Greenhouse Gas Protocol Research Articles

Female representation on boards of directors and environmental disclosure: evidence of the Brazilian GHG protocol program

PurposeThis study aims to identify a relationship between the presence of women on the board of directors (BOD) of Brazilian companies and the firms’ disclosure and participation in projects or initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.Design/methodology/approachThe research used an adaptation of the model by Ben-Amar et al. (2017), added two other gender variables and analyzed a sample of 42 companies listed on the Brazilian stock exchange that participate in the Brazilian GHG protocol program. As for the models with the variables of interest, the most significant was the female percentage, Blau’s index, the dummy of female presence, the number of women on BOD, total years with the woman on board and the number of committees the board women were.FindingsThe results for the sample showed that women were present on the BOD 475 times, against a male presence of 4,538 times. Empirical evidence confirms the research hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between the presence of women on the BOD and the likelihood of participation in the Brazilian GHG protocol program.Research limitations/implicationsThe fact that few companies are listed on Brasil, Bolsa and Balcão and participate in the Brazilian GHG protocol program. Therefore, the impact of these findings may be reduced when compared with countries presenting more listed companies that have joined this type of program to diminish GHG emissions.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on accounting, discussing carbon accounting in the field of environmental accounting and emphasizing that climate change-related risks greatly influence business and corporate assets. According to an article published by the World Resources Institute Brasil (2019), Brazil is the seventh country with the highest GHG emissions in the world.

Hourly accounting of carbon emissions from electricity consumption

Carbon accounting is important for quantifying the sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are driving climate change, and is increasingly being used to guide policy, investment, business, and regulatory decisions. The current practice for accounting emissions from consumed electricity, guided by standards like the GHG protocol, uses annual-average grid emission factors, although previous studies have shown that grid carbon intensity varies across seasons and hours of the day. Previous case studies have shown that annual-average carbon accounting can bias emission inventories, but none have shown that this bias is substantial or widespread. This study addresses this gap by calculating emission inventories for thousands of residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural facilities across the US, and explores the magnitude and direction of this bias compared to hourly accounting of emissions. Our results show that annual-average accounting can over- or under-estimate carbon inventories as much as 35% in certain settings but result in effectively no bias in others. Bias will be greater in regions with high variation in carbon intensity, and for end-users with high variation in their electricity consumption across hours and seasons. As variation in carbon intensity continues to grow with growing shares of variable and intermittent renewable generation, these biases will only continue to worsen in the future. In most cases, using monthly-average emission factors does not substantially reduce bias compared to annual averages. Thus, the authors recommend that hourly accounting be adopted as the best practice for emissions inventories of consumed electricity.

Estimation of the carbon footprint of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair in France

Objectives:Global warming is certainly one of the greatest challenges of the century. The objective of this work is to estimate the carbon footprint of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, and to evaluate the positive impact of the following actions: ambulatory surgery, performed under loco-regional anesthesia, and filtration of surgical fluids.Methods:The assessment protocol was compliant with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, which has three components: 1/ use of volatile anesthetic agents; 2/ electric consumption related to the procedure (heating and air conditioning, ventilation, computer); 3/ related to patient and staff travel, implant delivery and waste management. The study covered the period from November 2020 to April 2021, and included any patient undergoing arthroscopic shoulder replacement surgery. Three actions aimed at improving the carbon footprint were taken: ambulatory surgery, performed under local anesthesia, and filtration of surgical fluids by Neptune® (Stryker). To examine the effectiveness, each patient included during the review period was matched to a patient who underwent surgery during 2018 before the implementation of this protocol.Results:Finally, 26 patients were included. The carbon footprint of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair was estimated at 260.5 +/- 35.03 kgCO2 eq. The main impacts could be attributed to single-use equipment (53.5%), restocking anchors (27.2%), contaminated waste incineration (5.9%), the sterilization process (5.4%), and traveling by the patient (4.1%). Setting up ambulatory surgery without the use of anesthetic gases and a water purifier reduced emissions by 25.9 +/- 2.5 kgCO2 eq (9.3%) per procedure.Conclusion:The carbon footprint of arthroscopic rotary cuff repair corresponds to a bit more than 60 km traveled in a car. The main factor that should be addressed is the impact related to single-use materials and inventory management.

