Essential Tools and Resources for Achieving Your Goals
Here’s the toolkit…for quantifying your GHG emissions.
Let’s start with your direct emissions – those on your site.
- Start by listing the sources – heaters, boilers, ovens – anything that burns a fossil fuel or even a biomass.
- Understand the type of fuel that is combusted – natural gas, diesel, gasoline, propane – are the most common, but there are others.
- Estimate the quantity combusted – often invoices (you pay for this fuel) are available. In some sectors, such as oil & gas, the quantities will come from some kind of measurement device – a gas meter, for example. This data will be available.
- Find an emissions factor – Canada’s National Inventory Report has tables.
- In most cases, the GHG emissions are determined by multiplying the quantity of fuel by the emission factor – simple!
For most organizations, electricity GHG emissions will also be of interest. These are called indirect emissions because the emissions arise at the power plant, not your site. However, you have control over how much you consume – and when.
- Estimate the quantity consumed – invoices (you pay for this electricity) are available. Invoices will report the quantity in kilowatt-hours (kWh) or sometimes megawatt hours (MWh).
- Find an emissions factor, commonly referred to as a grid factor, because the factors depend on the power sources from your grid – Canada’s National Inventory Report has tables. If you buy clean power or Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) or offsets, I can tell you how to handle these if you email me.
- Similarly, the GHG emissions are determined by multiplying the quantity of electricity by the grid factor – simple!
It’s as easy as that—multiplication and addition – grade school stuff.
Ok, this is not the whole story.
- Emissions and sometimes grid factors will be available for CO2, CH4 and N20 emissions.
- You will need to multiply the CH4 and N2O emissions by the global warming potential (GWP) for each. GWP for CH4 is 28 and for N2O is 265 (according to the Intergovernmental Panel and Climate Change in their Fifth Assessment Report – IPCC AR5)
- To get the total equivalent emissions in t CO2e = CO2 + 28xCH4 + 265xN2O) watch out for units. CH4 and N2O typically account for <1-2% of the CO2e emissions.
Smart Climate Moves has a handy table on pages 56-58 that will help you estimate GHG emissions for common fuel sources in your head – if you know the fuel type and quantity! It’s that simple.
Happy quantifying!
Join in the #GSSChallenge. This week’s theme is “What is in your Eco Toolkit?”
