It is a serious challenge for humanity to find an appropriate response to stop the accelerating rise in global temperature caused by atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions. After a methodological review of the literature, online and in-person modelling of education, work, and conferences, and relying on the results of life-cycle studies, we sought the answer to what reasonable solutions are available for decarbonization and energy reduction. During the research, the organizational carbon footprint of a selected office, educational institution and conference, and then the carbon footprint created by a person in 1 h, were examined. The two-day online education significantly reduced the daily commute load in transport by 402 tons of CO₂ equivalent per year. Still, the energy demand of home learning subtracts 136 tons from this, so the real benefit was 266 tons above in an institution educating nearly 3500 students. In a workplace of 180 people, where 52% of employees commute, 90% teleworking saved 222 tons of carbon dioxide emissions in one month, taking into account the carbon footprint of working from home. In the case of conferences, the online solution reduces the carbon footprint due to the absence of travel and catering. Comparing the three areas, for the in-person case, the conference’s carbon footprint per person per hour was the highest (11.91 kg CO₂ eq.). This value for education was 1.15 kg CO₂ eq.; for work, it was the lowest with a value of 0.90 kg CO₂ eq. Moving to an online space resulted in the most significant savings for the conference (11.55 kg CO₂ eq.), followed by working (0.54 kg CO₂ eq.), and minor savings were achieved in hybrid education (0.13 kg CO₂ eq.). The sensitivity analysis highlighted the impact of transport on carbon footprint in all three cases. However, the life cycle cost analysis showed that moving to a virtual space reduces the life cycle cost of de-carbonization by 42%.

A serious challenge for humanity is to find an adequate response to stop the accelerating global temperature increase caused by atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions. The question arises regarding how robust international objectives and climate change-fighting decarbonization can be achieved. After a methodological review of the literature, as well as online and in-person modelling for education, work, and conferences, based on the results of studies with a life cycle approach, we searched for the answer to what reasonable solution options are available for decarbonization and energy reduction. During the research, the organizational carbon footprint of a selected office, educational institution and conference, and then the carbon footprint created by one person in 1 hour were examined. The two-day online education significantly reduced the load of the daily commute by 402 tons of CO2 equivalent annually in transportation, but the energy demand of learning at home takes away 136 tons of this, so the real profit is the mentioned 266 tons. Based on work-related research, it can be concluded that remote work can really have a positive effect on the environment. However, it depends on many other factors and the extent of their utilization. In the case of conferences, reducing travel can reduce a carbon footprint. This can be done online when the most significant savings can be achieved.

Az akkumulátoros elektromos személygépjárművek környezeti hatásainak értékelése a teljes életciklus figyelembevételével – hol az igazság? • Environmental Impact Evaluation of Battery Electric Passenger Vehicles Considering the Whole Life-cycle – Where Is the Truth?