Carbon Footprint at a United Arab Emirates University: GHG Protocol

Background: University campuses can be leaders of change by tracking carbon footprints and establishing strategies for reductions. The American University of Sharjah (AUS) has led this effort in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), establishing an Office of Sustainability to address energy consumption on its campus, resulting in a reduction of 30% by 2015. AUS campus uses the Greenhouse Gas Protocol to annually track carbon footprint. The purpose of this paper is to stablish a framework that institutions can use to calculate the carbon footprint (CF) on their university campuses. Methods: The GHG Protocol, which categorizes emissions into three scopes; 1: direct, 2: indirect, and 3: other indirect emissions, was used as a guideline. This paper covers the following: Scope 1: emissions from university fleet, Scope 2: emissions from electricity and water consumption, Scope 3: emissions from the university commute, limited business air travel and waste. The data for each category are analyzed and recommendations to reduce the carbon footprint are presented. Results: The total CO2 emissions for the AUS campus in 2018–2019 were 94,553.30 tCO2e. Additionally, the percentage contribution of total emissions for Scope 1, 2 and 3 were 0.37%, 61.12% and 38.51%. Conclusions: The two highest contributors of CO2 emissions at the AUS campus are electricity consumption (60.91%) and university commute (36.54%). AUS has hosted numerous educational campaigns and awareness programs to try to reduce carbon emissions, which helped in reducing electricity consumption throughout campus; however, these are still insufficient; hence, the importance of quantifying the CF of the AUS campus. Based on the results obtained, recommendations can be made to reduce overall CO2 emissions for AUS and other higher education institutions in the region and internationally.

Towards Carbon Neutrality in Higher Education Institutions: Case of Two Private Universities in Colombia

This paper addresses the path followed by two private higher education institutions (HEI) in Colombia towards achieving carbon neutrality. The methodology followed by these universities to achieve a carbon-neutral certification, based on the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, is first described. The process of developing the GHG inventory, projected towards the carbon neutrality of these organisations while using the standard ISO 14064:2006, involved a series of steps that were consolidated in three phases: (i) definition of the scope, collection of data and emissions quantification; (ii) analysis of results and mitigation actions; and (iii) verification and compensation strategies. Results for the HEIs are shown in terms of the organisational context, carbon footprint measurement, reduction, verification, and compensation. The case is presented for Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, a multi-campus university that became the first carbon-neutral university in Latin America in 2017, and Universidad Ean, a single-campus university that became the second carbon-neutral university in Colombia in 2021, as verified by the Colombian Institute of Technical Standards and Certification (ICONTEC). This work shows that universities can play a key role in regional and global agendas with their contribution through the incorporation of sustainability strategies, since HEIs can not only achieve carbon neutrality, but they can help other organisations by delivering graduates who are aware of sustainability and provide specific training towards building a sustainability culture, which is needed for regenerative development.

Calculating the carbon footprint of a Geriatric Medicine clinic before and after COVID-19.

Backgroundclimate change is a health emergency. Central to addressing this is understanding the carbon footprint of our daily life and work, in order to reduce it effectively. The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought about rapid change to clinical practice, most notably in use of virtual clinics and personal protective equipment (PPE).Aimto estimate the carbon footprint of a Geriatric Medicine clinic, including the effect of virtual consultation and PPE, in order to inform design of a service that addresses both the health of our patients and our environment.Methoddata from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, NHS Carbon Footprint Plus and UK Government were used to estimate the carbon emissions per consultation. Values were calculated for virtual and face-to-face contact and applied to actual clinics both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Resultsthe carbon footprint of a face-to-face clinic consultation is 4.82 kgCO2e, most of which is patient travel, followed by staff travel and use of PPE. The footprint of a virtual consultation is 0.99 kgCO2e, most of which is staff travel, followed by data use.Using our hybrid model for a single session clinic reduced our annual carbon footprint by an estimated 200 kgCO2e, roughly equivalent to a surgical operation.Discussionthe COVID-19 pandemic has made us deliver services differently. The environmental benefits seen of moving to a partially virtual clinic highlight the importance of thinking beyond reverting to ‘business as usual’—instead deliberately retaining changes, which benefit the current and future health of our community.

The Carbon Footprint of a Public Sector University Before and During the COVID-19 Lockdown.

