Greenhouse Gas Calculation Tools

Pulp & Paper Mills | Wood Products Facilities                  [français] 

Background

Several pulp and paper industry associations around the globe, working through the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA), jointly supported a project to develop international tools for estimating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from pulp and paper mills. In 2001, the group retained NCASI to review existing GHG inventory protocols and to develop calculation tools to assist companies in preparing GHG inventories. NCASI completed this work in 2002, and the tools were released by ICFPA late that year, in association with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Resources Institute (WRI).

In 2004, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol was updated by WRI and WBCSD. This required NCASI to make a number of minor changes to the tools to ensure that they were consistent with the new Protocol. In addition, NCASI took the opportunity to add or expand the guidance on a number of topics. The updated versions of the report and spreadsheet were approved by ICFPA and accepted by WRI and WBCSD for use under the updated Greenhouse Gas Protocol. They are now available on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol website, www.ghgprotocol.org, as well as on this website.

Also in 2004, AF&PA and FPAC retained NCASI to develop calculation tools to assist wood products facilities in estimating greenhouse gas emissions. The tools were developed and reviewed by WRI and WBCSD. They have now been accepted for use under the updated Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Like the pulp and paper tools, they are available on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol website and on NCASI’s website. An Excel workbook that aids the user by automating the calculations has also been developed. There are two versions of the workbook – one using measurement units familiar to US operations and another using units familiar to Canadian operations.

As with the pulp and paper tools, the calculation tools for wood products manufacturing facilities incorporate default approaches and emission factors which are consistent with guidance from the IPCC. These defaults can be overridden by companies as appropriate. The tools reflect many of the features of well known and widely accepted protocols such as the “GHG Protocol” issued by WRI/WBCSD, the “Climate Leaders Greenhouse Gas Inventory Protocol Core Module Guidance” issued by USEPA, and the “Challenge Registry Guide to Entity and Facility-Based Reporting” issued by VCR in Canada.

Questions about this work may be directed to Dr. Caroline Gaudreault (cgaudreault@ncasi.org), Program Manager, Sustainable Manufacturing and Climate.

Comparing Versions of the GHG Calculation Tools

The following table explains the differences between the various versions of the calculation tool reports and spreadsheets now available. The first digit in the version number reflects the program for which each was prepared. Versions 1.X were written primarily for use under the WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol; versions 2.X were written for the U.S. DOE 1605(b) program; and versions 3.X reflect Canadian GHG reporting requirements. The second digit in each version number is zero for the original version and is increased to reflect updates. The reports and spreadsheets are numbered separately.