Greenhouse Gas Protocol Research Articles

Application of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) and the ISO 14064-1: 2006 standard for the estimation of the carbon footprint at the National University of Jaen in 2021

The objective of the study is to estimate the Carbon Footprint of the National University of Jaen (UNJ), for the period 2021. The direct Scope 1 (fuel consumption) and indirect Scope 2 (electricity consumption) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were calculated from CO2, CH4 and N2O produced in 29 administrative offices of the university campus. The methodology used was proposed by the GHG Protocol and ISO 14064-1:2006. For fuel emission factors, the indicators established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were used, and for electrical energy: 1.56E-01 tCO2/MWh, 9.70E-06 tCH4/MWh, 1.20E-06 tN2O/MWh, and specific conversion factors established by the Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) were used. The results show that a total of 29.3937 tCO2eq were emitted, being CO2 the predominant GHG (23.1364 t). Scope 1 contributed 15,6827 tCO2eq, occupying the highest participation with 53.35 %.

The Aga Khan Development Network’s (AKDN) approach to supply chain carbon foot printing for healthcare providers

Very few examples of footprints exist for lower-middle-income countries and none for low-income countries. Where footprints do exist, they suggest that healthcare in LMICs is more carbon intensive per unit of expenditure than in high-income or upper-middle-income countries. At the same time, delivery of global commitments on Universal Health Coverage implies that healthcare provision in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) must grow more rapidly than anywhere else in the word.There has been little or no access to appropriate, comprehensive but affordable support to enable operations in LMICs to calculate full Scope 1,2 and 3 footprints. Without this it has been challenging for operations in LMICs to effectively target actions to reduce their emissions.With this in mind this paper sets out to demonstrate an approach to carbon foot printing healthcare in LMICs that is sufficiently robust to support targeted action, while using tools, resources and data that are freely accessible in all countries.This paper describes and discusses a 4-tiered ‘hybrid’ approach, developed using the international Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The approach was used successfully by staff to generate carbon footprints for healthcare organisations in 8 LMICs in South and Central Asia and East Africa. The organisations covered all fall within the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN); specifically, the Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) and the Aga Khan Universities (AKU)The principles discussed in this paper, have been used to build a comprehensive carbon management tool in Microsoft Excel. The use of the approach and the tool has enabled AKDN healthcare providers to effectively, baseline, target and structure their carbon reduction activity.This work has had to pragmatically balance accuracy with deliverability in an LMIC context. While footprinting for Scope 1 and 2 has followed standard protocols, proxy data has been used to generate high level supply chain footprints, this has then been refined with data from suppliers.The tool and its accompanying guide are published and available, free to use, from AKDN to support other healthcare organisations in footprinting and reducing their own carbon emissions.

Deriving decarbonization targets and pathways – A case study for the automotive industry

Deriving decarbonization targets and pathways – A case study for the automotive industry

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN AL AMIN LIVING LAB AND INDUSTRIAL PARK PLANNING

The impact of carbon emissions as a major cause of climate change has raised concerns and become a challenge for the international community. To reduce emissions, it is necessary to study the carbon footprint of activities in Al-Amin. The planning of Al Amin Living lab and Industrial Park along with the administration in which various activities produce carbon emissions these activities need to be calculated to find out how much the activity contributes to the emissions produced so that negative impacts on the environment can be minimized. Opportunities for PSE-GR Development Areas with the concept of Eco-Tech-Edu Tourism which has an understanding of Circular Economy Education (CED) is still very minimal in North Sumatra, PSE-GR can be a pioneer in spreading this understanding of CED where the integration of economic and educational activities occurs which at the same time helps maintain the preservation of nature. Encouraged by the development of the Independent Learning Curriculum (ILC), it is hoped that PSE-GR can become a place for research, service, and practicum of the UNPAB academic community that increases awareness of the need for nature conservation. Because Green Technology from across fields of science is still very minimally discussed and is still often partially researched, UNPAB can be an example of the integration of fields of science that become practical, dynamic, educational, and economic value innovations. The existence of 20 ha of land owned by the Prof. DR H Kadirun Yahya Foundation, it is hoped that UNPAB can develop a Living lab ecosystem at least on 10 ha of land. PSE-GR is not expected to be as exclusive as tourist areas in general, with the concept of CED, PSE-GR will not only help become an income generator & source of educational land for the academic community but also help the welfare of the village and the surrounding community. Carbon footprint studies are carried out in 3 scopes according to The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol), namely emissions from sources owned or directly controlled by the faculty, indirect emissions from electricity consumption, and other indirect emissions (WRI and WBSCD, 2004). Carbon footprint emissions from all three scopes are calculated based on methods from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for the national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory.

