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The world of sustainability is obviously much larger than just packaging and we work hard to develop relationships with companies able to provide answers for our customers and friends. TerraLocke Sustainability Consultants is a company that focuses of sustainability from an operational and facilities perspective. They are a leader in their field and are well known for their thorough Sustainability Audits. There is much confusion and misinformation on greenhouse gases and the resulting carbon footprint so I asked TerraLocke co-founder and managing director, Peter Locke to bring some clarity to this important area of sustainability.

DS: Why might our readers be interested in conducting a greenhouse gas inventory for their business?

PL: There are a few reasons. One, they want to use the inventory results to help identify potential risk areas within their business. Two, companies want to gain experience conducting inventories so they are prepared for when potential federal legislation requires them to do so. Three, companies might be able to make money trading greenhouse gas (GHG) credits on a GHG trading market such as the Chicago Climate Exchange. Four, management feels it is necessary or advantageous to report their emissions to their shareholders or potential investors.

DS: Peter, I know you’ve said the discussion of greenhouse gas inventories can get detailed pretty quickly so let’s start by talking about it in general terms. So what is a greenhouse gas inventory?

PL: It is a listing of specific gases, such as carbon dioxide, that a company emits over a given period. The quantities of gases emitted typically are kept track of over the course of a year and are measured in tons.

DS: What if I’m a business that uses primarily electricity? How is it that my business emits gases?

PL: Great question and the answer is that your business emits what are called “indirect emissions”. For your business to consume electricity the power plant must burn natural gas or coal, which emits gasses, and it is these emissions that a company can work to reduce. (For the power plant gases, the gases it emits are “direct emissions”; Companies also emit what are termed fugitive gases but I’ll save those for a later discussion.)

DS: There seems like there might be a double counting issue here between the business and the power plant but I’ll also save that question for a later time.

DS: Who defines which gases are inventoried and what are those gases?

PL: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC defines which gases are inventoried. The IPCC consists of over 2,000 of the world’s climate experts and was established by the United Nations in 1988. It has defined six gases to inventory which are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydro fluorocarbon, per fluorocarbon, and sulfur hexafluoride.

DS: You mentioned the Chicago Climate Exchange, what is it?

PL: The Chicago Climate Exchange is a voluntary greenhouse gas trading market on which any of the six GHGs can be traded. Its customers are businesses, states, and cities that have voluntarily entered into legally binding agreements to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by specific percentages on specific dates. You can learn more on their web site which is www.chicagoclimateexchange.com.

DS: How do you conduct a greenhouse gas inventory?

PL: Very basically, a business determines the scope of what they want to inventory, they obtain the necessary information from documents such as utility bills or financial reports, and then they enter this information into an emissions calculation tool. The scope of a businesses’ inventory can be narrow with a focus on say purchased electricity or it can be broad and include fuel used at its facilities, air miles traveled by their employees, and/or gas consumed by their employees commuting to and from work. The scope could also include the emissions from the businesses’ supply chain. Few businesses have taken it this far. As for emission calculation tools, the industry standard is the World Resources Institute’s GHG Protocol. These tools are available on their website.