This is a poster created by my group whom developed the procedure/protocol for the county to inventory GHG emissions within their buildingsRead less
![A Bounty for Decreasing Onondaga County’s Facility GHG Emissions Results Abstract References ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Onondaga County (OC) has become increasingly concerned with the impact of their activities on climate change. In order to understand the county's impact on climate change, an accurate measurement of their Greenhouse Gas (GHG) (CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O, HCFC, etc) emissions is necessary. In assisting OC, 2008 data was established as the base year for energy and electricity consumption for all county facilities and buildings. This data was inputted into the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) software to compute the GHG emissions. The results show that the county emitted 51,598 Mt of CO 2 e emissions for facilities and maintenance in 2008. It was recommended that simple conservation practices and investment in renewable and cleaner energy sources could reduce their GHG emissions. Methods Figure 3: Purchased Electricity in 2008 Figure 1: Project Methods Circular Flow Chart Figure 2: Purchased Natural Gas in 2008 Figure 5: CO 2 e trend line from 1996 used for projections Figure 4: Contributions to GHG emissions Discussion ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Recommendations ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Natural Gas Total natural gas purchased by the county in 2008 was 404,055.8 MMBtu. WEP accounted for 74,938.9 MMBtu, or 18.5% of all natural gas purchased. Natural gas purchased accounted for 21,494.2 Mt of CO 2 e with WEP and 17,507.7 Mt of CO 2 e without WEP . (See Fig. 2) Conclusion ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Objectives ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Electricity Onondaga county total electricity purchased for the base year 2008 was 143,919 MWh, with Waste Water Treatment Facilities (WEP) using 47% of all electricity with 67,137 MWh. Traffic lights and signals only used 372 MWh, a mere 0.25% of the total. Considering GHG emissions, we used the EPA’s local emission factors for Onondaga County to calculate CO 2 e for purchased electricity to be 63,897 Mt, with WEP contributing 29,807 Mt of CO 2 e, obviously 47% of the county’s CO 2 e from electricity. (See Fig. 3)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/researchpostergroup-13003747818143-phpapp02/85/Onondaga-County-GHG-Emission-Inventory-1-320.jpg)
