Greenhouse gas inventory
Encyclopedia
Greenhouse gas
inventories are a type of emission inventory
that are developed for a variety of reasons. Scientists use inventories of natural and anthropogenic (human-caused) emissions as tools when developing atmospheric models. Policy makers use inventories to develop strategies and policies for emissions reductions and to track the progress of those policies. And, regulatory agencies and corporations rely on inventories to establish compliance records with allowable emission rates. Businesses, the public, and other interest groups use inventories to better understand the sources and trends in emissions.
Unlike some other air emission inventories, greenhouse gas inventories include not only emissions from source categories, but also removals by carbon sinks. These removals are typically referred to as carbon sequestration.
Greenhouse gas inventories, typically use Global warming potential
(GWP) values to combine emissions of various greenhouse gases into a single weighted value of emissions.
Some of the key examples of greenhouse gas inventories include:
, The Climate Registry
, ICLEI
and dozens of stakeholders.
The California Sustainability Alliance
also created the Local Government Operations Protocol Toolkit, which breaks down the complexities of the LGOP manual and provides an area by area summary of the recommended inventory protocols.
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
inventories are a type of emission inventory
Emission inventory
An emission inventory is an accounting of the amount of pollutants discharged into the atmosphere. An emission inventory usually contains the total emissions for one or more specific greenhouse gases or air pollutants, originating from all source categories in a certain geographical area and within...
that are developed for a variety of reasons. Scientists use inventories of natural and anthropogenic (human-caused) emissions as tools when developing atmospheric models. Policy makers use inventories to develop strategies and policies for emissions reductions and to track the progress of those policies. And, regulatory agencies and corporations rely on inventories to establish compliance records with allowable emission rates. Businesses, the public, and other interest groups use inventories to better understand the sources and trends in emissions.
Unlike some other air emission inventories, greenhouse gas inventories include not only emissions from source categories, but also removals by carbon sinks. These removals are typically referred to as carbon sequestration.
Greenhouse gas inventories, typically use Global warming potential
Global warming potential
Global-warming potential is a relative measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere. It compares the amount of heat trapped by a certain mass of the gas in question to the amount of heat trapped by a similar mass of carbon dioxide. A GWP is calculated over a specific time...
(GWP) values to combine emissions of various greenhouse gases into a single weighted value of emissions.
Some of the key examples of greenhouse gas inventories include:
- All Annex I countries are required to report annual emissions and sinks of greenhouse gases under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeThe United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to 14, 1992...
(UNFCCC) - National governments that are Parties to the UNFCCC and/or the Kyoto ProtocolKyoto ProtocolThe Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...
are required to submit annual inventories of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions from sources and removals from sinks. - The Kyoto Protocol includes additional requirements for national inventory systems, inventory reporting, and annual inventory review for determining compliance with Articles 5 and 8 of the Protocol.
- Project developers under the Clean Development MechanismClean Development MechanismThe Clean Development Mechanism is one of the "flexibility" mechanisms defined in the Kyoto Protocol . It is defined in Article 12 of the Protocol, and is intended to meet two objectives: to assist parties not included in Annex I in achieving sustainable development and in contributing to the...
of the Kyoto Protocol prepare inventories as part of their project baselines. - Corporation and other entities can prepare greenhouse gas inventories to track progress towards meeting an emission reduction goal.
- Scientific efforts aimed at understanding detail of total net carbon exchange. Example: Project VulcanProject vulcanProject Vulcan is a NASA/DOE funded effort under the North American Carbon Program to quantify North American fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions at space/time scales much finer than has been achieved in the past...
- a comprehensive US inventory of fossil-fuel greenhouse gas emissions.
ISO 14064
The ISO 14064 standards (published in 2006 and early 2007) are the most recent additions to the ISO 14000 series of International Standards for environmental management. The ISO 14064 standards provide governments, businesses, regions and other organisations with an integrated set of tools for programs aimed at measuring, quantifying and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These standards allow organisations take part in emissions trading schemes using a globally recognised standard.Local Government Operations Protocol
The Local Government Operations Protocol (LGOP) is a tool for accounting and reporting Greenhouse gas emissions across a local government’s operations. Adopted by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) in September 2008 for local governments to develop and report consistent GHG inventories to help meet California’s AB 32 GHG reduction obligations. It was developed in partnership with California Climate Action RegistryCalifornia Climate Action Registry
The California Climate Action Registry was established by California statute as a non-profit voluntary registry for greenhouse gas emissions. The purpose of the Registry is to help companies and organizations with operations in the state to establish GHG emissions baselines against which any future...
, The Climate Registry
The Climate Registry
The Climate Registry is a nonprofit collaboration between North American states, provinces, territories, and Native Sovereign Nations to record and track the greenhouse gas emissions of businesses, municipalities and other organisations...
, ICLEI
ICLEI
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, founded in 1990 as the 'International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives', is an international association of local governments and national and regional local government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development...
and dozens of stakeholders.
The California Sustainability Alliance
California Sustainability Alliance
The California Sustainability Alliance is an organization funded by the California IOUs to bring together key stakeholders needed to overcome the obstacles of sustainability. The Alliance was designed in 2008 to help meet the State’s aggressive climate, energy and other resource and environmental...
also created the Local Government Operations Protocol Toolkit, which breaks down the complexities of the LGOP manual and provides an area by area summary of the recommended inventory protocols.
See also
- Greenhouse Gas AccountingGreenhouse gas accountingGreenhouse gas accounting describes the way to inventory and audit greenhouse gas emissions.Guidance for accounting for GHG emissions from organizations and emission reduction projects is provided by the World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development GHG Protocol...
- Greenhouse Gases Observing SatelliteGreenhouse Gases Observing SatelliteThe Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite or GOSAT, also known as , is an Earth observation satellite and the world's first satellite dedicated to greenhouse-gas-monitoring, which will be used to measure densities of carbon dioxide and methane from 56,000 locations on the Earth's atmosphere...
(GOSAT) (Ibuki)
Sources and Further Reading
- Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) national greenhouse gas inventory guidance manuals
- UNFCCC National Inventory process
- The GHG Protocol (WRI/WBCSD) - A corporate accounting and reporting standard
- ISO 14064 standards for greenhouse gas accounting and verification
- IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme
- U.S. EPA Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories
- The Climate Registry
- California Climate Registry