Carbon Tracking Technology Panel: Clean Technology Alliance 2009 Conference

[Linda Barney]

Carbon Tracking Technology
Clean Technology Alliance 2009 Conference Panel
By Linda Barney, Barney and Associates

Businesses and individuals are increasingly trying to measure the amount of energy used to determine their carbon footprint and to find ways to reduce it. At the recent Clean Technology Alliance 2009 Conference, a panel consisting of carbon tracking and measurement vendors, carbon tracking experts and representatives from companies trying measure carbon usage discussed carbon tracking issues and technology. The panel was moderated by Neal M. Dikeman, CEO, CarbonFlow and a blogger on carbon tracking issues—panelists included Michael Meehan, CEO, Carbonetworks; Lori Duvall, Corporate Sustainability Manager, Sun Microsystems; Mark Trexler, Director, Climate Strategies and Markets, DNV Consulting; and Aaron Berg, Founder, BlueTree Strategies.

Currently, there are various standards used in carbon tracking but it is confusing area which makes it very difficult for companies to measure carbon usage and do carbon accounting. However, the possible forthcoming carbon reporting regulations will make this industry explode. Scores of vendors are offering carbon tracking or management tools which companies use to capture, analyze, and report their carbon footprint. This session discussed what companies like Sun are doing to measure their carbon usage as well as various standards used in carbon tracking and what the panel sees as the future of carbon tracking and measurement technology. In his opening remarks, Dikeman, CEO of CarbonFlow, stressed that it was critical for companies to get started in measuring their energy usage. “Get started in tracking energy and carbon usage, do an analysis to the best of your ability using standards that are there, and plan to do it again each year,” stated Dikeman.

The Carbon Tracking System at Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems reduced their total U.S. Green House Gas emissions by 23 percent between 2002 and 2007 and has set a new goal across its global operations of an additional 20 percent reduction from 2007 to 2015. Lori Duvall, Sun Microsystem’s Corporate Sustainability Manager, described how Sun measures energy usage in terms of products and across Sun’s buildings to create a carbon inventory, measure energy used, and try to find ways to decrease carbon and energy usage. In Sun’s Innovate, Activate, Share program, energy usage was tracked for areas such as energy used to build computer equipment, power used to run equipment in areas such as data centers, energy used to dispose of equipment, energy used by employees and in Sun buildings, and energy used in job-related traveling. Sun began by tracking all their energy and carbon usage via spreadsheets but found that was too complex. Sun is currently building an Open Source Software (OSS database) to create an easier way to do carbon inventories. Sun also created the Openeco website which is “a global on-line community that provides free, easy-to-use tools to help participants assess, track, and compare energy performance, share proven best practices to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and encourage sustainable innovation.”

Carbon Tracking Tools at Carbonetworks
Michael Meehan, CEO of Carbonetworks Carbonetworks in Canada, described how companies struggle to measure energy usage and then find it even harder to analyze the data once it is collected to determine their carbon footprint. Meehan talked about the service his company provides which "helps organizations manage their carbon inventories and create effective reduction strategies." Carbonetworks provides the tools needed to build up an accurate carbon footprint analysis, a task that can be harder than it seems. "Getting started is fairly easy," Meehan said. "Making sure you have all the slices of the pie can be fairly difficult."

Carbon Tracking Standards and Measurement Tools
Mark Trexler, Director, Climate Strategies and Markets, DNV Consulting in Norway is a certification company that verifies climate change and compliance. DMV Consulting has focused on emissions trading, environmental objectives, regulatory versus voluntary carbon foot printing, and emissions tracking. Trexler indicates that when measuring energy usage, “You need to make sure you keep the environmental objective in mind. You can spend all of your time evaluating and measuring—companies need to determine if the goal is measurement or to make something happens that contributes to climate change.”

Both Trexler and Aaron Berg, Founder of BlueTree Strategies discussed the numerous standards and the confusion in measuring energy usage to determine a carbon tracking score. Trexler described how the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WRI/WBCSD) collaborated on a stakeholder process to develop a standardized protocol for voluntary corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories. The resulting WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol identifies three potential "scopes" for a corporate GHG inventory. Scope 1 encompasses a company's direct GHG emissions, Scope 2 accounts for energy that is purchased from off-site (primarily electricity, but can also include energy like steam), and Scope 3 emissions are other companies’ Scope 1 or Scope 2 emissions (and are often considered optional). Bluetree Strategies is a local firm that works with companies such as the Carbon Trust to measure energy and carbon usage to arrive at a carbon credit score. “There are many tools to do organizational carbon footprints. BlueTree Strategies often uses PAS2050 (Publically Accepted Standard 2050) to measure the carbon footprint of products, as well as GHG calculation tools”, states Berg. The EPEAT tools are also useful in determining energy usage for a wide variety of products. EPEAT is a system to help purchasers evaluate, compare and select electronic products based on their environmental attributes.

What is the Future of Carbon Tracking?
When asked about the importance of carbon tracking and whether they believed it would be required in the future, there was a general consensus that companies will be required to do carbon and energy use tracking. The group said companies should be prepared for increased requirements for carbon tracking and carbon trade as described in the CAP and Trade which would, “Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.” Dikeman states, “You must figure out today where you are at today in terms of energy usage and measure it. Once carbon tracking rules come down, you will at least have a starting point.”

Author Bio
Linda Barney is the founder and owner of Barney and Associates Barney and Associates, a technical and marketing writing, web and eLearning firm. Founded in 1990, Barney and Associates specializes in technical and scientific writing, online help, web content, demos, eLearning, and training. Barney and Associates also provides a wide range of marketing writing services including creating media articles, white papers, data sheets, solution briefs, case studies, web content and reviewer’s guides. Contact Linda at [e-mail].