Measuring Municipal Carbon and Nitrogen Footprints Jackson Kaspari

Measuring Municipal Carbon and Nitrogen Footprints Jackson Kaspari, UNH Sustainability Fellow Mentor: Elena Piekut, City of Dover, NH Planning Department As a result of this project, Dover will become the first city to establish a combined GHG and nitrogen inventory for its local government operations (LGO) Energy Introduction 120, 000 3 Electricity 80, 000 1 MT of CO 2 is enough to fill an average 2 story home (or ~ 1400 ft 2) 6 Natural Gas Diesel 60, 000 40, 000 #2 Oil 20, 000 Propane 2016 https: //pngtree. com/freepng/cartoon-twostory-room_2855120. html 7, 450 2017 7, 287 6, 728 3 2. 36 Description 3 Emissions from sources that are directly owned or controlled by the organization. Example: Fossil fuel combustion Indirect emissions such as those produced from the consumption of electricity Emissions that are a consequence of the organization’s operations. Example: Employee commuting or business travel Goals 2. 59 2. 5 9. 3% Increase 1. 5 1 Propane 0. 5 Figure 3. A comparison of Dover’s cost by source between 2016 and 2017. Electrcity Usage and Cost (KWH / USD) LED Cost ($) 250 GHG Emissions (CO 2 e) 900, 000 800, 000 200 700, 000 600, 000 150 500, 000 400, 000 100 300, 000 200, 000 50 100, 000 Apr-18 Mar-18 Feb-18 Jan-18 Dec-17 Nov-17 Oct-17 Sep-17 Aug-17 Jul-17 Jun-17 May-17 Apr-17 Mar-17 Feb-17 Jan-17 Dec-16 0 Nov-16 0 Figure 4. The impact of the conversion to LED streetlights. 7, 925 acres of forest is equivalent to ~ 46% of Dover’s total land area Future Work 2017 Streetlights 2017 Figure 5. Total GHG emissions normalized by carbon dioxide equivalence for 2016 and 2017 as a result of Dover’s LGO. #2 Oil 2016 4 Figure 1. GHG Protocols five major steps for conducting a local government operations inventory. 3 2016 0 Methodology 7, 925 acres of fully developed forest were required to sequester Dover’s 2017 LGO GHG emissions 7 6, 450 Diesel Usage (k. Wh) N 2 O 6, 950 https: //www. nrcs. usda. gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/ nh/technical/landuse/forestry/ Electricity Natural Gas 1, 000 CH 4 6, 700 2 • Completed EPA Portfolio Manager profile for City and School facilities • Baseline carbon and nitrogen footprint calculations for the City of Dover’s municipal operations via Portfolio Manager and the SIMAP tool • Reports, including recommended goals, to be presented to City leaders, staff and the general public • Recommendations for adaptations to SIMAP methodologies and the user interface to allow a version that can support municipal calculations while being aligned with the Greenhouse Gas Protocols best practices for LGOs. 5 MT of CO 2 e https: //www. cbc. ca/news/canada/how-canada-s-provinces-are-tackling -greenhouse-gas-emissions-1. 3030535 CO 2 9% Reductio 7, 200 Figure 2. A comparison of Dover’s energy use by source between 2016 and 2017. Energy Cost (Million USD) 2 2% Reduction 100, 000 0 Scope 1 102, 670 104, 800 GHG Emissions (MT CO 2 e) LGO Baseline Benefits 3 • Leads to the identification of opportunities to improve energy efficiency • Demonstrates climate change leadership • Allows reduction targets to be set and executed in a cost effective manner Energy Use (MMBtu) • Carbon Footprint: Total amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced to directly and indirectly support human activities. 1 • Nitrogen Footprint: The amount of reactive nitrogen released to the environment as a result of an organizations resource consumptions. 2 • Footprint Baseline: A selected time period to which future footprints are compared. 3 GHG Emissions • Input food use, water treatment and fertilizer data into SIMAP • Input employee travel information • Generate a complete carbon and nitrogen footprint baseline using SIMAP • Draft GHG and nitrogen inventory report • Identify and suggest improvements to SIMAP so it better suits municipalities • Analyze and review reduction scenarios • Work with City leaders to establish reduction targets References 1. Time for Change. What is a carbon footprint – definition. https: //timeforchange. org/what-is-a-carbon-footprint-definition (accessed June 15, 2018) 2. Galloway, J. N. ; Winiwarter, W. ; Leip, A. ; Leach, A. M. ; Bleeker, A. ; Erisman, J. W. ; Nitrogen footprints: past, present and future. Environ. Res. Lett. 2014, 9. 3. Fong, W. K. ; Sotos, M. ; Doust, M. ; Schultz, S. ; Marques, A. ; Deng-Beck, C. ; Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories. 4. Energy Star Portfolio Manager. https: //www. energystar. gov/buildings/facility-owners-and-managers/existing-buildings/use-portfolio-manager (accessed June 8, 2018). 5. Sustainability Indicator Management & Analysis Platform. https: //unhsimap. org/ (accessed June 27, 2018) 6. AECOM. City of Somerville Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report. Somerville, MA, 2017. 7. Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator. https: //www. epa. gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator. (accessed July 6, 2018)