of relying so heavily on fossil fuels. There is also a new method called Carbon Capture Sequestration and Storage which involves capturing the carbon dioxide as a byproduct before it enters the atmosphere and then directing it to a long term underground storage area. This is a very viable option that, if done properly, could help us reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
Although the source of carbon dioxide emissions for the US is much different than those in countries like Lesotho, the US should still be taking more action to reduce their emissions. Small countries like Lesotho are using renewable energy sources to reduce their carbon footprints, even though they are miniscule in comparison to the US's. The US should follow the examples of other countries striving to reduce their emissions and start using more renewable energy sources. Although these energy sources may be expensive and it may be hard to get people to use them at the beginning, if we put more effort into making these viable options for people, we will be able to reduce our carbon footprint and in turn prolong the life of our earth.