Title
a. Receive a report on the updated 2005 Municipal Operations Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory from AMBAG Energy Watch staff; and
b. Provide direction to County staff as appropriate.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Alternative Energy & Environment Committee:
a. Receive a report on the updated 2005 Municipal Operations Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory from AMBAG Energy Watch staff; and
b. Provide direction to County staff as appropriate.
SUMMARY:
The Monterey County Municipal Climate Action Plan (MCAP) was adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2013. The MCAP outlines the County's goal to reduce municipal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 15% below 2005 baseline levels by the year 2020.
The Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) Energy Watch, in collaboration with Go Green! Program has been working to update the County's GHG Emissions Inventory to be used in the Phase II update of the MCAP. Upon reevaluating methods used to calculate the 2005 baseline, staff discovered a discrepancy in employee commute emissions calculations resulting in a significant error by a factor of ten. Staff also discovered that the number of employees reported to calculate total commute emissions from survey results were overestimated by 13.4%, further compromising 2005 employee commute emissions estimates.
AMBAG Energy Watch staff has reevaluated 2005 estimates and analyzed the County's 2016 GHG emissions inventory using current best practices and the newest modeling tools. Current estimates for 2005 GHG emissions for County operations are 33,062 metric tons of GHG emissions (MT CO2e), 54% higher than previous estimates. 2016 GHG emissions are estimated to be 32,627 MT CO2e, showing a 1.2% decrease in GHG emissions from 2005 to 2016.
Go Green! Program staff will include the updated information from AMBAG's Local Government Operations Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory: 2016 Inventory Update (Attachment A) into the Phase II update of ...
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