Carbon Accounting Is the First Step Towards Climate Change Mitigation

Global warming is one of the major global threats to society and environment, with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions being a primary driver of climate change. 

The first step towards climate change mitigation starts with being accountable with a smaller carbon footprint while creating engineering solutions, from the implementation and operation of water infrastructures to structuring city morphology and transport infrastructure, it is therefore pertinent to assess the carbon footprint of every project during the construction, maintenance and operation.

Governments, private investors, international funding institutions, markets and consumers demand more accountability when committing to engineering projects. 

A significant emission reduction occurs at the design phase of a project as more sustainable materials, and construction methods can be defined. It is during this phase where Tractebel steps in and applies its expertise in this field. We are in capacity to design the infrastructure, calculate its predicted carbon footprint, and choose the best options concerning carbon emissions. 

In a more practical overview, the first step of carbon accounting is to define the scope of the calculation. It may include the following elements depending on the nature of the project:

• Preparatory works
• Manufacture of raw materials
• Transport of raw materials
• Operation of the facilities
• End of life of materials
• Comparison with a base line scenario

The next step is to assess GHG emissions of activities included in the scope of the project. As GHG emissions cannot be measured directly, they are estimated based on so-called activity data (e.g. mass of raw materials, quantity of energy used, number of kilometres for material transport, etc.).

The sum of the GHG emissions of all activities within the scope constitute the overall GHG emissions of the project. In order to go further in the analysis, the project can be compared to a baseline scenario. For example, if the hydropower dam aims at substituting electricity generated by a more carbon intensive source (for example gas or coal), the GHG emissions induced by this source won’t exist anymore and can be accounted as negative emissions.

As a main advantage for your project, the carbon footprint service delivered by TRACTEBEL highlights the most GHG sources, and lead to further discussion to reducing the carbon footprint of the project with reliable and scalable methodologies.

For more information about Carbon Accounting, contact:
TRACTEBEL Environment Resources Centre (POLEN)

Aline Piche at aline.piche@tractebel.engie.com