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Footprint categories

See how Ducky divides climate footprint into categories and subcategories that are used in all our applications

An individual's carbon footprint is split into five main categories. Each main category is an aggregation of several levels of fine-grained categories. We have also established two distinct sets of categories for different uses: source-type and purpose-type.

Source-type categories

These are used to trace the origins of a portion of someone’s footprint. Source-type categories are typically used in our databases and to perform calculations. Source-type categories are distinguishable in that each has its own calculation unit: calories for food, kilometers for transport, kilowatt hours for energy, and money for goods and services. The public category is unique in that it simply describes the portion of public spending that can be attributed to an individual, and the value cannot be influenced directly by individual action. Further levels (2, 3) are defined where they’re useful, for instance in Convert endpoint specifications and variables can be seen in the technical API documentation.

Lvl

Category name

Variable name

Description

0

Energy

energy

 

1

District heating

districtHeating

 

1

Electricity

electricity

 

1

Fuel oil

fuelOil

 

1

Gas

gas

 

1

National household average

nationalHouseholdAverage

 

1

Solar panels

solarPanels

 

1

Wood

wood

 

0

Food and drink

foodAndDrink

 

1

Beverages

beverages

 

1

Dairy and eggs

dairyAndEggs

 

1

Seafood

seafood

 

1

Grain

grain

 

1

Meat and meat products

meatAndMeatProducts

 

1

Misc

misc

 

1

Produce

produce

 

1

Vegan products

veganProducts

 

0

Goods and services

goodsAndServices

 

0

Public services

publicServices

 

1

County

county

 

1

Municipality

municipality

 

1

National

national

 

0

Transport

transport

 

1

Private car

privateCar

Weighted average of all four-wheeler private vehicles based on propulsion type

2

Electric car

electricCar

Electric car

2

Hybrid car

hybridCar

Hybrid car

2

Fossil car

fossilCar

Gasoline or diesel car

1

Average shared car

sharedCarAverage

Weighted average of all four-wheeler cars belonging to a car collective based on propulsion type

2

Shared car

sharedCar

Average of all four-wheeler cars belonging to a car collective

3

Fossil shared car

fossilSharedCar

Gasoline or diesel car belonging to a car collective

3

Electric shared car

electricSharedCar

Electric car belonging to a car collective

3

Hybrid shared car

hybridSharedCar

Hybrid car belonging to a car collective

1

Taxi

taxi

Weighted average of taxis based on propulsion type

3

Fossil taxi

fossilTaxi

Taxi running on gasoline or diesel

3

Hybrid taxi

hybridTaxi

Taxi powered by a  hybrid propulsion system

3

Electric taxi

electricTaxi

Taxi powered by electric motor

1

Average motorbike

motorbikeAverage

Weighted average of motorized two-wheeler vehicles based on propulsion type

2

Motorbike

motorbike

Average of motorized two-wheeler vehicles

3

Fossil motorbike

fossilMotorbike

Gasoline or diesel motorbike

3

Electric motorbike

electricMotorbike

Electric motorbike

1

Bus

bus

Average of all bus journeys and different propulsion types

2

Short-distance bus

busShort

Weighted average of short bus trips based on propulsion type

3

Short-distance biogas bus

bioGasBusShort

Intra-city bus  running on biogas

3

Short-distance diesel bus

dieselBusShort

Intra-city bus running on diesel

3

Short-distance electric bus

electricBusShort

Intra-city bus powered by an electric motor

3

Short-distance hybrid bus

hybridBusShort

Intra-city bus powered by a hybrid engine

2

Long-distance bus

busLong

Intercity bus trips

1

Micromobility

micromobility

Average of  micromobility transportation modes

2

Walking or cycling

walkBike

Walking/cycling

2

Electric bike

electricBike

Private electric bicycle

3

Electric scooter

electricScooter

Electric scooters (Lime, bolt etc.)

1

Average train

trainAverage

Weighted average of trains based on propulsion type

2

Train

train

Average of trains

3

Diesel train

dieselTrain

Train powered by diesel engine

3

Electric bus

electricTrain

Train powered by electricity

1

Flight

flight

Weighted average of passenger flights based on passenger volume

2

Domestic flight

flightDomestic

Less than 500 km

2

Continental flight

flightContinental

Between 500 km and 2000 km

2

Global flight

flightGlobal

More than 2000 km

1

Boat

boat

Average of maritime transport modes (cruise, motorboats, ferry)

2

Cruise boat

cruiseBoat

Cruise boat for long journeys

3

Electric motor boat

electricMotorBoat

High-speed boat powered by electric motor

3

Fossil motor boat

fossilMotorBoat

High-speed boat powered by fossil fuel

3

Car passenger on a ferry

ferryCarPassenger

Passenger traveling by car on a ferry

3

Foot passenger on a ferry

ferryFootPassenger

Foot passenger on a ferry

Purpose-type categories

These are used to calculate footprint from monetary transactions or display footprint numbers to an end user, splitting carbon footprint into relatable categories. We currently only use purpose-type categories in some cases, where the raw source data is unhelpful for a user.

Lvl

Category name

Variable name

0

Energy

energy

1

Appliances

appliances

1

Cabin

cabin

1

Heat

heat

1

Light

light

1

Water

water

0

Food and drink

foodAndDrink

0

Goods and services

goodsAndServices

1

Clothes and shoes

clothesAndShoes

1

Education

education

1

Furniture and equipment

furnitureAndEquipment

1

Housing and maintenance

housingAndMaintenance

1

Personal purchases

personalPurchases

1

Personal services

personalServices

1

Services

services

1

Transport

transport

0

Public services

publicServices

0

Transport

transport

1

Holiday

holiday

1

Leisure

leisure

1

Work

work