How to Develop a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Plan - a PDH Online Course for Engineers, Architects and Surveyors

How to Develop a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Plan

Course Outline

The course begins with a broad overview of the greenhouse gas issue in chapter one. The next three chapters cover the three different types of greenhouse gas emitters: direct sources, indirect sources, and optional sources. Next the process of developing a greenhouse gas management plan is discussed. Finally, a case study is presented showing how a small manufacturing company could develop a GHG management plan.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

After taking this course you should:

Understand the meaning of GHG footprint;
Know the sources of GHGs;
Be able to explain the types of GHGs;
Know how to develop a GHG management plan;
Understand the principles of GHG accounting;
Know how to identify organizational boundaries;
Be able to explain the sources of direct emissions;
Know what is meant by the term; indirect emissions;
Understand the types of optional emissions to include in a plan;
Know how to develop an Inventory Management Plan;
Know how to set appropriate goals; and
Know how to include REC’s in an IMP.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for anyone who wants to learn more about GHGs and how to develop and track GHG emissions at their facility.

Benefit to Attendees

There are varied reasons why someone would want to develop a GHG management plan and this course will give the reader the knowledge and skills to develop a GHG plan for their facility.

Course Introduction

There are segments of society that believe greenhouse gases, such as Carbon Dioxide (CO2) have a negative impact on the environment and that reducing these greenhouse gases will improve the quality of life. Regardless of whether you feel greenhouse gases pose a serious environmental threat, it may make good business sense to take a proactive approach to managing greenhouse gases. Managing greenhouse gases – and taking credit for “being green” – can, in some cases, have a rather minor financial impact and may yield significant positive public relations.

Let’s begin with a brief introduction to the general concept of greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint, refers to the amount of GHG that are emitted during the creation of products or services. It is more comprehensive than the commonly used carbon footprint, which measures only carbon dioxide, one of many greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse gases are be emitted through transport, land clearance, and the production and consumption of food, fuels, manufactured goods, materials, wood, roads, buildings, and services. For simplicity of reporting, it is often expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent of other GHGs, emitted.

Greenhouse gases trap heat and make the planet warmer. If we just look at the impacts of humans on greenhouse gas emissions (there are many other sources) the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions is from burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation.

The primary sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States are: Electricity production, transportation, industry, and land use practices.

The most common greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O), and Flourinated gases such as SF6.

This course is a guide to estimating and reducing a company’s GHG emissions. It is based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) “Guide for Greenhouse Gas Management for Small Business and Low Emitters”. The purpose of the tools presented in this course is to enable small businesses to:

Create a comprehensive inventory of all GHG emissions;
Develop an Inventory Management Plan (IMP) for data consistency over time; and
Set a GHG reduction goal and track progress.

The course begins in Chapter 1 with an overview of the GHG inventory methodology and how to calculate GHGs. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 show how to inventory and calculate the GHG impact of various sources. Chapter 5 explains how to develop an Inventory Management Plan (IMP). And finally, Chapter 6 brings it all together with a case study of a small manufacturing plant and shows an actual example of how to calculate GHG emissions.

Course Content

This course content is in the following PDF document:

How to Develop a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Plan

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.

You may need to download Acrobat Reader to view and print the document.

Course Summary

Whether you motive is to “save the world” or to promote your business as “eco-friendly” developing a GHG management plan may be good business.

As we have just learned, developing a greenhouse gas management plan is relatively easy to set up and maintain. Developing the plan requires gathering data and setting the boundaries of what will be included in the plan. Once the data is obtained, the calculations are straight forward and easy to accomplish either manually or using existing GHG spreadsheets.

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.