| Mayada K. BADR1, Mokhtar El BEHEARY1, Ibrahim A. HASSAN2#
Abstract: Implementation of sustainability policies is a must to improve the environmental indicators of universities. One of these indicators is tracking the carbon footprint (CFP). Port Said University started tracking CFP in 2023 for Faculty of Science campus as a pilot study. Three operational limits (scopes) were established, based on the GHG protocol methodology, namely, Scope 1 (direct emissions e.g. fuel consumption in mobile sources), scope 2 (indirect emissions e.g. electrical energy consumption), and Scope 3 (other indirect emissions e.g. daily mobility). Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 revealed that their CFP annually were 49/5, 199.8, and 8443.6 tCO2e, in 2023 and were 43.5, 166.8, and 8708 tCO2e respectively. It could be concluded that transportation is the main cause for the higher CFP, as scope 3 represented 97.1%, and 97.6% of the total emissions in the years 2023 and 2024, respectively. Moreover, this study showed that CFP of Scope 1 and 2 were reduced in 2024 when compared with 2023. This reduction (12.2 and 16%, respectively%) could be attributed to the environmental strategies imposed by the administration for wise management of resources and using clean transportation within the campus. On the other hand, the increment in GHG emission in Scope 3 was attributed to the increase in emission of students commuting due to the increase in their admission in 2024 compared to 2023. Universities serve as innovation hubs where data from carbon footprint assessments can drive new research in clean technologies, climate adaptation, and environmental policy. Collaboration between academia, industry, and government can produce scalable sustainability solutions relevant to Egypt’s socio-economic context. This study could be a valuable reference for implementing emission reduction strategies in other nations, especially in the developing countries where universities share similar characteristics and face limitations in environmental data availability. Keywords: Carbon footprint; Scopes; sustainability; emissions; universities DOI 10.56082/annalsarscibio.2026.1.191 Read full article 1Department of Environmental Sciences. Port Said University, Port Said, Egypt 2Air Pollution Laboratory (APL), Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21511 Moharem Bek, Alexandria, Egypt. # Corresponding author: Ibrahim.abdelmaged@alexu.edu.eg/ ihassan2006@gmail.com |
PUBLISHED in Annals Academy of Romanian Scientists Series on Biology,
ISSN ONLINE85 – 4177
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