"Carbon Footprinting" by John Buckley, Carbon Footprint Ltd

www.carbonfootprint.com

Carbon Footprinting

John Buckley Managing Director

Carbon Footprint Ltd


Things to cover

• What is all this Carbon stuff?• What are we (as a planet) doing about it?• UK legislation • Your business opportunities & benefits• Your carbon footprint• Reducing your impact (and costs)

• Workshop “How to calculate your businesses carbon footprint”


What is Carbon?

• The base for all life (as we know it)• Graphite is soft and most common carbon

allotrope• Diamond is very hard & expensive!• Coal and Oil (are carbon based)

– When burnt with air causes carbon dioxide to be emitted


What’s Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

• It’s a gas (at standard room temperature and pressure)• We breathe it out• Used by plants in photosynthesis• Makes drinks fizz• Colourless and odourless (in low concentrations)• Trace gas in the Earth’s Atmosphere (0.039%)• A Greenhouse Gas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Soda_bubbles_macro.jpg


Greenhouse Gases

• A “blanket” keeping our planet warm• Without them Earth would be very different and too

cold to support life (over 30oC colder)


Where is the CO2 coming from?• 40% of gas emitted from Volcanoes is CO2

• Volcanoes emit about 130 – 230 million tCO2 /year• Human activity is about 130x that of volcanoes

– 27 billion tCO2/year

• Other natural sources emit about 1000x as much as volcanoes


United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

• “UNFCCC” or “The Convention”.

• The first international law to address climate change

• Agreed in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Worldwide legislation


The Kyoto Protocol

• Established under the Convention in 1997

• Came into force on 16th February 2005.

• Sets legally binding targets for industrialised countries to reducetheir GHG emissions by the end of the First Commitment Period (2008-2012).



EU Legislative Framework• The EU agreed to a collective emissions reduction target of 8%

under the first commitment period.

• EU member states were allocated differing targets

• The European Climate Change Program (ECCP) launched in 2000 to develop the EU’s strategy to implement the Kyoto protocol.



UK LegislationThe Climate Change Act

• The Climate Change Act received Royal Assent on 26 November 2008.

• The first country to legislate a legally binding reduction target of 80% on net 1990 green house gas emission levels by 2050 and by at least 26% by 2020.

It includes:• 5-yearly budget periods.

• Committee on climate change.

• Powers for Implementation of new emission trading schemes.

• Regular reporting.

http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=download&id=639715


UK LegislationThe Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency SchemeWhat is it?

–A UK mandatory cap and trade scheme–Aiming to cut CO2 emissions by 1.2million tonnes of carbon per year by 2020

Does it impact your organisation?–Full participant - Organisations with half hourly meter (HHM) readings totalling >6000 MWh a year–Register and report Meter readings if >3000MWh/year–<3000MWh then still need to disclose that you have HHMs

When?–Qualification year was Jan-Dec 2008 electricity use only–3 year introductory period starts in April 2010–Registration period started in April and runs to Sept


Business ImplicationsWhat will be required?• Annual reporting of emissions• Purchasing of allowances at £12 per tonne• Reducing emissions• Developing an environmental management system

Will there be any benefits (or risks) to businesses?• Reputational league table will be published• Recycling Payments- rewards (and penalties)

What should you being doing now?• Consider the early action metrics – automatic metering & Carbon Trust Standard.• Reduce company emissions• Early Preparation- Make the mistakes now without financial non compliance

penalties• Start saving money on energy bills now!

UK legislation


Effects of Climate Change on small businesses• Now

– May need to disclose that you have HHM on CRC– Tendering requirements– Supply chain management– Product Lifecycle – or at least your part of it– Competitors differentiating themselves

• Coming soon... – Future CRC scope to take into consideration smaller

companies– Mandatory reporting of emissions through the Companies

Act (target April 2012)


We all need to manage our carbon footprint…

1. First of all to reduce your impact on climate change

2. Secondly reduce the impact on our businesses:• Increasing energy costs• Customers and investors are becoming greener• Sales sustainability

• tender requirements• competitors

• Legislation


So what is a Carbon Footprint?

• A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e).


Primary Carbon Footprint• The primary footprint covers the carbon emissions which your

company has direct responsibility for / has control over.