The unusual suspects: are well-meaning environmental stakeholders and institutions undercutting the contributions that companies can make to fighting climate change?

Abstract There is broad consensus that a significant majority of the capital needed to fund a low carbon transition consistent with science-based decarbonization timelines will have to come from the private sector. While still inadequate, the past decade-plus has seen a nonlinear increase in corporate capital spend in pursuit of voluntary climate goals. In the absence of significant regulatory mandates or meaningful carbon pricing, how this ‘corporate climate spend’ is directed is influenced—if not largely directed—by an array of emissions accounting rules, third-party defined leadership metrics and methodologies. This ‘rules and reward ecosystem’ is largely the design of environmental advocates, academics, and other aligned stakeholders and philanthropists. Sitting at the heart of this ecosystem is the Greenhouse Gas Protocol—a purported accounting framework that underpins how companies can undertake climate-based interventions and record progress. Launched by environmental stakeholders in 1998, the Protocol has since become the de facto rulebook used by highly influential third-party corporate leadership and target setting organizations, sustainability rating and evaluation entities serving the investment community, and is being incorporated into emerging mandatory corporate disclosure programs. Ironically, given its architects, today the rules and reward ecosystem results in significant mis-allocations and constraints on corporate climate spend and is reducing the potential climate change-mitigating impact of crucial private capital. This paper explores the flaws in incumbent greenhouse gas accounting and leadership program rules and proposes pathways for change that would better optimize the flow of private capital available and needed to address the climate crisis.

Factors Affecting the Usage Intention of Environmental Sustainability Management Tools: Empirical Analysis of Adoption of Greenhouse Gas Protocol Tools by Firms in Two Countries

Mitigating the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission problem is one efficient way to respond to climate change challenges. Firms must proactively manage GHG emissions, with increasing pressure from various stakeholders to be environmentally responsible. GHG Protocol Tools help in managing GHG emissions. However, besides responsibility, the factors that influence the adoption and implementation of GHG Protocol Tools is sparsely investigated in empirical research, although studies point to different benefits and pressures influencing adoption. This study examines the factors affecting GHG Protocol Tool usage in organizations in China and South Korea. We consider two contrasting perspectives, affordance-based perceived benefits and constraint-based perceived pressures through imitating others, for GHG Protocol Tool adoption. Survey data from samples of firms from both countries are used for analysis. Results of empirical analyses indicate that perceived benefits and pressures have a positive relationship with the usage intention of GHG Protocol Tools. In comparison, the perceived benefits play a more critical role than the perceived pressures. Comparative analysis is conducted to explore the differences between Chinese and Korean firms, and study implications are discussed.

Carbon Footprint of An Offshore Survey by Oil and Gas Service Provider Company

The rapid development of global economy has leaded to climate change issues. The greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide have driven the issues of climate change and become one of the concerns confronting human society. An offshore survey project that carried out by a service provider company in oil and gas industry was chosen for the carbon footprint estimation during the project’s operation in this study. The major objective of this study is to calculate the carbon footprint of the above-mentioned project in terms of CO2, eq and use it as a benchmark or reference for the company, as well as to create an Excel Tool that can be used as a carbon footprint calculator. Greenhouse Gas Protocol methodology is to generate the framework for the project in this study. There have three unavoidable sources: fuel combustion by survey vessel, transportation involved and water consumption during the operation of the project. The emission factors approach is used in this study to quantify the emission of GHGs from the project. Emission factor values will be obtained from the published report that revised by Federal Register of Legislation in 2020. The carbon footprint of the project was calculated to be 130.44 tons of CO2, eq. Scope 1 accounted for 96.05% of the carbon footprint, which comprised fuel combusted by survey vessel.

