Method for quantification of the level of performance of a human activity directed to mitigation of anthropogenic effects on the environment

1 . A method for determining a measure of reducibility of greenhouse gases comprising steps of:

identifying a set of activities, said identifying of said set of activities being selected from a group consisting of automatically, semi-automatically or manually;

for said set of activities, identifying a first subset of activities, each member of said first subset generating Reducible emissions, said identifying of said first subset of activities being selected from a group consisting of automatically, semi-automatically or manually;

for said set of activities, identifying a second subset of activities, each member of said second subset generating Core emissions, said identifying of said second subset of activities being selected from a group consisting of automatically, semi-automatically or manually;

providing an emission ratio for a predetermined period of time, comprising steps of:

for each member of said first subset of activities, determining an amount of Reducible emissions, said determining of said amount of Reducible emissions selected from a group consisting of automatically, semi-automatically or manually;

generating total Reducible emissions from said subset of Reducible emissions;

for each member of said second subset of activities, determining an amount of Core emissions, said determining of said amount of Core emissions being selected from a group consisting of automatically, semi-automatically or manually;

generating total Core emissions from said subset of Core emissions;

generating total emissions from said total Core emissions and said total Reducible emissions;

generating said emission ratio as a ratio of said total Reducible emissions to said total Core emissions; and

storing said total Core emissions and said total Reducible emissions; and

repeating said providing an emission ratio at least once, over a different predetermined period of time;

thereby tracking said emission ratio to provide an effective measure of said reducibility of said greenhouse gases for said set of activities, wherein said emission ratio quantifies the inherent potential for further reduction of said greenhouse gases.

2 . The method of claim 1 , additionally comprising a step of identifying at least one alternative activity, at least one result of said alternative activity being equivalent to at least one result of at least one member of said set of activities.

3 . The method of claim 2 , additionally comprising a step of generating a predicted amount of Reducible emissions for said at least one alternative activity.

4 . The method of claim 3 , additionally comprising a step of generating total predicted Reducible emissions from said predicted Reducible emissions and Reducible emissions for activities in said subset of Reducible emissions where there are no predicted Reducible emissions.

5 . The method of claim 4 , additionally comprising the following steps:

generating total predicted emissions from said total predicted Reducible emissions and said total Core emissions; and

generating a predicted emission ratio as a ratio of said total predicted Reducible emissions to said total Core emissions.

6 . The method of claim 1 , additionally comprising a step of selecting said Reducible emissions from a group consisting of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, methane (CH 4 ) emissions, ozone (O 3 ) emissions, nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions, chlorofluorocarbon emissions, hydrofluorocarbon emissions or any combination thereof.

7 . The method of claim 1 , additionally comprising a step of selecting said Core emissions from a group consisting of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, methane (CH 4 ) emissions, ozone (O 3 ) emissions, nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions, chlorofluorocarbon emissions, hydrofluorocarbon emissions or any combination thereof.

8 . A system for determining a measure of reducibility of greenhouse gases, comprising:

one or more processors; and

a computer-readable storage device coupled to the one or more processors and having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

identifying a set of activities, said identifying of said set of activities being selected from a group consisting of automatically, semi-automatically or manually;

for said set of activities, identifying a first subset of activities, each member of said first subset generating Reducible emissions, said identifying of said first subset of activities selected from a group consisting of automatically, semi-automatically or manually;

for said set of activities, identifying a second subset of activities, each member of said second subset generating Core emissions, said identifying of said second subset of activities selected from a group consisting of automatically, semi-automatically or manually;

providing an emission ratio for a predetermined period of time, comprising steps of:

for each member of said first subset of activities, determining an amount of Reducible emissions, said determining of said amount of Reducible emissions selected from a group consisting of automatically, semi-automatically or manually;

generating total Reducible emissions from said subset of Reducible emissions;

for each member of said second subset of activities, determining an amount of Core emissions, said determining of said amount of Core emissions selected from a group consisting of automatically, semi-automatically or manually;

generating total Core emissions from said subset of Core emissions;

generating total emissions from said total Core emissions and said total Reducible emissions;

generating said emission ratio as a ratio of said total Reducible emissions to said total Core emissions; and

storing said total Core emissions and said total emissions; and

repeating said providing an emission ratio at least once, over a different predetermined period of time;

wherein said emission ratio is trackable, said trackability providing an effective measure of said reducibility of said greenhouse gases for said set of activities, further wherein said emission ratio quantifies the inherent potential for further reduction of said greenhouse gases.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein at least one alternative activity is identified as having at least one result of said alternative activity being equivalent to at least one result of at least one member of said set of activities.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein a predicted amount of Reducible emissions is generated for said at least one alternative activity.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein total predicted Reducible emissions are generated from said predicted Reducible emissions and Reducible emissions for activities in said subset of Reducible emissions where there are no predicted Reducible emissions.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein

total predicted emissions are generated from said total predicted Reducible emissions and said total Core emissions; and

a predicted emission ratio is generated as a ratio of said total predicted Reducible emissions to said total Core emissions.

13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein said Reducible emissions are selected from a group consisting of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, methane (CH 4 ) emissions, ozone (O 3 ) emissions, nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions, chlorofluorocarbon emissions, hydrofluorocarbon emissions or any combination thereof.

14 . The system of claim 8 , wherein said Core emissions are selected from a group consisting of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, methane (CH 4 ) emissions, ozone (O 3 ) emissions, nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions, chlorofluorocarbon emissions, hydrofluorocarbon emissions or any combination thereof.