<p>Carbon footprint (CF) is a measure of greenhouse gas emissions generated from daily human-induced activities as carbon dioxide equivalent. This study is an attempt to represent a consumption-based CF study from the scope of transportation, electricity, and waste generation for University of the Punjab (PU), Lahore under the WRI/WBCSD greenhouse gas protocol corporate standards. Data acquired through fieldwork, questionnaire surveys, direct sampling, and existing records for the year 2019-20 suggested that electricity is the greatest contributor of CO2 emissions at 59%, followed by transportation at 36%, and waste generation at approximately 5%. The total CF(CO2_eq) generated from different sources is about 18360.62MT for one year. The recent COVID-19 lockdown has offered inimitable prospect to compare the carbon footprint of one of the largest higher education institutes of Pakistan before and during this pandemic. The data can serve for tracking, assessing, and setting goals for greenhouse gas emission reduction programs in future.</p>

Sankey diagrams for energy consumption and scope 2 carbon emissions in laser de-coating

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol requires mandatory reporting of direct on-site emissions (Scope 1) and energy consumption derived emissions (Scope 2 emissions) for industry and business. This work modelled the energy requirements and associated emissions for laser selective removal of coatings from tooling to facilitate their use in a circular economy. Four different lasers with nanosecond and picosecond laser pulses were studied. System boundaries such as laser beam material interaction level, laser source level, and full laser system level were considered in understanding the electrical energy requirements and scope 2 carbon emissions. Generic energy operational states of a laser system were defined and used to evaluate energy requirements. The energy requirements are visualised through Sankey diagrams to aid effective communication of data and key areas for focus. A new metric of specific emissions is reported and provides normalised values for comparing laser processing to other competing cleaning technologies. The results show that developers of laser systems should focus on improving the laser source efficiency and design and development of energy efficient laser cooling systems. For manufacturers, in the transition to low carbon manufacturing, choice of laser systems and reducing the carbon intensity of the available electricity are key levers for significantly reducing emissions. The work contributes towards a deeper understanding of energy requirements and carbon emissions in laser material processing to inform the net zero transition.

Carbon footprint of Brazilian cocoa produced in Pará state

Abstract Pará is the main cocoa producing state in Brazil. To provide a comprehensive picture of the carbon cootprint from cocoa production (conventional and organic cultivation systems in Brazilian Trans-Amazon and Xingu regions), the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol methodology was used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions with a focus on the impact of climate changes. The carbon footprint was calculated based on original data collected in the conventional and organic cocoa cultivation of the Trans-Amazon and Xingu regions in the State of Pará. The harvesting, fermentation and drying steps were analyzed, with data collection in nine farms, three of each type of agricultural production: conventional; organic; and organic-fairtrade. The fruit is harvested manually, the husk is left at the field for natural fertilization without composting. The small amount of inputs, such as herbicides, insecticides and fertilizers, are used only on farms with cocoa conventional production. Eliminating the use of nitrogen fertilizers and implementing an efficient method of composting without the emission of methane in the air, the carbon footprint will be only 2.01 kg CO2 eq./kg cocoa, i.e., total reduction of 81%.

Carbon Footprint Assessment in Nature-Based Conservation Management Estates Using South African National Parks as a Case Study

Nature-based conservation management (NBCMs) estates are seen as natural solutions to climate change and hence immune to harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, NBCMs, in their daily operations to protect and conserve biodiversity, may result in GHG emissions. These may come as a significant carbon burden. This is the first study based on a literature review to look at the carbon footprint of an entire conservation estate operation and management. South African National Parks (SANParks) aimed to contribute to national targets by reducing their fossil-fuel-generated energy consumption by 2% per year until achieving carbon neutrality. The objectives of this paper were (1) to quantify the SANParks C emissions profile at the organization and individual park level and develop recommendations to sustainably reduce carbon emissions and (2) to suggest alternative scenarios that SANParks could follow to achieve zero energy emissions. The study presented an audit analysis of the emission sources linked to SANParks’ daily activities over a five-year period (2015–2019) using the GHGs protocol corporate accounting and reporting standard methodology. Over the reference period, SANParks emitted an average of 73,732 t of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) per year. Most emissions came from electricity usage, 40,681 tCO2e (55%), followed by fuel usage for stationary combustion at 26,088 tCO2e (35%), and both account for 90% of SANParks’ total emissions. Results have shown the variation amongst individual parks in GHG emission and intensity ratio among the different parks. Total SANParks emission showed a significant relationship with Scope 2, followed by number of employees, building size, Scope 3, and Scope 1, in order. This work recommends how SANParks estate may reduce their carbon emissions at a national and individual level. SANParks achieved 1% year-on-year energy emissions reduction through its renewable base; however, an ambitious target of 8% would be appropriate for a 1.5 °C future based on the energy scenario planning.

Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensity Assessment for Power Plants in Peninsular Malaysia

The power sector has been playing a vital role in the industrialization, societal and economic development of a nation. In Malaysia, the total power generation for 2014 is 147,480GWh and eventually accounts for 54% of total carbon emissions for that year alone. A study was conducted to quantify the greenhouse gas emission from stationary combustion from several power plants in Peninsular Malaysia, followed by proposal for the emission reduction strategies. For the GHG emissions assessment, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methodologies was adopted. Based on this study, the highest GHG emission intensity were from coal power plants which ranged from 0.67 – 0.85 tCO2/ MWh. The GHG emission intensity for natural gas power plants ranged from 0.38 – 0.78 tCO2/ MWh. The overall GHG emission intensity for all power plants studied was estimated to be 0.54 tCO2/ MWh. The large variations in CO2 emissions per MWh of electricity generated in fossil fuel power plants were due to differences in generation efficiency, fuel selection, technology, and plant age. In supporting Malaysia’s conditional commitment of 45% GHG emissions intensity reduction target against the country’s GDP, the emission reduction strategies up to 2025 were assessed using three key scenarios namely Business-As-Usual (BAU), Planning (PLAN) and Ambitious (AMB). Based on the analysis, the projection indicates that the emissions intensity for the power sector is about 0.79 tCO2/ MWh, 0.49 tCO2/ MWh, and 0.44 tCO2/ MWh under the BAU, PLN AMB scenarios respectively. Finally, GHG emission reduction potentials were also outlined in this paper.

Energy and Environmental Evaluation of Retrofitting Facades for Zero Energy Buildings: The Case of an Office Building in Greece

Energy and environmental targets are expressed clearly by the EU policies setting ambitious goals for 2030 and 2050 considering energy intensive sectors such as buildings. Pursuing high energy performance with the least environmental impact of a building, along with ensuring the well-being of the occupants, is the ultimate goal of an institutional framework that addresses energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. Part of this effort is the improvement of the building envelope’s thermal performance, along with the respective one of HVAC systems, as those determine thee energy performance of buildings in their use phase. Main scope of the paper is to evaluate and analyse different scenarios considering the retrofitting of facades as part of the refurbishment towards Zero and Positive Energy Buildings, but also in connection with the strive for Net Zero Energy, Net Zero Cost Energy and Net Zero Emissions goals. The paper also discusses energy and environmental evaluation of refurbishing an office building in Greece, examining the performance of different envelope construction typologies and alternative insulation scenarios. These scenarios include state of the art insulation techniques, but also innovative design elements such as the use of different final coating materials for ventilated façades like the use of phase-changing materials (PCMs). The results of the assessment undertaken are used to rate the construction solutions by means of energy and environmental parameters proving the environmental impact of concrete and insulation materials in construction phase but also the reduced primary energy consumption and thus the CO2 emissions in the life cycle of the building. Considering the environmental evaluation, the carbon footprint analysis was used according to Greenhouse Gas Protocol focusing mainly on CO2 emissions, which is the main emission target of EU policies. The impact assessment followed demonstrated that the most significant impact categories are global warming, acidification and eutrophication.

Assessing the environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions from the common municipal wastewater treatment systems

This study measured the environmental impacts from three same-size wastewater treatment systems, specifically activated sludge, a constructed wetland, and a high rate algal pond. Detailed data inventories were employed using SimaPro 9 software to calculate the entire consequences by ReCiPe 2016 and Greenhouse Gas Protocol method. The environmental outcomes caused by substance emissions and resource extraction are presented in several impact categories at the endpoint level. For a better comparison, the single score tool was applied to aggregate all factors into three areas of protection: human health, ecosystem, and resource shortage. Results showed that concrete and steel are the main contributors to the construction phase, while electricity is responsible for the operation stage. The single score calculation indicates that the proportion of construction activities could be equal to or even higher than the operation stage for a small capacity plant. The total environmental impact of the conventional system was 2.3-fold and 3-fold higher than that of constructed wetland and high rate algal pond, respectively. High rate algal pond has the best environmental performance when generating the least burdens and greenhouse gas emissions of 0.72 kg CO2 equivalent per m3. Constructed wetland produces 5.69 kg CO2, higher than an algal pond but much lower than activated sludge plant, emitting 11.42 kg CO2 per m3.