GHG Protocol

DefinitionOrigin of Emission

Scope 1 •Natural gas, gas oil, LPG or coal use attributable to company owned facilities•Company owned vehicle travel•Production of any of the 6 GHG's

Scope 2 •Purchased electricity

Scope 3 •Employee business travel


Secondary Carbon Footprint

GHG Protocol

DefinitionOrigin of Emission

Scope 3 •Employee commuting•Transportation of products, materials or waste by another organisation•Outsourced activities•GHG emissions from waste•GHG emissions from the use and end of life phases of products and services.•GHG emissions arising from the production and distribution of energy products, other than electricity, steam and heat, consumed by the organisation.•GHG Emissions from the production of purchased raw or primary materials.

• The secondary footprint covers the carbon emissions which your company is indirectly responsible for / has little control over.


What’s included within a Business Carbon Footprint Appraisal?

• Define your boundaries – usually based around the “Primary” footprint definition

Typically based on:• Energy Usage (electricity, gas, gas oil etc)• Business Transportation (company cars, grey fleet, business trips by car/rail/air)• Company Logistics (if under the direct control of the company)


Results of a Carbon Footprint Appraisal

62%11%

11%

10%

6%0.28% 0.0001

Company XCarbon Emissions January - December 2008

Electricity

Flights

Car journeys

LPG

Natural Gas

Van Journeys

Rail journeys

• A figure for your company’s total annual carbon emissions – X tonnes of CO2

• Forms a baseline emission level for comparisons to be set against in future years

• A breakdown of the company’s emissions


How can reductions be made?

1) Behavioural Changes

2) Policy and Process Changes

3) Technological Changes


Behavioural ChangesBehavioural reductions can save 20% of company emissions with little to no investment costs.

• Turning off PC’s at night and over weekends can save £25 worth of energy per PC over a year.

• 20% of lighting costs can be saved by switching lights off when not required.

• 19% of lighting costs could be saved from better use of natural light • A third of office energy can be consumed by air con –use natural

ventilation where possible• Reduce your heating by one degree and save 8% of energy.

consider the barriers, motivators and triggers to initiate the change

http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=download&id=810743


Policy and Process ChangesExamine your own business – where could savings be made ?

Policies e.g.• Business Travel Policy

• Could meetings be held by teleconference or web conference• If travel is required – use public transportation

• Green Suppliers Only• Purchase local / sustainable products• Have your suppliers got ISO 14001• Have they calculated their carbon emissions

Processes• Examine your business processes – dept by dept


Technological ChangesExample: Energy Efficient Lighting

Fluorescent tubes retrofits• Retrofit original T8 fittings with energy efficient T5

lamps• Suitable for all lengths of lamp• Saves 34-56% energy (from switch start T8s)• Ballast life time of 50,000 hours• Lamp life time of 20,000 hours• Paybacks usually under 2 years

Halogens to LED• Save up to 80% on Halogen lighting• Halogen 35-50W, LED only 4W


What is Carbon Offsetting?Carbon Offsets compensate for the emissions we produce by funding an equivalent carbon dioxide saving somewhere else.

We encourage companies to reduce their emissions first and then only offset the unavoidable emissions

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/kenyaphotosoct06.html


In Conclusion...

Carbon Management is no longer a choice, but a necessity – helping you to:

• Meet legislative requirements• Reduce energy costs and save money• Support CSR objectives• Promote a green company image to environmentally aware customers and investors.

…It’s now time to measure your Carbon Footprint!


Workshop – How to calculate your business’s carbon footprint

Dr Wendy BuckleyDirector

Carbon Footprint Ltd.


Workshop Session

• Objective – Put into action what you’ve just heard • Break into syndicate groups• One Business Case Study each

– Home based ‘Start up’ – Medium sized service industry– Medium sized manufacturing company

• Syndicate Group work for 30 mins – Scenarios and instructions provided– Use look-up table provided . Ask if you need a calculator.– Record answers on Flip-chart paper

• Report back & discuss with all for 30 mins– Allocate you team spokesperson !

"Carbon Footprinting" by John Buckley, Carbon Footprint Ltd

Business

Transcript of "Carbon Footprinting" by John Buckley, Carbon Footprint Ltd