Overview
Inventory Methodology Background
Clean Air - Cool Planet Carbon Calculator
Campus Data
Emissions by Scope
Carbon Sequestration

Overview

The University of Massachusetts , Amherst (UMA) began efforts to track its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in FY 2002. This effort fell under the requirements of Executive Order No. 438 which established the Massachusetts State Sustainability Program, which was overseen by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA). As a signatory to the 2001 New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers Climate Change Action Plan, the state conducted a baseline assessment of its carbon footprint in FY 2002. This included all state agencies, state colleges, and universities, and state authorities (e.g., MA Turnpike Authority). For consistency and ease of tracking, the state collected fuel data only from purchasing records and vendor reports through the Operations Services Division. UMA has worked with EOEEA to submit and reconcile the data on an annual basis since FY 2002.

In April 2007, President Jack Wilson signed the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment (The Commitment) on behalf of the entire University of Massachusetts system. The Commitment is a high-visibility effort within the college and university sector to address global warming by garnering institutional commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions. The Commitment recommends that signatories utilize the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol), established by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development, as the methodology to calculate green house gas emissions. This methodology is broader in scope and includes emissions not tracked by the state of Massachusetts (e.g., transportation).

Furthermore, The Commitment recommends that signatories utilize the emissions calculator developed by Clean Air Cool Planet (CACP). The carbon calculator is currently used by over 150 colleges and universities. The calculator utilizes spreadsheets based on workbooks by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for national inventories, which have been adapted for institutional use.

The data used to calculate the UMA’s carbon footprint is pulled from a variety of sources. The Utilities’ Department provides all of the fuel data associated with campus heating and cooling needs and electricity consumption. Efforts are underway to work with both the Rideshare Program and Controller’s Office to collect data that can be used to calculate emissions associated with commuting and travel, respectively.

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Inventory Methodology Background

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol), established by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in partnership with the World Resources Institute (WRI), aims to help businesses, governments, and environmental groups combat climate change through the establishment of effective, credible programs. The GHG Protocol, a starting point for many climate change initiatives, began ten years ago as an attempt to create an international standard for corporate GHG accounting and reporting due to the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol. Many initiatives, including CACP’s campus climate action toolkit, the Chicago Climate Exchange, the California Climate Registry and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), follow the standards set by the GHG Protocol.

In 2001, the first edition of The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: a Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard was published. In 2006, ISO accepted the protocol as the basis for its quantification and reporting of GHG Emissions; thus the GHG Protocol is known as the international standard for corporate and organizational GHG accounting and reporting.

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Clean Air - Cool Planet Carbon Calculator

The University began using CACP’s carbon calculator in 2004 to track campus emissions internally. Other institutions such as Middlebury College , University of Connecticut , University of New Hampshire , and University at Buffalo (SUNY) have utilized the program to great effect. The Commitment recognized that the tool was widely used by colleges and universities and therefore encouraged signatories to use it as well thus ensuring a methodology consistent with the GHG protocol.

The CACP calculator follows a three-step process including: data collection, greenhouse gas emission calculations and analysis, and summary results. CACP is a Microsoft Excel-based emissions calculator that takes information provided and converts the data into equivalent greenhouse gas emissions. The spreadsheets that make up CACP are based on information offered by the IPCC, as well as on the methodologies and calculators of the GHG Protocol.

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Campus Data

Prior to The Commitment, UMA annually submitted emission data to the state for the following fuel sources: coal, electricity, natural gas, #2 fuel oil, gasoline, propane, diesel, biodiesel and paper cubes. The state had tracked this information from the Operational Services Division prior to UMA engaging in the State Sustainability Program. UMA recognized there were discrepancies regarding the data reported by the state. For example, the coal tonnage was based on purchase records and not on use. UMA had tracked its emissions based on fuel consumed. UMA worked with the state to ensure that the data used was based on consumption and not procurement.

Fortunately, the Utilities Department is very thorough in tracking its utility commodity budget; the Central Steam Plant is very thorough in tracking its fuel consumed. Table I lists the UMA emission source and the source of the data.

Table 1

* Includes Ware, Waltham , and Belchertown (invoices)
** Includes PVTA Fuel
*** Commuting and Travel related emissions are currently not included in UMA’s carbon footprint.

Once the data is collected, it is entered into the ‘input’ spreadsheet in CACP. The carbon calculator calculates the emission numbers (in their respective units) for carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane (and the CO2 equivalents). The program uses standard emission factors specific to each fuel source. See Table 2.

Table 2: Emission Factors from Clean Air Cool Planet (CACP)

* The global warming potential (GWP) of methane is 23
** The GWP of NOx is 296
(Source IPCC Third Assessment Report – 2001)

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Emissions by Scope

The GHG Protocol defines three “scopes” for GHG accounting and reporting. The purpose of these scopes is to help categorize the varying emissions as direct or indirect emission sources and to ensure fair comparisons of the respective emissions.

Scope I emissions refer to direct GHG emissions from sources owned or controlled by the University; this may include on-campus stationary combustion of fossil fuels, mobile combustion of fossil fuels by University-owned vehicles, and those emissions that result from intentional or unintentional releases of GHGs. Scope 2 emissions are those indirect emissions generated during the production of electricity that will be consumed by the University. Scope 3 emissions refer to all other indirect emissions; the emissions that are a result of the University’s activities, but occur from sources not owned or controlled by the University.

Table 3 below categorizes UMA emission sources by scope.

Table 3

UMA’s carbon footprint for Fiscal Year 2007 was 142,234 metric tonnes. See Chart 1 below for a profile of the campus’ emissions. UMA anticipates a 30% reduction in emissions, based on projected fuel use, associated with heating and cooling and electricity as a result of the new Central Heating Plant going on-line Summer 2008.

Chart 1

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Carbon Sequestration

Carbon sequestration is currently a topic of interest because forest activity, as well as agricultural activity, may reduce or avoid the build-up of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, three of the most harmful greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the MA DEP set forth guidelines for those concerned with offsetting carbon emissions with carbon sequestration practices. A widely accepted means of CO2 offset allowances is the sequestration of carbon due to afforestation. Various departments at UMA currently own forest acreages in a range of locations across the state of Massachusetts . The University is working to determine how much of its CO2 emissions can be sequestered through the forests that it owns.

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