Carbon Footprint Analysis of Ege University within the Scope of Environmental Sustainability

Universities play a leading role in promoting sustainability in society. Besides their technical roles, they have important social responsibilities and should be a leader for their stakeholders. Therefore, there is an important need to manage and reduce carbon emissions in universities to ensure environmental sustainability. Ege University (EU) has the vision of being a sustainable campus. In this context, in order to reduce carbon emissions, a carbon footprint study has been carried out primarily to determine carbon emission resources. The life cycle assessment (LCA) tool was used to analyze the Ege University carbon footprint. The study was based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard and ISO14064/1-2 standards. In the study, the EU campus was evaluated as the main campus and the medical faculty campus. Total carbon emissions of Ege University in 2016 were analyzed as a total of 40.608 tCO2e within the Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3. As a result of the study, it was revealed that 37% of total emission was caused by constant and mobile combustion, 39% from electricity usage, and 24% from travel and staff transportation. In the discussion, it was emphasized that EU should turn to energy conservation and efficiency, awareness activities, and renewable energy resources in its short, medium, and long term plans in order to reduce carbon emissions.

Estimation of greenhouse gas emissions in civil construction for a modular construction on the campus of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The civil construction industry is recognized as one of the activities with the greatest environmental impact on the planet, in addition to being responsible for about 10% to 20% of emissions in the extraction of raw materials and manufacture of products for this segment. The main objective of this work was to estimate greenhouse gas emissions for the construction of an administrative building at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, using the modular constructive method. The methodology used to inventory emissions was structured in the Brazilian greenhouse gas protocol program, the method most used worldwide by companies and governments for conducting greenhouse gas inventories. The research was also developed by simulating its construction by the “Conventional” method using construction materials, a source of great relevance in the literature. Based on the results of the inventory, the total greenhouse gas emission was estimated at 462.90 tCO 2e for the construction of the project, with a built area of 620.03 m 2, which resulted in the emission of 0.75 tCO 2e/m 2 of built area. Comparatively, this constructive method presented 22.12% less emissions when compared to the conventional method. This result allows, as a mitigation action, the possibility of proposing the implementation of new technologies and constructive methods that propitiate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions assessment for energy recovery and material recycle of the wastewater treatment plant

This study investigated the environmental burdens concerning the recycling/recovery process of a wastewater treatment plant's construction material waste and biogas. Detailed data inventories of case studies were employed in several scenarios to explore the role of end-of-life treatment methods. The ReCiPe 2016 and the Greenhouse gas Protocol life cycle impact methods were conducted to measure the impact categories. The construction and demolition phases were considered for recycling potential assessment, while the operational phase was examined for assessing the advantages of energy recovery. Metal and concrete recycling show environmental benefits. Increasing the reprocessing rate requires more water consumption but results in: firstly, a decrease of 18.8% in total damage; secondly, reduces problematic mineral scarcity by 3.9%; and thirdly, a shortfall in fossil fuels amounting to 11.6%. Recycling concrete helps to reduce the amount of GHG emissions 1.4-fold. Different biogas treatment methods contribute to various outcomes. Biogas utilization for on-site energy purposes has more advantages than flaring and offsite consumption. Electricity and heat generation originating from biogas can provide 70% of the energy requirement and replace 100% natural gas usage. Biomethane production from biogas requires extreme power and more resources. Meanwhile, producing heat and electricity can offset 102.9 g of fossil CO2, and manufacturing biomethane contributes the equivalent of 101.2 g of fossil fuel-derived CO2. Reducing 10% of recovered electricity creation could rise 19.19% global warming indicator of the wastewater treatment plant.

Comparative life cycle assessment of polymeric membranes: Polyacrylonitrile, polyvinylimidazole and poly (acrylonitrile-co-vinylimidazole) applied for CO2 sequestration

The life cycle assessment analysis of polymeric membranes, namely polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyvinylimidazole (PVIM), and copolymer P(AN-co-VIM): 50:50 ratio utilized for CO2 sequestration is presented in this work for the first time. The Center of Environmental Science (CML) baseline 2000, cumulative energy demand, ecological footprint, and greenhouse gas protocol methods were applied to attain comprehensive information regarding the originated environmental burdens from the synthesis of the membrane. The PVIM membrane manifested the minimum environmental impacts, comparatively. The global warming, marine ecotoxicity, and human toxicity categories belonged to the P(AN-co-VIM) as the polymeric membrane with the highest environmental impact were accounted for 1.20, 1.36, and 1.18, greater than PVIM, respectively. These impacts were augmented in the range of 16.88%–27.59% for P(AN-co-VIM), predominantly derived from dimethylformamide (DMF) consumption and electricity demand. The P(AN-co-VIM) energy usage was 3799 MJ with a 92% contribution of fossil fuels, 1.2 times more than the PVIM. The CO2 emission (kg CO2 eq) from fossil fuels was as follows: P(AN-co-VIM) (146.2) > PAN (123.3) > PVIM (121.8). Besides, the sensitivity of PAN, PVIM, and P(AN-co-VIM) regarded a ±20% fluctuation in the DMF was estimated as 14.41–17.71%, 13.45–19.08%,​ and 11.08–16.78% for PAN, PVIM, and P(AN-co-VIM), respectively. Accordingly, the PVIM was recognized as the membrane with the highest environmental compatibility.

