The global strategy of achieving zero-carbon emissions from burning fuels is to optimize, electrify and decarbonize to maintain natural threshold of atmospheric CO2 levels and environmental safety, while achieving sustainability through alternative, renewable and efficient energy options.
Carbon footprints, though are of natural and artificial sources, but human activities contribute significantly to it. The call for energy audits to ascertain potential and baseline emissions through software data analytics; announcement of target emissions and rollout of decarbonization strategies and programs has been adopted by many global warming and climate change leaders.
Energy management using building performance analysis technologies for carbon tracking and analysis. Energy audits are to be inevitable in building approval processes in other to be able to monitor and control energy consumption as it relates to carbon emission. International Codes Council – International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM), U.S. Green Building Council – Leadership in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and International Standards Organization (ISO 14001), Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers – Guide F (Sustainability) and Guide L (Energy Efficiency in Buildings), and Green Seal are among standards for energy audits and management that helps in decarbonization and sustainable energy.
Resource optimization – This is use of building management systems and energy performance contracting. The essence of automation and controls is to realize smart infrastructures with high efficiency and low energy demand and establishment of systems that generates data, information and reports for energy analytics. This assures transparency of consumption through real-time data capturing and data communication from field devices by means of various forms of simple, robust and intelligent networks and Internet-of-Things (IoT).
Lower carbon emissions – Use of alternative fuels, renewable energy and electrification. Low energy and efficient products and systems like solar, wind and biofuel energy sources should be fully adopted in design, manufacturing and implementation of technical products. EnergyStar, Building Performance Association (BPA) and Building Performance Institute (BPI) are among pioneering energy rating organizations that forms partnerships in the engineering and manufacturing industry to achieve these goals.
Carbon neutral supply chain – This entails life-cycle assessment of carbon contribution of products to determine their environmental impacts. Sustainable procurement has to do with ecofriendly specifications, requirements and selection criteria in supply chain processes.
Carbon offsetting projects – These include natural and artificial carbon sinking methods, such as – planting (greening) the environment, carbon sequestration and carbon re-cycling.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1990 summarized these as ‘Contraction (Sinking of greenhouse gasses to zero net-emission within a given time frame) and Convergence (Converging of all declining global per capita average of emissions due to a chosen contraction rate)’, and globalizes target year using Carbon Budget Analysis Tool (CBAT) modeling starting from the year 2000. A projection to achieve a 90% reduction with increasing population growth until 2100 had been presented by the Global Commons Institute (GCI) at various summits of the Conference of the Parties (COP).
William Nwaogu,
Technical Advisor,
Safety Consultants & Solution Providers Limited.
