National Capital Region Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Inventory Update

Presented by Madison Wagner

WRTCOctober 29, 2015

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Background

• Current inventory measures status of 2012 goal • Desired outcome: 10% below business-as-usual levels by 2012• Goal: to create a standardized regional approach to tracking GHG

emissions • Continues NVRC work• Updates COG 2008 Climate Change Report

http://www.mwcog.org/uploads/pub-documents/zldXXg20081203113034.pdf

National Capital Region Climate Change Report 2008

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Tasks• Define a consistent methodology for

collecting/analyzing 2012 GHG inventory data– ICLEI Community Protocol– Use same methodology to back-cast 2005 inventory

• Calculate the region’s 2005 and 2012 emissions using the ICLEI ClearPath tool– Replaces ICLEI beta spreadsheet tool

• Break out 2005 and 2012 inventories by locality

• Upload regional GHG inventory to the international Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) reporting platform

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Methodology• Data collected and analyzed by COG staff– Regional WW/DW demographic data (Round 8.3

projections)– WWTP nitrogen load and concentration data

• Data collected from regional DW/WW treatment and pumping facilities

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Regional DataIndicator 2005 2012 Percent Change

Population 4,738,900 5,261,974 +9.9%

Households 1,879,016 2,010,575 +6.5%

Employment 2,693,401 2,789,269 +3.4%

Electricity Use 58,924,515,193 kWh

60,175,521,843 kWh

+2.1%

Stationary Fuel Use 471,798,890 gallons

319,917,118 gallons

-32.2%

Natural Gas Use 1,589,317,362 therms

1,453,056,576 therms

-8.6%

Annual VMT 41,833,286,780 miles

43,945,174,893 miles

+4.8%

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ResultsNational Capital Region Greenhouse Gas Emissions

(metric tons CO2 equivalent)

2005 2012 Percent Change

NCR MT CO2e 69,171,422 68,857,146 -0.5%

NCR Population 4,738,900 5,261,974 +9.9%

NCR MT CO2e per Capita 14.60 13.09 -10.3%

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Water-Related Emissions• Emissions associated with DW/WW

treatment and pumping are included in overall electricity and natural gas emissions– Uncertainty in sector breakdown

• Nitrogen and methane emissions from WWTPs– Calculated separately– Includes industrial and domestic

wastewater emissions

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Off-Road Combustion3.1%

Mobile Transporta-

tion32.0%

Commercial Airline4.2%

Electricity38.2%

RCI Fuel18.5%

Solid Waste Treatment1.2%

Wastewater Treatment0.1%

HFCs2.8%

NCR Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2005 by Activity - MT CO2e

Off-Road Combustion3.5%

Mobile Trans-

portation33.5%

Commercial Airline3.9%

Electricity39.6%

RCI Fuel14.5%

Solid Waste Treatment1.2%

Wastewater Treatment0.1%

HFCs3.7%

NCR Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2012 by Activity - MTCO2e

Emissions by Activity[Ref. detailed Inventory Table]

2005: 69,171,422 MT CO2e 2012: 68,857,146 MT CO2e

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Electricity

NCR Electricity Use (in kWh)

Source 2005 2012 Percent Change

Residential Electricity 19,734,181,996 20,083,333,241 +1.7%

Commercial Electricity 34,724,253,637 33,677,438,426 -3.1%

Industrial Electricity 4,466,079,560 6,414,750,176 +30.4%

Total 58,924,515,193 60,175,521,843 +2.1%

Residential33%

Commercial56%

Industrial11%

NCR 2012 Electricity Use by Sector

WW & DW % of gross electrical use not defined yet; Part of Comm. or Industrial? – TBD

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Findings• The National Capital Region

met its first target

• Electricity generation factors and stationary fuel combustion switches were the primary contributors to the region’s meeting the 2012 target

• Passenger vehicles and commercial electricity will be important reduction targets for future

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Next Steps• Determine electricity use in DW/WW sector

– Break out from general electricity use– Request data from local utilities to determine commercial vs. industrial classification– Consider calculating DW/WW sector emissions from national figures

• Identify additional opportunities for efficiency improvements, renewable energy production– ex. DC Water’s Digester; combined heat & power; green buildings; green fleets – Nitrogen-removal emissions tradeoff– Determine if/what sort of stormwater efficiencies might be quantifiable

• Identify opportunities to address conservation vs. cost recovery concerns– MSWG strategies[Ref. A. Campbell’s presentation & requestfor WRTC input on Water Sector items]

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Madison WagnerClimate and Energy Intern

Department of Environmental Programsmwagner@mwcog.org