Carbon dioxide equivalent quantification

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Nearly every object we use in our everyday life is made using fossile energy. To function many items also use energy which partly results from combustion of fossile fuels. As such every object can be assigned a quantity that sums the total carbon dioxide emission caused by its existence. This quantity is the sum of three components : the equivalent carbon dioxide emitted during the fabrication process (CO2 equivalent content), the carbon dioxide amount emitted during one hour of use of the item or "CO2 use" (for instance for a computer connected to the electrical power network) and finally the amount of carbon emission necessary to dispose or recycle the object.

These quantities can be expressed in tonnes of CO2 or in units that are more striking to the general publics such as fraction of the total amount of CO2 estimated to cause a raise in temperature of 2 degree which is considered to be a limit between incommodation and threat. It is also possible to multiply this unit by one billion (roughly the number of people having access to basic industrial items) to get a better feeling of the impact of everyday actions on earth global warming.