Schenectady
Energy
Advisory Board
Schenectady Energy Advisory Board
Recommendations
Carbon Emissions Analysis briefing
July 21, 2008
Dana Swalla, Ph.D.
Acknowledgements
Energy Advisory Board Members:
Schenectady
Energy
Advisory Board
Union College Faculty/students:
Frank Maurizio
Jeff Corbin – Faculty
Stephen Boese
Sarah Conner
Mark DeChiro – Vice Chair
Robert Eastman
Jeff Edwards
Steve PoChedley
Jeff Corbin
Dana Swalla - Chair
Andy Shapiro
Administration Staff:
Sharon Jordan
National Grid:
Pat Boudreau
Ismat Alam
Carl Olsen
Bernie Sisson
John Collucio
2
Outline
Schenectady
Energy
Advisory Board
• Background
• City Municipal Operations
– Water
– Vehicle Fleet
– Buildings and other operations
• City of Schenectady buildings data (National Grid)
vs. Municipal Operations
• Conclusions and Future Work
3
Background
Schenectady
Energy
Advisory Board
• Industrial processes, burning of fossil
fuels, and changes in land use
releases gases into the atmosphere
that create a “greenhouse” effect at a
rate much faster than “natural”
processes
• Recent increases in global average
temperature are much higher than
“normal” fluctuations.
…and excess energy use costs $$
Industrial
Revolution begins
4
See References at end of presentation
Schenectady
Energy
Advisory Board
Background
•
Carbon Emissions are reported in units of metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2e).
This unit allows comparison between emissions of different greenhouse gases of
varying global warming potential to be added together.
– Example: 10 kwh * 0.86 lbs CO2e/kwh = 8.6 lbs CO2e
10 therms * 12.32 lbs CO2e/therm = 123.2 CO2e
1 metric tonne = 1.1025 short tons = 2205 lbs
 1.1 *
 440 *
•
Recommendations were developed after completing a Carbon Emissions analysis
for all City Municipal operations and City residential, commercial, and industrial
buildings.
GHG Parameter Emission Factor
Compressed Natural Gas
Coal
Diesel
Diesel (ULSD)
Ethanol (E-85)
Gasoline
Green Electricity
Grid Electricity
Heavy Fuel Oil
Light Fuel Oil
Methanol (M-85)
Natural Gas
Sewage Gas
Solar
0.1257263756440
4141.8360000000000
20.9680772531510
21.0297480686018
11.0523447878980
20.7085424276427
0.0000000000000
0.8600230000000
27.5841290108120
23.0101406551437
9.5413730577200
12.3248104900883
0.0000000000000
0.0000000000000
CO2 Emissions Unit Base Units Source
lbs
lbs
lbs
lbs
lbs
lbs
lbs
lbs
lbs
lbs
lbs
lbs
lbs
lbs
cubic feet
tons
US gallons
US gallons
US gallons
US gallons
Kwh
Kwh
US gallons
US gallons
US gallons
Therms
Therms
Kwh
NYC Emissions Report
NYC Emissions Report
NYC Emissions Report
NYC Emissions Report
NYC Emissions Report
NYC Emissions Report
NYC Emissions Report
GE Global Research
NYC Emissions Report
NYC Emissions Report
NYC Emissions Report
NYC Emissions Report
NYC Emissions Report
NYC Emissions Report
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
5
Schenectady
Energy
Advisory Board
Lbs CO2 emitted on 100 mi trip
Background
How much is used (gas,
CO2, $$ on 100 mile trip??
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Vehicle miles per gallon
10 mpg 15 mpg vehicle saves 3 gals gas
and $15 every 100 miles driven
25 mpg  35 mpg vehicle saves about 1 gal
gas and $5 every 100 miles driven.
6
City Municipal Operations
Schenectady
Energy
Advisory Board
Municipal Operations Recommendations:
29%
34%
3122
tonnes
2725
tonnes
General:
Initiate and maintain procedures that allow convenient tracking
and analysis of carbon emissions across all sectors.
Buildings Sector
2315
tonnes
• City owned buildings undergoing major renovations or new
construction must meet LEED or equivalent standards.
• Complete Siemens performance contract building upgrades and
continue to document energy savings.
12%
25%
Water pumping-Elec.only
Vehicle fleet - based on use
Street lights - City Wide
All other municipal ops (incl. NG)
Combined City Municipal
Operations Emissions
from all sources = 9283
tonnes
* 10,000
• Encourage energy service providers to submit all billing
electronically to allow for easier energy usage tracking (i.e. carbon
footprint analysis), as well as reduce paper waste and costs
associated with paper billing storage.
• Work with Union College to calculate and track emissions from
buildings annually using electronic data.
Water
Develop a strategy to conserve water in order to save energy,
control infrastructure costs and preserve flexibility for future water
supplies and needs.
* 4 Million
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Schenectady
Energy
Advisory Board
Vehicle Fleet
29%
MPGs of Vehicle Fleet
11%
Street Dept
Sewer
Parks
Water & Eng
Utilities & facil
Heavy Equip
30%
8%
250
Number of Vehicles
Police Dept
Waste-SNAP
Fire Dept
200
150
100
50
0
1-10
7%
3%
3%
4%
11-15
16-20
20-25
26+
MPG
5%
Vehicle Fleet Sector
• Initiate vehicle purchase policy for all city
departments that encourages use of higher gas
mileage/lower emissions vehicles
• Install devices to lower particulates on
selected vehicles
• Encourage vehicle sharing between
departments, when feasible
• Calculate and track emissions from vehicle
fleet annually.
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Recommendations (City
Municipal Operations)
Schenectady
Energy
Advisory Board
Street lights and Traffic Signals Sector
• Work with National Grid to encourage development of more energy efficient street lights.
• Complete work on LED Traffic light replacement and work with National Grid, Siemens, and city departments to fully capture
energy savings that have resulted from traffic light replacement.
Transportation Recommendation
• New road development projects will make provisions for bicycle and pedestrian traffic, including the new Erie Boulevard
corridor project.
• Planning commission should encourage installation of bike racks in all new developments and major renovation projects
• Install bike racks in areas of commerce and recreation.
• Work with Union College students to formulate a traffic usage summary to estimate carbon footprint of vehicle traffic in
Schenectady.
Note: Solid waste/trash collection and recycling not considered in this study…
However, City saved about $60-$85K in tipping fees, alone (not counting cost of
transport to landfill) and reduced collection by 3% or 1000 tons after initiation of
garbage “equity” (aka garbage “fees” depending on # of units)
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City Municipal Operations
Schenectady
Energy
Advisory Board
CO2 Emissions (Tons)
6000
7% reduction @
11¢/kwh = approx
$98,000 in savings
(electric)
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
Electricity
Natural Gas
Gasoline- Diesel-Vehicle
Vehicle Fleet
Fleet
Energy source
29 Kwh (electricity) = Heating value of 1 Therm
29 kwh * 0.86 lbs CO2/kwh = 25 lbs CO2
1 Therm * 12.32 lbs CO2/therm = 12.32 lbs CO2
….Heating a building with Natural Gas is currently more efficient and
results in less CO2 than heating with electric. However, this may
change as grid electric moves to more renewable energy sources…
10
Results of Siemens
Performance Contract
Net decrease
from 2005:
4400
4350
CO2 Emissions (tons)
Schenectady
Energy
Advisory Board
4300
170 metric tons
4250
4200
4150
4100
2005 Usage (Siemens)
1
Avg 2006-2007
Note: Analyses only for municipal
operations & bldgs measured by
Siemens
% decrease from
2005  4%
Target by 2012:
Net 7%
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City of Schenectady Building
Emissions vs Municipal Operations
97%
377,000
tonnes
Schenectady
Energy
Advisory Board
Emissions from non-municipal
sources >>> than City operations
…. About 6 tons per capita just for
heating and cooling homes and
businesses!
3%
Schenectady City buildings (non-municipal)
All City Municipal Operations
Community outreach recommendations
Work with the Energy Advisory Board to develop the following:

Annual Energy Fair hosting local “green” businesses and teaching best
practices.

Collaboration with local grade schools (ie school forum, science fairs,
information booklets to bring home)

Neighborhood Association presentations

Development of residential “Eco-Teams” similar to Burlington, VT
• Set up EAB website available through a link from the main City website to track
progress and inform the public of ongoing initiatives, meetings, and minutes
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Conclusions & Future
Work
•
Schenectady
Energy
Advisory Board
Siemens Performance Contract has resulted in improved energy savings.
• We have more work to do to reach goal of 7% reduction in emissions by 2012.
Major focus areas
Water pumping costs and conservation.
Develop a strategy to conserve water in order to save energy, control infrastructure costs and preserve flexibility for future
water supplies and needs.
City Vehicle Fleet
Improve mileage or limit use of lowest mileage cars/vehicles whenever possible
13
References
Schenectady
Energy
Advisory Board
Carbon emissions calculation and emissions factors
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html
Inventory of New York City Greenhouse Gas Emissions, April 2007
Global Average Temperature plot
http://www.globalwarmingart.com/
1.(dark blue 1000-1991): P.D. Jones, K.R. Briffa, T.P. Barnett, and S.F.B. Tett (1998). , The Holocene, 8: 455-471.
2.(blue 1000-1980): M.E. Mann, R.S. Bradley, and M.K. Hughes (1999). , Geophysical Research Letters, 26(6: 759-762.
3.(light blue 1000-1965): Crowley and Lowery (2000). , Ambio, 29: 51-54. Modified as published in Crowley (2000). , Science, 289: 270-277.
4.(lightest blue 1402-1960): K.R. Briffa, T.J. Osborn, F.H. Schweingruber, I.C. Harris, P.D. Jones, S.G. Shiyatov, S.G. and E.A. Vaganov (2001). , J. Geophys. Res., 106: 2929-2941.
5.(light green 831-1992): J. Esper, E.R. Cook, and F.H. Schweingruber (2002). , Science, 295(5563: 2250-2253.
6.(yellow 200-1980): M.E. Mann and P.D. Jones (2003). , Geophysical Research Letters, 30(15: 1820. DOI:10.1029/2003GL017814.
7.(orange 200-1995): P.D. Jones and M.E. Mann (2004). , Reviews of Geophysics, 42: RG2002. DOI:10.1029/2003RG000143
8.(red-orange 1500-1980): S. Huang (2004). , Geophys. Res Lett., 31: L13205. DOI:10.1029/2004GL019781
9.(red 1-1979): A. Moberg, D.M. Sonechkin, K. Holmgren, N.M. Datsenko and W. Karlén (2005). , Nature, 443: 613-617. DOI:10.1038/nature03265
10.(dark red 1600-1990): J.H. Oerlemans (2005). , Science, 308: 675-677. DOI:10.1126/science.1107046
(black 1856-2004): Instrumental data was jointly compiled by the w:Climatic Research Unit and the UK Meteorological Office Hadley Centre. Global Annual Average data set TaveGL2v
[2] was used.
Documentation for the most recent update of the CRU/Hadley instrumental data set appears in: P.D. Jones and A. Moberg (2003). , Journal of Climate, 16: 206-223.
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