Accounting for Carbon Emissions—Current State of Sustainability Reporting Practice under the GHG Protocol

Climate-related reporting has become an integral part of firms’ disclosure. In this context, firms’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are of major importance to stakeholders and management. For measuring GHG emissions, a global standard has been established with the GHG Protocol. This standard contains an important accounting policy option that significantly affects firms’ reported emissions by allowing them to use different consolidation approaches: the equity share, operational control, and financial control approach. However, there is limited evidence on firms’ use of these approaches, resulting in a lack of foundation for discussing the approaches’ sufficiency to support achieving environmental sustainability. Therefore, this paper aims to close this research gap by empirically investigating the approaches’ relevance using 16,604 firm-year observations between 2009 and 2019. We demonstrate that the operational control approach is used by most firms and that its predominance substantially increased during the last decade. However, the predominant use of the operational control approach is not fully compatible with societal and political sustainability goals as expressed in recent sustainability regulations. Therefore, policy makers need to critically assess whether current GHG reporting supports achieving their goals. Furthermore, we develop a research agenda to encourage future researchers to contribute to improvements in GHG reporting.

Sustainability measurement in a logistics transportation company

Sustainability measurement in a logistics transportation company

Concept for life cycle oriented ecological assessment in tooling

Concept for life cycle oriented ecological assessment in tooling

Pivoting to suppliers’ emissions

Apple declared 2 years ago that it had achieved carbon neutrality—a balance between carbon emitted and carbon absorbed—across its corporate operations. The claim appeared to position the tech giant as a leader among the many companies hoping to make the same announcement by 2050 as signatories to the Paris climate accords. Most companies realize, however, that corporate operations are only one source of their carbon emissions. Every Apple iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV—indeed, every product the company sells—has a carbon footprint that is not figured into its claims regarding in-house activities. This leaves a lot out. By some estimates , as much as 80% of emissions associated with a company’s products, a measurement known as product carbon footprint (PCF), occur elsewhere along its supply chain. Industry efforts to measure greenhouse gas emissions date back to 1998, when a standard known as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol was introduced by

Influence of COVID-19 on the 10-year carbon footprint of the Nagoya University Hospital and medical research centre

Background:Amidst the climate crisis, a key goal of the medical sector is to reduce its large carbon footprint. Although the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic greatly impacted the medical sector, its influence on carbon footprints remains unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the carbon footprint of a university hospital with a medical research centre over the past 10 years.Methods:Data on electricity, gas, and water usage, pharmaceutical and medical supply costs, and waste amounts were recorded for Nagoya University Hospital from April 2010 to March 2021. The relevant emission factors were obtained from the Japanese government and the overall monthly carbon footprint was reported according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the carbon footprint was then compared for three types of emission sources. Moreover, a regression model was used to plot quadratic functions as approximate functions using monthly carbon emissions and monthly average external temperatures. Finally, the monthly carbon footprint was calculated per hospital admission.Results:The overall carbon footprint of the hospital was 73,546 tCO2e in 2020, revealing an increase of 26.60% over the last 10 years. Carbon emissions from electricity consumption represented 26% of total emissions. The individual carbon footprints of pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, waste, and water usage also increased from 2010 to 2020. The overall monthly carbon footprint was positively correlated with the average monthly temperature (R2 = 0.7566, p < 0.001). Compared with 2019, the overall carbon footprint decreased by 2.19% in 2020. Moreover, the monthly carbon footprint per hospital admission increased significantly between 2018 (0.24 tCO2e/admission) and 2020 (0.26 tCO2e/admission) (p = 0.002).Conclusion:The overall carbon footprint of the hospital generally increased over the last decade. During the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, the carbon footprint decreased slightly, likely because of the reduced number of patients. However, the carbon footprint per admission increased, which was attributed to more complicated patient backgrounds because of the ageing population. Therefore, evaluation of carbon emissions in the medical sector is urgently required in order to act on the climate crisis as soon as possible.

