Disagreement over carbon footprints : A comparison of electric and LPG forklifts

Carbon footprint is an increasingly popular concept: for labelling, marketing, finance and regulation. In individual cases, carbon footprints can also be contentious, for example in the case of LPG and electric forklifts. Therefore, the fuel carbon footprints of the two were investigated to see if a fair, robust comparison could be made. This investigation yielded two conclusions: (1) definitions will continue to complicate footprint comparisons and (2) fuel carbon footprints of electric and (liquefied petroleum gas) LPG forklifts are, in principle, about equal, while in actual practice, LPG's footprint is smaller than that of electricity. The paper concludes that carbon footprint definitions should be sensible and transparent, but not prescribed.