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1.    BUSINESS CHALLENGE

In 2007, we were commissioned to conduct an analysis of greenhouse gas emissions for a multi-national printing company. The project was to provide information for the Carbon Disclosure Project (http://www.cdproject.net/), an international group of investors that encourages large corporations to evaluate their greenhouse gas emissions. Having compiled a limited GHG inventory for the company for its emissions in 2005, it was decided to widen the scope of the project for 2006 emissions.

Mandatory caps for large emitters have been put in place in the European Union but, North America is still without a clear system for curtailing greenhouse gas emissions. Voluntary GHG inventories are an important step in being being prepared for potential mandatory caps. They allow companies to build historical records of their emissions for use in determining their cap, develop in-house expertise and better understand carbon markets.

Our analysis followed the World Resources Institute (www.wri.org) Greenhouse Gas Protocol: The GHG Protocol for Project Accounting.

2.    APPROACH AND STRATEGY

We first surveyed the organization’s operations and likely sources of emissions. We then categorized these into Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.

•Scope 1 emissions are those directly linked to the production of the material;

•Scope 2 emissions are from electricity generation that is consumed by the facility; and

•Scope 3 emissions are from operations related to activities before (raw materials, transportation, etc.) and after production (transportation, disposal, etc.).


3.    SOLUTION

Scope 1 emissions were calculated based on the fossil fuels consumed and industrial processes with GHG emissions. Scope 2 emissions were based on electricity consumption and the location of the facilities.

For Scope 3, we limited the inventory to employee commuting and business travel. Although product distribution and disposal was of great interest, the information systems in place and time constraints did not allow for reliable data to be collected. For commuting, an employee survey was set up on the company’s intranet to determine the types of commuting done.  Most employees commuted alone by car, traveling a distance of 24 km each way and generating over 2 tonnes of GHG per employee per year. Corporate air travel was also substantial.


4.    RESULTS

The inventory was comprehensive with regards to Scope 1 & 2 emissions; for Scope 3, only portion of the emissions were inventoried.  This is not unusual considering the complexities of looking at the lifecycle of a product.

For future reporting initiatives or mandatory caps, Scope 1 emissions will be most pertinent, but including Scopes 2 and 3 help evaluate the exposure to risk related to emissions caps.

For this client, Scope 1 emissions did not change dramatically over 2005. However, the Scope 2 emissions were considerably higher than in 2005 due to the annual update of the GHG emission factor for electricity in the different jurisdictions.

The inventory process helped identify initiatives and problems to improve on in 2006. Initiatives to encourage car-pooling have been tabled for implementation and specific facilities will be targeted for energy efficiency projects. The inventory also helped identify risks in the supply chain for price increases related to upcoming GHG regulations.

 


 
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