How big is Leicester's carbon footprint? There's only one way to find out – measure it. Ian Wishart sees how the city – and Loughborough – are at the forefront of work to gauge our impact on the planet.

Mike Howkins has being doing it for 36 years, come rain or shine. He gets on his bike in Cosby to ride to work in Leicester. Seven miles there. Seven miles back.

That's 70 miles a week, more than 3,000 a year and 131,040 in his career working at De Montfort University – enough to take him round the world five times.

Back in 1973, when Mike first put on his bicycle clips – not a helmet of course, such protection was not deemed necessary in those days – and rode to what was then Leicester Polytechnic, cycling was just a question of personal preference.

Any talk of saving the world might have got you laughed at. A carbon footprint would have sounded like a pair of dirty shoes.

He's 60 now and Mike still enjoys taking his bike to work, to give lectures to the latest generation of engineering students.

"I like the exercise more than anything," he says. "Over the years, the roads have got a lot more crowded of course, but since they created the Great Central Way cycle path, it's quite pleasant.

"When the traffic is bad, it's an ideal way to get into the city."

According to the experts measuring how the residents of Leicester are having an impact on the environment, there need to be more people like Mike.

Professor Kevin Lomas, of Loughborough University, is the man spearheading a £2.7m project to measure Leicester's carbon footprint, in the home, at work and when travelling.

He says it's really all about recording people's "lifestyle choices".

"I believe people are committed to the environment," he says, "but it's really difficult to figure out what to do and how to do it that's compatible with one's lifestyle. That's the conundrum."

The project, which also involves scientists from De Montfort and three other British universities, will calculate the city's environmental impact by measuring the amount of fossil fuels burnt in homes and workplaces and the carbon released by traffic.

The researchers will look at how much electricity and gas people are using at home, as well as in offices, businesses and shops – simply reading the units on a meter can do this – and, therefore, whether more could be done to insulate homes or encourage businesses to promote cycling to work.

About 600 households in Leicester are taking part. They volunteered to get involved out of 1,000 homes chosen at random last year.

These residents will record energy use in the home and give interviews to the scientists about issues as diverse as how many miles they drive to and from work and the shops, and whether they plant trees in their garden.

It will produce a carbon "map" of the city and measure the emissions from electricity and gas consumption, garden management and travel.

Once that's done, local authorities will be in a clearer position to work out, say, whether they need to build more cycle lanes or offer incentives for insulation.

Leicester is the only city involved in the carbon-mapping project. It is hoped lessons learnt here will inform policy-makers and town planners across the country.

Eventually, scientists will be able to calculate the carbon footprint of the city by seeing how road layouts, traffic volumes and traffic speeds, the way we use energy in our homes and places of work, and the way we look after green spaces, all effect the amount of greenhouse gas we produce.

"As well as measuring people's energy consumption we want to know why it is some people don't take any action to reduce it," Prof Lomas says.

"Is it because of the cost, or because it's a hassle, or because they simply don't like the appearance of, for example, solar panels on their roof?

"There seems to be enormous enthusiasm in people in Leicester to record this information.''

He said his job was to manage "anything you need to measure it. Then we can start to do something about it.

"Eventually we'll be able to see whether Leicester's carbon footprint is larger or smaller than the national average.

"It seems pretty clear that, globally, people's behaviour will change voluntarily or it will have to be forced by law."

The four-year project has been funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Back at De Montfort, the effort to reduce Leicester's carbon footprint is already under way, in a scheme it is hoped will become more common.

Staff have been offered free cycling lessons to get as many people as possible in the saddle.

It is aimed at people who may not have ridden a bike for a while and need a confidence boost before hitting the road again.

The man behind the scheme is Dr Ian Murdy, the university's transport co-ordinator, who has joined forces with city bike training organisation Cyclemagic, which is running the two-hour refresher courses.

"We take our green travel plan seriously and it is working. I think about 10 per cent of our staff cycle into work, which is double the national average, but we want to encourage more," says Dr Murdy.

"Our green travel plan is used by Leicester City Council as an example to other organisations in the city on how to run it.

"I feel strongly about getting more people out of their cars and on to alternatives.

De Montfort University now offers staff the chance to buy a bike tax free, in which the cost of it is paid back to the university over the space of 18 months.

Mike says he is happy about his "lifestyle choice".

"Very occasionally you get caught in the rain," he says. "But you soon get to know where the bridges or trees are where you can stay dry!"