Green House Gas Emission Inventory / Carbon Footprint

Carbon Footprint – Measuring Green House Gas Emissions from Business Practices

North Carolina industries are voluntarily determining the quantity of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and other Green House Gases (GHG) emitted from their facility on a yearly basis. For larger companies, the NC DENR Division of Air Quality (DAQ) may soon require it.

The GHG emission inventory is the quantity of CO2 and other GHGs (CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs & SF6) emitted from a facility on an annual basis. The DAQ already requires pollutant inventories (SO2, NOx, toxics, etc), and soon they may require larger air permitted facilities (Title V) to submit a GHG inventory as well.

However, not just large companies are doing this. Other, smaller companies are developing GHG inventories to submit the data to well-accepted, non-regulatory GHG registries (i.e., the Climate Registry). Walmart is asking their suppliers to submit a GHG inventory to the Carbon Disclosure Project, another GHG registry

What IES will do

IES environmental engineers will visit your facility and inventory all emission sources. Those that have the potential to emit any of the 6 GHGs will have these emissions quantified. The assessment will be completed for either of the Scope 1, Scope 2 or Scope 3 GHG emission inventories. Information is typically reported in units of CO2 equivalents (CO2e). For those facilities wanting a carbon footprint, the units of CO2e can be converted into acres of land according to well accepted rates of CO2 capture and storage.

Scope 1 determines direct emissions from combustion sources (boilers) or refrigerant leaks. Company owned vehicles are also included in Scope 1 assessments.

Scope 2included indirect GHG emissions such as those associated with electrical use or importing process steam from other facilities.

Scope 3 includes GHG emissions from sources such as product transport, raw materials, product usage and disposal, employee commuting and other activities (typically scope 3 is not included in the GHG inventory).

What happens with the results?

Based on your calculated GHG levels, an IES specialist can develop customized action plans or projects that will help reduce your emission to desired levels.

Learn how to reduce your Carbon Footprint!

Contact your area IES account manager. S/He will assist you in completing an initial assessment worksheet which will describe your processes and help determine the appropriate emissions to measure and which Carbon Footprint Level assessment would be appropriate for you.