A System Thinking Normative Approach towards Integrating the Environment into Value-Added Accounting—Paving the Way from Carbon to Environmental Neutrality

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is increasingly being applied in corporate accounting. Recently, especially carbon footprinting (CF) has been adopted as ‘LCA light’ in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. According to the strategy ‘balance, reduce, substitute, compensate’, the approach is intended to provide the basis for optimization towards climate neutrality. However, two major problems arise: (1) due to the predominant focus on climate neutrality, other decisive life-cycle impact categories are often ignored, resulting in a misrecognition of potential trade-offs, and (2) LCA is not perceived as an equal method alongside cost and value-added accounting in everyday business, as it relies on a fundamentally different system understanding. In this paper, we present basic considerations for merging the business and life-cycle perspectives and introduce a novel accounting system that combines elements of traditional operational value-added accounting, process and material flow analysis as well as LCA. The method is based on an extended system thinking, a set of principles, a calculation system, and external cost factors for the impact categories climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, air pollution, eutrophication and acidification. As a scientifically robust assessment method, the presented approach is intended to be applied in everyday operations in manufacturing companies, providing a foundation for a fundamental change in industrial thought patterns on the way to the total avoidance of negative environmental impacts (i.e., environmental neutrality). Therefore, this is validated in two application examples in the German special tools industry, proving its practicability and reproducibility as well as the suitability of specifically derived indicators for the selective optimization of production systems.

The future is a zero-carbon building sector: Perspectives from Durban, South Africa

The built environment is a critical part of the climate change problem in cities, and urban buildings can act as a scaled response to mitigating anthropogenic climate change. Buildings last for well beyond a hundred years and thus have the potential to provide cities with a healthier and safer environment for urban dwellers well into the future. The role of the building sector toward reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is now better understood, and has resulted in various initiatives globally to move toward being a net-zero carbon sector. The objective of this study was to provide an assessment of the costs in achieving the emissions-reduction potential for each high-emitting sector in the eThekwini Municipality (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) through the determination of a marginal abatement cost curve (MACC). The MACC was developed for 2030, 2040, and 2050 across key sectors and aligned with the approach used by the eThekwini Municipality by employing the GHG Protocol’s BASIC level of reporting that excludes the Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land-use (AFLOU) and Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU) sectors. We found that the building sector offers the lowest cost to mitigate each tonne of GHGs when compared to other sectors in the eThekwini Municipality. Several interventions within the building sector further display positive payback periods throughout its life cycle. The MACC produced in this study is the first of its kind for any municipality in South Africa and will provide insights into the net cost of interventions that would mitigate a tonne of carbon emissions. Significance: The MACC produced in this study is the first of its kind for any municipality in South Africa. Developing a MACC adds to an important basket of factors that need to be considered when planning for future climates in cities and is of benefit in prioritising actions in addressing climate change. The MACC in this study demonstrates that energy efficiency interventions in the building sector offer substantial mitigation potential within the most feasible payback periods when compared to other sectors. The MACC may be replicated by other municipalities, to support the prioritisation of actions needed to address climate change.

An integrated life-cycle greenhouse gas protocol accounting on oil palm trunk and empty fruit bunch biofuel production

An integrated life-cycle greenhouse gas protocol accounting on oil palm trunk and empty fruit bunch biofuel production

Quantification of greenhouse gas emissions of a steel factory in Brazil

his work aimed to identify and quantify greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions of a steel factory, considering the importance of these data in the context of large global GHG emissions. As a result, Scope 1 emissions were identified as the highest in the industry, representing more than 89% of total emissions in CO2eq. This scenario is mainly identified a result of the Brazilian energy matrix configuration, which contributes to reduce Scope 2 emissions. The used methodology (GHG Protocol v. 2018.1.4) proved to be appropriate for calculating emissions within a broader report (annual amount). However, in order to develop an indicator for the organization, with monthly detailed data, it was necessary to adapt the tool, which is the differential of this work.

