Greenhouse Gas Management Tools
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Overview
The management of greenhouse gas emissions is an important responsibility for businesses in order to combat climate change. Since the Kyoto Protocolwas negotiated in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan and in effect since 2005, it has forced governments to reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases. In order to accomplish this, the U.S. EPA passed a final rule on mandatory reporting of greenhouse gases for large source emitters. "Under the rule, suppliers of fossil fuels or industrial greenhouse gases, manufacturers of vehicles and engines, and facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more per year of GHG emissions are required to submit annual reports to EPA" Climate Change EPA. The rule requires reporting of total greenhouse gas emissions for the calendar year of 2010. Since the inventory and analysis of greenhouse gases being released by industries and corporations is important to the climate change agenda, companies large and small are beginning to follow suit and voluntarily report their emissions as well.
Environmental Impact
The 2007 U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report concluded that average global surface temperature will rise somewhere between 2 degrees Celsius to 4.5 degrees Celsius due to the doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas. The United States is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. According to the EPA Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2007, U.S. GHG emissions in 2007 were 7,150 teragrams of carbon dioxide equivalent (Tg CO2 Eq.) This correlates to roughly 16 percent more greenhouse gases than in 1990. In order to help reduce our annual greenhouse gas emissions, the EPA helps businesses identify greenhouse gas inventories and determine methods in which to reduce emissions over time.
Major Greenhouse Gases
- Carbon Dioxide
- Water Vapor
- Nitrous Oxide
- Methane
- Ozone
- Others (CFCs, HFCs, PFCs, SF6, and carbon monoxide)
Best Practices
The EPA provides resources to businesses in order to help them develop strategies to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA has created the Climate Leaders Program in order to help these companies complete a corporate-wide inventory of their greenhouse gas emissions. "Climate Leaders is an EPA industry-government partnership that provides guidance and recognition to companies developing long-term climate change strategies" (EPA). The program provides resources to businesses who wish to voluntarily report their emissions and reduction strategies. Resources provided help with inventory guidance, inventory management plans, annual GHG inventory summary and goal tracking, technical assistance, and public recognition. The Climate Leaders Program provides resources for small to medium sized organizations as well.
Other government programs as well as private organizations provide resources for determining greenhouse gas emissions for many types of businesses and industries. Even though these resources use different sources for determining emissions and target different industries, they perform the same function. The goal for organizations is to identify a baseline greenhouse gas inventory, identify ways to reduce those emissions, and annually determine how those strategies have affected yearly emissions.
The calculators work by taking taking energy use data from several major sources. This information is converted to greenhouse gas emissions using calculations that take into account emissions factors for type of energy source and location of power facilities. These calculations are then added up for a specific industry, business, facility, etc. in order to get a relatively accurate, yet easy to identify total Greenhouse Gas emission value for each energy source. After determining a baseline emissions summary, organizations that aid in identifying source emissions recommend creating a conservation plan and developing strategies to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions. There are many resources available to help businesses become more energy efficient and green including the Business.gov Green Business Guide. Once goals and strategies are in place, it is important to continue to report emissions annually to identify progress as well as maintain awareness within the organization of energy efficiency benefits. A future target of becoming carbon neutral should be the ultimate goal for businesses and organizations.
Standard Breakdowns for Greenhouse Gas Emission Sources
- Stationary Combustion Sources
- Industrial Process-related Emissions
- Mobile Sources
- On site Waste Disposal
- Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Equipment
- Purchases of Electricity and Steam
- Business Travel
- Employee Commuting
- Product Transport
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Terminology
Some organizations offer greenhouse gas inventory calculators but under different names. Most of these focus strictly on carbon dioxide emissions. The names of some of these calculator tools include carbon footprint, ecological footprint, carbon emissions, carbon inventory, GHG inventory, etc. According to Institute for Local Government’s California Climate Action Network, terminology for Greenhouse Gas Emissions are as follows:
Greenhouse Gas Emissions are measured in pounds, metric tons, or, for larger measurements, in million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) over some period of time (a year, for example).
A Carbon Footprint is the measurement of total greenhouse gas emissions directly and indirectly contributed by a person, household, business, facility, or community over the course of a year. It takes into account greenhouse gas emissions from stationary combustion of fuel in a fixed location, mobile combustion of fuels from transportation sources and off-road equipment, process emissions from physical or chemical processing, fugitive emissions that are not physically controlled, and indirect emissions from electricity usage. A life-cycle approach to measuring a carbon footprint also estimates cradle-to-cradle greenhouse gas emissions associated with food choices and goods and services such as clothing, furniture and appliances.
A Carbon Calculator estimates carbon footprints. It measures greenhouse gas emissions for a snapshot in time. Carbon calculators are used to calculate greenhouse gas inventories of facilities or operations in order to determine the amount of greenhouse gases produced for a specified year. The results can be used to prepare plans for actions to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emitted annually or by a target year.
Being Carbon Neutral, or having a net zero carbon footprint, refers to achieving net zero carbon emissions by balancing a measured amount of carbon released with an equivalent amount reduced, sequestered or offset emissions.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are those gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic (caused by human activity), that absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of thermal infrared radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface, the atmosphere itself, and by clouds. This property causes the “greenhouse effect.” Water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and ozone (O3) are the primary greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. Moreover, there are a number of entirely human-made greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as the halocarbons and other chlorine- and bromine-containing substances. Still other greenhouse gases are sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs). (Source: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
Modeling Tools estimate greenhouse gas emissions and potential reductions for various scenarios. They are typically used for climate action planning.
Protocols provide a standardized set of guidelines, methodologies and calculations to quantify and report greenhouse gas emission inventories.
Suggested Greenhouse Gas Calculators/Resources
References
EPA Climate Leaders Basic Information. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved October 20, 2009.
Kyoto Protocol. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Retrieved October 20, 2009.
IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007. U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Retrieved October 20, 2009.
Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2007. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved October 20, 2009.
Energy Star Portfolio Manager Overview. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved October 20, 2009.
Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative. World Resources Institute. Retrieved October 20, 2009.
