CNC Report 08.26.24 8.5x11 - Flipbook - Page 120
01 CARBON NEUTRALITY
WHAT IS CARBON NEUTRALITY?
METHODOLOGY EXPLAINED
Accounting Period
Typical carbon neutral balancing is completed over an annual basis. A full year accounts for all
seasons and typically allows for over production of renewable energy and plant sequestration in the
summer offsetting the deficit of the winter. The accounting period determines the absolute quantity of
carbon balanced.
Scope of Accounting
The factors to account for determining the scope of the balance. There are three (3) scopes of
emissions:
•
Scope 1: Includes only direct emissions owned by the entity / bounds of the balancing.
•
Scope 2: Includes indirect emissions that come from the energy production it uses.
•
Scope 3: Includes further indirect emissions that come from other activities not owned by the
entity nor fully enclosed within the bounds of the site. Examples of this includes products that
move in and out of the boundary sites. All possible sources of emissions not within Scope 1 and 2
are included in the timeline tool. In the personal footprint tool, some of the Scope 3 emissions are
also included, but not all.
Total Carbon Emitted
This is the absolute quantity of carbon emitted through the balancing period. Because the emitted
carbon into the atmosphere is the most critical, reduction of total emissions is the largest impacting
major strategy to begin achieving carbon neutrality.
Total Carbon Avoided
Excess renewable electricity beyond what the building can use is released into the grid so that it
can be used elsewhere. This results in avoided carbon emissions. There are two main methods of
accounting for avoided emissions: average and marginal. The average method is more conservative
and uses the same average grid emission rate for electricity supplied as for electricity used. The
marginal emission rate takes account of the specific mix of grid electricity sources when renewable
electricity enters the grid and uses the emission rate of the source used for peaking grid electricity (for
example coal or natural gas plant). The logic is the PV is not actually replacing the average emission
factor, but the higher emission factor source. Although this may be more accurate, it requires hourly
projections of PV over-generation occurs and the grid mix to produce.
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