Use of sheep slaughterhouse-derived struvite in the production of environmentally sustainable cement and fire-resistant wooden structures

Use of sheep slaughterhouse-derived struvite in the production of environmentally sustainable cement and fire-resistant wooden structures

The carbon footprint of government health department fleet vehicles in Johannesburg, South Africa – a case study

ABSTRACT The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that climate change is caused by human activities. This case study presents findings on the vehicle use by the Department of Health in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng province, South Africa. The objectives of this study are to estimate the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of government fleet vehicles and to identify mitigation measures to reduce the vehicle carbon emissions. Both the World Resource Institute Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) and the United Kingdom Department of Environmental Forestry and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) methodologies were used. The study revealed that the government fleet vehicles emitted 1362 t CO2e for a five year period (2010 − 2014), which is equivalent to $ 9 071 of the South African carbon tax. Various measures to reduce CO2e emissions were recommended, money saving from fuel and potential revenue generating opportunities were identified, including the use of hybrid vehicles.

Climate Change Mitigation by Quantification of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Office Operations of a Global Logistics Company

Climate change is a global phenomenon that affects all continents. Climate change has become the most discussed topic in the last decade, owing to the increasing probability of extreme events occurring. Mitigation of climate change focuses on avoiding and reducing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. The industrial sector significantly contributes to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which are one of the primary causes of climate change. Calculating a company’s carbon footprint (CF) is an important step toward reducing quantifiable emissions because it indicates the contribution of each activity to GHG emissions. The objectives of this study were to identify the major contributors to organizational GHG emissions and provide possible solutions for emission reduction. This research examines the organizational CF of a logistics company for a year, from April 2020 to March 2021. That global company, which has more than 2,900 employees in 32 countries and provides freighting, warehousing, and other solutions to the community, contributes to GHG emissions through freight transport and office operations. Office operations were considered here, and operational boundaries were established within offices in fourteen countries. GHG Protocol was chosen as the methodology for quantifying the organization’s CF. GHG emitting activities were identified and classified into three categories under the GHG protocol. Secondary data was collected from the company database called Sustainable Management System for the calculation, and invoices and bills were checked to ensure data accuracy. To extract emission factors, publications from the United Kingdom's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority website, the Institute of Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) list of grid emission factors, and the World Bank Open Database were consulted. The annual carbon footprint was 3,710 tCO2e. The highest emission value resulted from indirect emissions associated with purchased electricity, which is 2,180 tCO2e and accounts for 58.8% of the company’s annual carbon footprint. The proportions of direct and other indirect emissions were reported to be 14.4%and 26.8%, respectively. Per capita consumption for the company was 2.18 tCO2e. The highest per capita consumption was reported from the stations in Sri Lanka which was 4.57 tCO2e. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, measures such as implementing solar energy systems and setting emission reduction targets are proposed as the major suggestions. This study is a part of the initiatives undertaken by the company to reduce its GHG emissions.&#x0D; Keywords: Carbon footprint, Climate change, Mitigation, GHG emissions

Development of comprehensive energy usage impact and carbon footprint parameters for green building life cycle assessment

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to develop a set of parameters universally acceptable for assessing design and construction strategies for reducing operational energy usage and its associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. Also, the parameters are intended to estimate the quantity of energy and its associated GHG emission reduction over the assessment period.Design/methodology/approachThis study used five steps framework comprising definition of purpose, selecting the candidate parameters, criteria selection and description, selecting proposed parameters and defining the proposed parameters. The criteria used were the parameter’s prevalence, measurability, preference and feasibility toward adaptability to the relevant stakeholders.FindingsThis study consolidated 11 parameters. Seven cover designs and construction strategies comprising energy monitoring, natural lighting and ventilation design. Others are building thermal performance, efficient equipments, renewable energy and energy policy. The remaining four consider operational energy consumption, GHG emission quantification and their reduction over time.Practical implicationsProviding suitable indicators for assessing direct and indirect GHG emission with easily accessible data is essential for assessing built environment. The consolidated parameters can be used in developing rating systems, monitoring GHG inventories and activities of building related industries.Originality/valueThis study was conducted at the CEIES UTHM and used 11 existing rating systems open for research purposes, International Panel for Climate Change reports and GHG protocol report and guides and several other standards.