5.2. ECCSR 11-16-2016 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Background In March 2016 the City of Elk River engaged Pale Blue Dot LLC to prepare a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) baseline inventory for City Operations emissions. City Operations baseline data was to be collected and calculated for the first time in this report. The City of Elk River is committed to improved sustainability. Since 1997, the City has been a designated Energy City by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency – a designation of the City as a geographical focal point for the demonstration of efficient and renewable energy products, services, and technologies. In October 2011, the City began engagement in the Minnesota Greenstep Cities Program sponsored by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Greenstep Cities is a challenge, assistance, and recognition program supporting cities in achieving sustainability and quality-of-life goals. This Greenhouse Gas Baseline Inventory report is designed both to meet the requirements for the Greenstep Cities program, but also to provide a framework for on- going dialogue in support of the City’s Energy City designation and overall sustainability interest. The Carbon Cycle and the Role of Greenhouse Gases The Carbon Cycle is exchanged among the oceans, atmosphere, and ecosystem. This cycle has been a closed, balanced system for hundreds of thousands of years. This cycle is present in the atmosphere primarily as carbon dioxide and methane. These two primary greenhouse gases uniquely allow light to pass while capturing infrared energy. This “Greenhouse Effect” directly impacts Earth’s atmospheric energy and temperatures – without the historic levels of greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere, the average surface temperature of the Earth would be 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Man-Made Greenhouse Contributions As our current energy systems are fossil fuel based, nearly all products and services are responsible for GHG emissions. This “Carbon Footprint” results from the emissions of fossil fuels burned either directly, or indirectly in delivering that product or service. Burning fossil fuels release hydrocarbons which have been outside the natural carbon cycle for millions of years. These emissions have increased atmospheric greenhouse gases by 40%, changing the chemistry and raising the total atmospheric energy and contributing to climate change. According to the EPA, man-made carbon emissions are likely to remain in our atmosphere for hundreds of years. Though unintended, our individual actions and business operations are contributing to climate change impacts. (https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases.html ). Elk River GHG Baseline Inventory 1 Introduction Since the preindustrial era, atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have increased by nearly 30 percent and CH4 concentrations have more than doubled. There is a growing international scientific consensus that this increase has been caused, at least in part, by human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) for such activities as generating electricity and driving cars. In international scientific circles a consensus is growing that the buildup of CO2 and other GHGs in the atmosphere will lead to major environmental changes such as (1) rising sea levels that may flood coastal and river delta communities; (2) shrinking mountain glaciers and reduced snow cover that may diminish fresh water resources; (3) the spread of infectious diseases and increased heat-related mortality; (4) possible loss in biological diversity and other impacts on ecosystems; and (5) agricultural shifts such as impacts on crop yields and productivity. Many uncertainties remain regarding the precise timing, magnitude, and regional patterns of climate change and the extent to which mankind and nature can adapt to any changes. It is clear, however, that changes will not be easily reversed for many decades or even centuries because of the long atmospheric lifetimes of GHGs and the inertia of the climate system According to the US EPA: From “Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Management of Selected Materials in Municipal Solid Waste” 1998 Minnesota Climate Change Impacts Minnesota’s climate has already begun to change. Average temperatures in Minnesota are 1.5 to 2 degrees warmer than they were in the 1980’s and seven of the State’s ten warmest years on record have occurred in the last 15 years. Annual frequency of large storms in Minnesota have more than doubled in the last 50 years, with a 70% increase occurring in just the last decade. Minnesota has seen three “1,000 year” flash floods in only 12 years and scientists anticipate occurrence of extreme weather to continue to increase in frequency. Climate change has already begun to impact the Minnesota economy. In 2013, the State logged some of the highest severe weather-related claims in the country, and since 1997, 32 severe weather natural disasters cost Minnesota over $500,000,000. In addition, University of Minnesota economists have calculated the health and environmental costs of our fossil-fuel based electrical production at over $2,000,000,000 annually. The State of Minnesota is responding to climate change and is focused on reducing the State’s carbon emissions. The State’s 2007 Next Generation Energy Act established climate mitigation goals which included a reduction of statewide greenhouse gas emissions to at least 15% below 2005 levels by 2015, 30% below 2005 levels by 2025, and 80% below 2005 levels by 2050. Though the State has missed its first goal, progress has been made and Statewide emissions were reduced between 2007 and 2010 a total of 3%.