Carbon footprint and carbon brainprint— what do they mean?

Abstract

An attempt is made to define the terms carbon footprint and carbon brainprint, both of which are increasingly used in the context of climate change and sustainability. Carbon footprint is a quantitative estimate of the amount of carbon produced during the entire life cycle of a good, including manufacturing, transport to place of use, and ultimate disposal. In other words it amounts to a kind of bookkeeping, albeit one of a complicated nature with large uncertainties. Carbon brainprint is an estimate of the difference between the global carbon footprint associated with a good (which might also be a service rather than a tangible object) before some innovative carbon footprint-diminishing procedure is introduced, and the footprint after its introduction. The uncertainties are very much greater since they depend on the degree of adoption of the innovation, which might well change during the life cycle of the good. Furthermore, there seems to be some systematic bias in the estimation because one does not encounter negative brain prints—processes in which the footprint increases.