Idaho National Laboratory?s Greenhouse Gas FY08 Baseline

Abstract

A greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory is a systematic attempt to account for the production and release of certain gasses generated by an institution from various emission sources. The gasses of interest are those which have become identified by climate science as related to anthropogenic global climate change. This document presents an inventory of GHGs generated during fiscal year (FY) 2008 by Idaho National Laboratory (INL), a Department of Energy (DOE)-sponsored entity, located in southeastern Idaho. Concern about the environmental impact of GHGs has grown in recent years. This, together with a desire to decrease harmful environmental impacts, would be enough to encourage the calculation of a baseline estimate of total GHGs generated at the INL. Additionally, the INL has a desire to see how its emissions compare with similar institutions, including other DOE-sponsored national laboratories. Executive Order 13514 requires that federally-sponsored agencies and institutions document reductions in GHG emissions in the future, and such documentation will require knowledge of a baseline against which reductions can be measured. INL’s FY08 GHG inventory was calculated according to methodologies identified in Federal recommendations and an as-yet-unpublished Technical and Support Document (TSD) using operational control boundary. It measures emissions generated in three Scopes: (1)more » INL emissions produced directly by stationary or mobile combustion and by fugitive emissions, (2) the share of emissions generated by entities from which INL purchased electrical power, and (3) indirect or shared emissions generated by outsourced activities that benefit INL (occur outside INL’s organizational boundaries but are a consequence of INL’s activities). This inventory found that INL generated a total of 114,256 MT of CO2-equivalent emissions during fiscal year 2008 (FY08). The following conclusions were made from looking at the results of the individual contributors to INL’s baseline GHG inventory: • Electricity is the largest contributor to INL’s GHG inventory, with over 50% of the net anthropogenic CO2e emissions • Other sources with high emissions were stationary combustion, fugitive emissions from the onsite landfill, mobile combustion (fleet fuels) and the employee commute • Sources with low emissions were contracted waste disposal, wastewater treatment (onsite and contracted) and fugitive emissions from refrigerants. This report details the methods behind quantifying INL’s GHG inventory and discusses lessons learned on better practices by which information important to tracking GHGs can be tracked and recorded. It is important to stress that the methodology behind this inventory followed guidelines that have not yet been formally adopted. Thus, some modification of the conclusions may be necessary as additional guidance is received. Further, because this report differentiates between those portions of the INL that are managed and operated by the Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA) and those managed by other contractors, it includes only that large proportion of Laboratory activities overseen by BEA. It is assumed that other contractors will provide similar reporting for those activities they manage, where appropriate.« less