TITLE:
Accounting for Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Materials at the Urban Scale-Relating Existing Process Life Cycle Assessment Studies to Urban Material and Waste Composition
AUTHORS:
Meidad Kissinger, Cornelia Sussmann, Jennie Moore, William E. Rees
KEYWORDS:
Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Scope 3 Emissions; Life Cycle Assessment; Urban Sustainability
JOURNAL NAME:
Low Carbon Economy,
Vol.4 No.1,
March
27,
2013
ABSTRACT: Although many cities are engaged in efforts to calculate and reduce their
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, most are accounting for “scope one” emissions i.e., GHGs produced within urban boundaries (for example, following
the protocol of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives).
Cities should also account for the emissions associated with goods, services
and materials consumed within their boundaries, “scope three” emissions. The emissions related to
urban consumption patterns and choices greatly influence overall emissions that
can be associated with an urban area. However, data constraints and GHG
accounting complexity present challenges. In this paper we propose one approach that cities can take to measure the GHG
emissions of their material consumption: the solid waste life cycle assessment
(LCA) based approach. We used this approach to identify a set of materials
commonly consumed within cities, and reviewed published life cycle assessment
data to determine the GHG emissions associated with production of each. Our
review reveals that among fourteen commonly consumed materials, textiles and
aluminum are associated with the highest GHG emissions per tonne of production.
Paper and plastics have relatively lower production emissions, but a
potentially higher impact on overall emissions owing to their large
proportions, by weight, in the consumption stream.