Carbon Footprint

In 2018, the University began collaborating with the Department of Industrial Engineering Center for Environmental Quality Studies to prepare annual greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reports. The report aims to quantify the environmental impact of the Carbon Footprint of the University of Padua while guiding and evaluating the effectiveness of actions taken to reduce and contain its GHGs.  

The report follows the design, development, management, reporting, and verification of an institution’s GHG inventory found in the ISO 14064-1:2018 Standard and outlined within the Guidelines for Sustainable Development set by the Italian University Network for Sustainable Development (RUS) and the principles provided for by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The University of Padua Sustainability Report shows the inventory findings.

As for 2022, two different methodologies were adopted to calculate the University’s carbon footprint with reference to 2023. The first, called Market-based, takes into account the impact of renewable electricity purchase. The second, called Location-based, does not consider the purchase of energy from renewable sources. This second approach makes it possible to quantify and value the real reduction in climate-altering emissions due to measures and interventions to reduce energy consumption. However, this second approach is pejorative as it is linked to the national energy mix, which reports a lower component of renewable sources in 2023. Therefore, GHG emissions related to total energy consumption are higher, despite the fact that consumption has decreased compared to the baseline.

The University’s carbon footprint

For the year 2024, there was a total reduction in GHG emissions of 22% compared to the baseline (2018) and an increase of 2.5% compared to 2023 (the figure normalized by the 2018 student population shows an increase of 1.7% compared to the previous year). The reduction compared to the 2018 baseline is linked to three main factors: the purchase of energy from renewable sources, the reduction in energy consumption due to the implementation of energy-saving measures under the Energy Plan, and the increase in the number of enrolled students (+20.3% compared to 2018). The overall increase compared to 2023, on the other hand, is attributable to two factors. The first is linked to an increase in energy consumption, particularly electricity, due to the full activation of new facilities (a 1.2% increase in building volume was recorded), the increase in special openings, the rise in enrolled students (a 0.7% increase in student numbers), and the use of heat pumps for heating premises. The second factor is the increase in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the rise in staff numbers and international travel.

GHG emission certificates:

• calendar year 2018
• calendar year 2019
• calendar year 2020
• calendar year 2021
• calendar year 2022
• calendar year 2023
• calendar year 2024