New mobile app to track carbon footprints

30-11-2007

by Emmet Ryan

Irish mobile operators have welcomed the introduction of a new application to allow mobile users to track their own carbon footprint.

The new application, called mobGAS, has been developed by scientists working for the European Commission. The application is available in 21 European languages and allows users to see how their daily choices impact on climate change.

Information about everyday activities is put into mobGAS and the application makes calculations of individual emissions. A user diary of daily, weekly and yearly emissions can be registered on a secure website, allowing users to make a comparison with national and world averages. The application also includes an animation reflecting the user's contribution to the Kyoto Protocol target.

The application has been launched following research by Eurostat which found that individuals can have a significant impact on reducing emissions by changing how they travel and use appliances. From Friday mobGAS is being made available free of charge to anyone who is interested. The Commission said communication networks and mobile phone producers will also be involved in rolling out the technology at national levels.

The new application has generally been welcomed by Irish mobile operators, though there are no firm plans yet to formally support the service.

"We would certainly look at it. The application looks interesting and consumers are more and more environmentally aware. The mobile is an ideal device for tracking your carbon footprint," said Rachel Channing, head of PR and Communications at Three Ireland.

Vodafone also welcomed the launch of the application. "There are a number of packages out there that can be used to help track a user's carbon footprint. [MobGAS] does seem as though it could be supported by our network and we will certainly look into it," said Olivia Dobbs, corporate responsibility manager with Vodafone Ireland.

O2 Ireland told ENN that it has no firm plans in place regarding the application but that it plans to look into it. "We would certainly be open to supporting it if it was something our customers wanted," said a spokeswoman for the operator.

Meteor was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.

Irish mobile users wishing to download mobGAS can do so at http://mobgas.jrc.ec.europa.eu.