ANNA M IKA CAMPUS S USTAINABILITY

ENVS 187

S USTAINABILITY FELLOW

J AN . 31 , 2012

Greenhouse Gas

Inventories

Terminology

• Global warming potential (GWP) how much a

specific mass of a GHG contributes to global

warming over a specified amount of time

• Relative to CO2, which has a GWP of 1 for all time

periods

Terminology

• GWP

• e.g. Over 100 years, 1 ton of methane (CH4) has 25 times the warming effect as CO2

GHG

Lifetime (years)

Global Warming Potential (Years)

20 100 500

CO2 Based on 378 ppm 1 1 1

CH4 12 72 25 7.6

N2O 114 289 298 153

CFC-12 100 11,000 10,900 5,200

IPCC, 2007

Terminology

• Emission factor average rate of release of a

pollutant or GHG from a specific activity

• e.g. Natural gas emissions per unit of energy:

Unit CO2 CH4 N2O

kg 53.76 0.0053 0.00011

metric

ton 0.053 0.0000053 0.0000001

lb 116.31 0.012 0.00023

Terminology

• CO2e carbon dioxide equivalent

• Combination of all GHG represented as the same

amount of CO2 that would result in the same amount of

warming

• Mass x GWP

• Usually used to represent specific activities

Why Higher Education?

• EPA reporting (> 25,000 tons)

• Leaders

• Ability to make change

• Catalysts for change

• Moral responsibility

“Colleges and universities must exercise

leadership in their communities and throughout society

by modeling ways to eliminate global warming

emissions, and by providing the knowledge and the

educated graduates to achieve climate neutrality.”

~ ACUPCC

Climate Commitment

• Fogel signed ACUPCC in 2007

• Charter signatory

• Now 674 signatories

• 1,410 GHG inventories

http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/

ACUPCC =

OoS + GHG + CAP

Tools for Inventories

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”

Clean-Air Cool-Planet • Gather data

• Calculate and analyze

• Report

Other tools: • GHG Protocol Inventory Calculator (businesses)

• GHG Protocol Initiative custom calculator (e.g. Harvard)

• The Climate Action Registry Reporting Online Tool

(CARROT) (California)

Tools for Inventories

• Clean-Air Cool-Planet

Tools for Inventories

• Clean-Air Cool-Planet

In Practice…

• Boundaries • Physical

• Control and responsibility ($?)

• Available data • What is actually available

• Ways that it’s measured

• Time frame • How many years and how often

• How define “year”

• Baseline

Scopes

• Scope 1 direct emissions resulting from fuels

burned on campus and agriculture

• Scope 2 indirect emissions from fuels

burned due to campus activities, but not directly by

the university (electricity)

• Scope 3 indirect emissions

due to other activities

http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2009/04/efficient_brows.html

Scopes

Scope 3: Indirect emissions from

commuting, air travel, waste disposal,

wastewater, paper purchasing, and

offsets

Scope 1: Direct emissions from fuels

burned on campus (including from vehicles)

and agriculture

Scope 2: Emissions from

utility production not at the

institution

Scopes

• UVM’s inventory includes: Scope 1: heating, agriculture, University

vehicles (“fleet”) Scope 2: electricity

Scope 3: commuting, waste, line losses,

and air travel

x Scope 3: wastewater, purchased products

(paper), offsets, RECs

UVM’s GHG Inventory

• Boundaries

• Square footage: owned and operated buildings and

non-energy consuming buildings

• Full-time and part-time students

• Faculty and staff

• All the cows and horses…

UVM’s GHG Inventory

• Data

• SchoolDude: heating and electricity

• Departmental contacts: CATMA, fleet, fertilizer, # of

cows and horses, waste and composting

• Estimates: commuting, air travel

• Timeframe

• 1990 to present

• Fiscal year

• No baseline; trends: per full-time equivalent (FTE) or

per gross square foot (GSF)

Verification

• 2nd party verified by Sightlines LLC

• Data are publicly available on ACUPCC site

UVM’s GHG Emissions

• Sources of emissions:

1) Buildings (63%)

• Electricity

• Heating fuels

2) Transportation (32%)

• Commuters

• Fleet

• Air Travel

3) Other (5%)

• Solid waste

• Agriculture

• Line losses

Scope 3

Scope 1

Scope 2

Total:

88,000 tons

Heating36%

Fleet1%

Agriculture1%Biogenic

Emissions0%

Purchased Electricity

27%

Student Commuters

5%

Faculty/Staff Commuters

8%

Air Travel19%

Solid Waste<1%

Line Losses3%

Average U.S. Household

• Average US household (48 tons CO2e/year)

Direct emissions Indirect emissions Jones & Kammen 2011

Trends

• 1990-2011:

• 13% increase in emissions

• 31% increase in students

• 34% increase in GSF

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Mt

CO

2e

Fiscal Year

Building Emissions Per FTE Student

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Mt

CO

2e

Fiscal Year

Building Emissions Per 1000 Square Feet

Trends

• 1990-2011:

• Dairy herd down from 355 to 90

• Fleet getting cleaner, using less fuel

• More students walking, biking, taking the bus

• Waste continues to go down; compost up

Electricity Emissions

• UVM’s electricity emissions depend on grid, which

depends on the grid’s fuel mix (can’t use BED)

Electricity Emissions

• New England grid is relatively clean

Coal15%

Oil4%

Gas41%

Other fossil1%

Biomass6%

Hydro5%

Nuclear28%

Wind0%

Solar0%

Geo-thermal0%

Other unknown / purchased fuel

0%

New England (NEWE) Electricity Grid Fuel Mix

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

T&D Losses MTCDE/1M kWh

Electricity Emissions

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

Mt

CO

2e

Grid/Fuel Source

UVM's 2011 Electricity Emissions Depending on Source

CLIMATE ACTION PLAN

• What is climate-neutrality?

www.gfretwell.com and www.uvm.edu

CLIMATE ACTION PLAN

• Carbon reduction strategies

Slide courtesy of Sightlines LLC

CLIMATE ACTION PLAN

• Short-term goals

• Within 2 months: create institutional structures

• Within 1 year: complete GHG inventory and annually thereafter

• Adopt 2 or more short-term actions; UVM chose:

• LEED Silver minimum

• CCTA bus passes

• Long-term goals

• Within 2 years: draft CAP with C-neutrality date and targets

CLIMATE ACTION PLAN

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025

Mt

CO

2e

REDUCTIONS:Past Emissions Projected Emissions

Electricity

Heating

Commuting

Agriculture

Fleet

Remainder

Air Travel

CLIMATE ACTION PLAN

• Goal 1: Climate-Neutrality • Electricity by 2015

• Heating by 2020

• Everything else by 2025

• Goal 2: Sustainability Education • Curriculum, research, and outreach

• Culture: educational experience

• Tracking progress using STARS

• Financing educational goals

CLIMATE ACTION PLAN

YEAR DATE ACTION

2008 January President Daniel Mark Fogel announces new Office of

Sustainability

2009 July

Spring, fall

Inventory 1990-2008 online

Discussions with campus community about goals

2010 November

December

President Fogel announces climate neutrality goal and

progress to date

UVM submits 2010 climate action plan to ACUPCC

2011 Feb – Nov

December

Senior leaders incorporate climate goals into strategic

plans and 10-year budget planning process

President reviews strategic plans and overall financial

plan for climate commitment, recommends to Trustees

2012 February

June

Trustees review revised Climate Action Plan

Office of Sustainability finalizes and resubmits plan

2015-

2024

June Climate Action Plan revised and resubmitted every three

years