Exam #2 (GHG-101) Flashcards
What is
Global Warming Potential (GWP)?
An index that measures the radiative forcing following an emission of a unit mass of a given substance, accumulated over a chosen time horizon, relative to that of the reference substance, carbon dioxide (CO2).
Example: although water is abundant and produces significant radiative forcing, it has low GWP because its atmospheric lifetime is very short – days. Methane, an important greenhouse gas that persists for decades, has a larger GWP over 20 years than over 100 years.
What is Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CO2e)?
A measure used to compare the emissions from various greenhouse gases based upon their global warming potential.
Example: multiplication of emissions of various gases by their adopted GWPs allows calculation of the combined impact of their radiative forcing.
What is the Carbon Cycle?
The flow of carbon in various forms, e.g., as CO2 through the atmosphere, ocean, terrestrial and marine biosphere, and lithosphere.
Biogeochemical cycles like the carbon cycle involve material reservoirs (e.g., CO2 in the atmosphere), fluxes (material transferred between reservoirs, e.g., between the atmosphere and plants or soil), and sources and sinks (fluxes of material into or out of reservoirs).
*Appears in Climate-101 with the same definition.
What is GHG Accounting?
The quantitative assessment of total GHGs produced directly and indirectly from a business or organization’s activities.
Accurately measuring an oranizations emission’s is fundamental to understanding their magnitude, so that the organization can develop a plan to mitigate them, which frequently leads to improvements in organizational efficiency.
What is the GHG Protocol?
The most widely adopted accounting standard for corporations and businesses.
This important document establishes the important distinctions beetween direct and indirect emissions and among Scopes 1, 2, and 3.
*This is a specific but important version of a Greenhouse Gas Inventory Protocol.
What is Scope 1?
Direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by the organization.
Examples: emissions from fossl fuel burning for on-site operations or the total of all such emissions by a company in a specific country.
What is Scope 2?
Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy.
Example: most commonly, Scope 2 comprises emissions generated elsewhere by production of the electricity used by a facility or organization.
What is Scope 3?
Indirect emissions that result from an organization’s operations, but by entities not owned or controlled by the organization.
Example: emissions from companies in a corporation’s supply chain.
What is a Greenhouse Gas Inventory Protocol?
A tool for accounting and reporting GHG emissions across an organization’s operations.
Adoption of a specific GHG inventory protocol is essential for creation of an accurate and credible inventory. Different organization types, e.g., businesses, non-profits, or governments, may choose different protocols that best apply to their operations.
*This is the generic term.
What is the Greenhouse Gas Inventory Boundary?
The generally high-level boundary that determines which business operations and facilities are part of a GHG inventory.
The boundary defines the geographical area, time interval, chemicals, organizational basis, and operations included in the inventory. It addresses the queries: Where? When? What chemicals? Which activities? And What sources?
What is Activity Data?
The quantitative data associated with an activity that generates GHG emissions.
Examples: fuel consumed, electricity purchased, or distance traveled (along with measured or estimated fuel economy).
What is the
Emissions Factor (EF)?
The ratio between the amount of pollution generated and the amount of a given raw material processed.
Example: kg of CO2, CH4, or N2O emitted from burning a metric ton of coal.
What is an Inventory Management Plan?
A document that describes a process for completing a high-quality, organization-wide inventory.
Such a document is essential to ensure comparability of subsequent inventories, despite organizational and personnel changes that may occur.
What is a Verification?
An objective assessment of the accuracy and completeness of reported GHG information and the conformity of this information to pre-established GHG accounting and reporting principles.
Such a third-party audit is not essential for a greenhouse gas inventory, but an organization may have reasons to have one, such as ensuring stakeholder trust or meeting external reporting requirements.