Life cycle environmental and economic assessment of highly efficient carbon-based CO2 adsorbents: A comparative study

The synthesis of a green product depends on a deep perception concerning its economic and environmental impacts. To attain this purpose, a life cycle assessment (LCA) coupled with life cycle cost (LCC) comparative study was conducted concerning two highly efficient synthesized carbon-based adsorbents i.e. activated carbon (AC) and modified AC (MAC) for 1 kg CO2 adsorption. A set of different analyses comprising CML baseline 2000, cumulative energy demand (CED), ecological footprint (EF), and greenhouse gas protocol (GGP) were explored. The most affected categories by the synthesized adsorbents were human toxicity (>2.63 %), marine (86 %), and freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity (7.46 %), resulting in CO2, SO2, and NO2 emission and metal release. The CED was 2.6 times more for MAC, dominantly supplied by fossil fuel (>91.45 %). The total economic costs were $1.6/kg and $2/kg for the AC and MAC, respectively. The H3PO4 and copper ion consumption exhibited the highest environmental impacts accounted for a 97 % contribution for AC and 61.48 % for MAC, while the most economic burden belonged to equipment and construction (>23 %). The marine aquatic toxicity (19.50 %) and human toxicity (16.09 %) were the most sensitive categories by a 95 % confidence limit through the uncertainty analysis. Accordingly, the LCA coupled LCC results elucidated that the MAC possessed more significant economic and environmental impacts, despite its higher CO2 adsorption.

Sustainability initiative for a Malaysian university campus: living laboratories and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

Urban university campuses may be a substantial producer of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the environment, through either campus operations or research activities. To date, there is little research on GHG emission reduction in higher education institutions—particularly in developing countries—so this work presents such an initiative from an urban university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Higher education institutions in Malaysia are progressively integrating similar strategies to apply the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to education-translational research activities. The paper presents the GHG emission reduction data from campus activities and a living laboratory project conducted within Universiti Malaya (UM) main campus. Emissions reduction was categorised based on the standard GHG Protocol from the Kyoto Protocol into Scope 1, 2 and 3. GHG Scope 1 contributes the most activities and yielded the main GHG emission reductions in electricity consumption (in kg CO2-eq/kWh) with a 90.72% decline for the year 2016–2017. The highest reduction for total annual GHG emissions was found for the year 2017–2018, with a reduction of 6,590,000 kg CO2-eq/year. Most of the living laboratory research activities in that year were categorised in the change management core area. These activities benefitted from continuous funding and were more successful when the research was in mature phase, regardless of research constraints and difficulties.

Health care's response to climate change: a carbon footprint assessment of the NHS in England

SummaryBackgroundClimate change threatens to undermine the past 50 years of gains in public health. In response, the National Health Service (NHS) in England has been working since 2008 to quantify and reduce its carbon footprint. This Article presents the latest update to its greenhouse gas accounting, identifying interventions for mitigation efforts and describing an approach applicable to other health systems across the world.MethodsA hybrid model was used to quantify emissions within Scopes 1, 2, and 3 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, as well as patient and visitor travel emissions, from 1990 to 2019. This approach complements the broad coverage of top-down economic modelling with the high accuracy of bottom-up data wherever available. Available data were backcasted or forecasted to cover all years. To enable the identification of measures to reduce carbon emissions, results were disaggregated by organisation type.FindingsIn 2019, the health service's emissions totalled 25 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, a reduction of 26% since 1990, and a decrease of 64% in the emissions per inpatient finished admission episode. Of the 2019 footprint, 62% came from the supply chain, 24% from the direct delivery of care, 10% from staff commute and patient and visitor travel, and 4% from private health and care services commissioned by the NHS.InterpretationThis work represents the longest and most comprehensive accounting of national health-care emissions globally, and underscores the importance of incorporating bottom-up data to improve the accuracy of top-down modelling and enabling detailed monitoring of progress as health systems act to reduce emissions.FundingWellcome Trust.