Embedded Files
Total Scope 1 Emissions
Scope 1 emissions include all direct emissions from the activities of the reporting organization. This includes the operation of company vehicles, as well as facility heating and cooling.
Stationary Combustion
Emissions from on site fuel consumption to produce electricity, steam, heat or power. At the Northwest School, this refers to the natural gas boilers in our buildings. Through the consumption of natural gas the Northwest School emitted 16.98 metric tons of CO2e greenhouse gases during the 2018-2019 school year.
Mobile Combustion
Emissions by vehicles that are owned or leased by the Northwest School. During the 2018-2019 school year NWS owned 1 van, 6 diesel buses, and 5 gas buses. The bus fleet at The Northwest School emitted 34.63 metric tons of CO2e greenhouse gases during the 2018-2019 school year.
2016-2017 vs 2018-2019
The previous inventory found 65 metric tons of CO2 were emitted by the Northwest fleet during the 2016-2017 school year. Recalculating those emissions using the Cross-Sector GHG Reporting Tool by WRI, we found the 2016-17 emissions were 51.68 metric tons of CO2e greenhouse gases. There are a couple noteworthy methodological discrepancies.
The previous inventory relied on fuel efficiency estimates to calculate fuel consumption per bus. These estimates led to higher reported emissions. By directly using fuel consumption, we can provide a more accurate estimate of emissions. The compromise is a loss of granularity, Northwest tracks mileage, but not fuel consumption per trip. So we lose insight into emissions by activity type. If a net-zero target is formally adopted, future projects will benefit from time saved and improved accuracy using fuel consumption instead. One should also note that while the emissions found in the previous inventory were higher than expected, the emissions factors used in the previous inventory were solely for CO2, this inventory includes emissions from CH2 and N2O as well.
Refrigerants
Refrigeration and air-conditioning have many end-uses - building HVAC, food refrigeration, and mobile air conditioning. This sector has historically relied on ozone depleting substances such as CFCs and HCFCs as refrigerants, but they are being gradually phased out under the Montreal Protocol and replaced with HFCs and PFCs. HFC and PFC emissions from air conditioning and refrigeration result from the manufacturing process, leakage during the operation of the equipment and from disposal of said equipment. The 100 year warming potential of these gases is 140 to 11,700 times that of CO2. This inventory does not include emissions from fugitive refrigerants due to a lack of data, these emissions may be significant relative to those already included in scope 1 of this inventory.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse