Pollution Engineering - March 2009 - (Page 21)

Getting Ready to COUNT CARBON participants “may Gorman-Rupp C opt to limit their ompany The ReliaSource reports only to name applies to pum carbon dioxide ping systems that ar emissions dure completely desig ned ing the first three and manufactu red years of participaby Gorman-Rup p, guaranteeing a tion.” Ultimately, fully tested system that’s en tirely warrante though, the d by the manufacturer.T he package is N FPA 820 compliant and requirements will is the ﬁrst new product released bearin apply to all six g the ReliaSour ce brand name by Gorm an-Rupp. Kyoto GHGs. www.GRpumps .com The California registry requires reporting on direct emissions company trucks or police “from sources cars. Enterprises will need to assess existing owned or controlled by the reporting entity” information and identify missing data. and only “encourages” reporting of indirect Think back to 1990. What kind of records GHG emissions like employee commuting does the company or entity have? Where are and business travel, or product disposal they? Who has access to them? Who rememand transport of purchased raw materials. bers what happened then? Reporting is done through CARROT, the Businesses that are worried about playregistry’s online calculation tool. Learning ing the estimate game can turn to a conhow to use it is another basic step toward sultant who is accredited by one of the completing that initial audit. registries. But it is also perfectly fine for Although 1990 is the baseline year under businesses to compile their own report, AB32, it is possible that another year can although it must be reviewed by an acceptbe used if a company did not exist at that ed registry “verifier.” In either case, comtime or has completely changed its organi- panies should brace themselves for lots zation; or, in some cases, if the organization of questions that may involve proprietary has not retained the necessary records. For financial data or departments protecting those enterprises that recently dramatical- their turf, and just plain hard work. ly upgraded their faciliThe broader impact of a company’s ties for energy concarbon footprint will come into play, servation, although for now it’s just something to switched to alternativeput into the thought processes. fuel vehicles or even implemented ride-sharing procedures, Calculating the baseline using 1990 as the baseline is the way to Here are a few basic questions that comgo. That way the current operation will panies can ask themselves to get that 1990 be able to show the progress that has been baseline, or establish credible numbers for made in reducing emissions. any subsequent reporting years established: Doing a baseline audit may be a bit like • Utility records for electricity and fuel use. having a role in a CSI show. It will require Are copies of the bills available or does the officials to go back in time and estimate just utility have them on record? how much CO2 they have been putting into • If there are no direct records, think in the atmosphere through daily operations, terms of scaling. Find a year where records whether they’ve been running a manufac- and data do exist and look at the direct relaturing plant or a wastewater facility, driving tionship between the emissions and another Begin with a baseline audit It is clearly beneficial to start working on a baseline audit now, since 2008 emissions are required for reporting in 2009. Currently, any GHG reporting in California is voluntary and can be reported through the California Climate Action Registry, a nonprofit agency created by the state in 2001. The CCAR is intended to function in conjunction with the California Air Resources Board in operating the mandatory reporting program. Voluntary registration also can be done through The Climate Registry, which includes multiple U.S. states, some Canadian provinces and a few Mexican states. The two agencies share a Los Angeles office and have similar and very specific protocols outlined. The CCAR says it accepts GHG emissions reports that include emissions of the six Kyoto gases: CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs and SF6. Yet the registry specifies that “ ” 21 MARCH2009 www.pollutionengineering.com http://www.pollutionengineering.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Pollution Engineering - March 2009

Pollution Engineering - March 2009 Contents The Editor’s Desk EnviroNews PE Events Legal Lookout Green Connections Get Ready to Count Carbon Getting Rid of Foreign Oil Green Goes Underground Thermal Oxidizers Ocean-Front Remediation Pumps, Pipes and Valve Products Air Monitoring Equipment PE Products Classified Marketplace Advertisers Index State Rules

Pollution Engineering - March 2009

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