AGENDA #12
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Resolution to File a Community Carbon Reduction (CRed) Pledge for Town Municipal Operations
DATE: June 26, 2006
PURPOSE
The purpose of this memorandum is to outline issues to be addressed by the Town of Chapel Hill as the next step in the Community Carbon Reduction (CRed) Program as proposed by Dr. Douglas Crawford-Brown at the Carolina Environmental Institute at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. It also reviews potential strategies for municipal operations that the Town of Chapel Hill may need to adopt in order to achieve the goals agreed to as part of the CRed Program. The attached resolution would authorize the Town to register a pledge to reduce municipal carbon emissions on the CRed website, thereby making the Town an official participant in the CRed program.
BACKGROUND
On June 12, 2006, the Council received a status report (Attachment 1) from Dr. Crawford-Brown entitled Moving forward on the Community Carbon Reduction (CRed) pledge in Chapel Hill. While the overall goal of the Chapel Hill CRed program is to reduce total carbon emissions throughout the Town, the report proposed that as a first step the Town reduce emissions from municipal operations by pledging to:
The report also proposed the Town register itself as a CRed site in conjunction with Dr. Crawford-Brown’s annual summer field work in Cambridge, U.K. The registration process requires the Town to log onto the CRed website, also based in Cambridge, U .K., and to enter the Town Council’s pledge, thereby making it publicly accessible. Registration would also transfer the title of CRed “Town Contact” from Dr. Crawford-Brown to Town staff.
This item was referred to the Town Manager and the Town Attorney for review.
A revised CRed status report submitted by Dr. Crawford-Brown on June 19, 2006 (Attachment 2) indicates a decrease in the range of emissions attributed to Town municipal operations from 13,000-16,000 metric tons per year to 11,000-13,000 metric tons per year. These changes reflect normalized data from each emissions sector for the 2005 calendar year, and incorporate additional data on electricity consumption from streetlights.
DISCUSSION
Dr. Crawford-Brown’s status report proposes that the Town continue in its commitment to the CRed process by developing goals for carbon reduction from Town operations according to the following schedule:
Based on 2005 data collected by Dr. Crawford-Brown and his students at the Carolina Environmental Institute, Town municipal operations currently result in the production of between 11,000 and 13,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. These emissions are attributed to electricity consumption in buildings, electricity consumption by streetlights, operation of municipal buses, operation of municipal vehicles, employee commuting, and natural gas consumption in buildings. Approximately 50 percent of the carbon emissions from municipal buses were attributed to the Town of Chapel Hill. This partial allocation of transit-related emissions reflects the Town’s portion of financial support for the transit system. Emissions in each sector need not be reduced evenly to meet the milestone of 60 percent reduction because the distribution of emissions over sectors is uneven.
Respectively, emissions from municipal buses and from building electricity use account for 20 to 25 percent and 22 to 24 percent of total emissions from Town municipal operations. The combined transportation-related sectors (energy consumption by Town buses, carbon dioxide emissions attributed to municipal vehicle use, and employee commuting) amount to between 53 and 58 percent of total municipal emissions. To meet the overall reduction goal of 60 percent, emissions due to all Town operations would ultimately need to fall between 4,400 to 5,200 metric tons by 2050.
Carbon emissions for electricity consumption are reported as a range because two different emissions factors have been used in the electricity consumption analysis. The lower bound is a product of kilowatt hours and the Duke Power emissions factor, while the upper bound is derived by using a regional average of emissions factors. The latter emissions factor will be used by ICLEI in the Orange County Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Strategy.
By building on the first step taken by the Council, quantification of emissions from Town municipal operations, the Town is now ready to develop goals for carbon reduction focused on these operations. In keeping with the process suggested by Dr. Crawford-Brown, the Town as an employer and in its municipal governmental functions must take steps which would set an example for other non-municipal sectors within Chapel Hill if it is to meet the overall CRed goal of reducing carbon emissions within its geographic area by 60 percent by 2050.
In his June 12, 2006 report, Dr. Crawford-Brown proposes a timeline for carbon emissions reduction for municipal operations of the Town: 10 percent by 2010;20 percent by 2015; 30 percent by 2030; 45 percent by 2025; 60 percent by 2030. While it is important to set preliminary goals, the final timeline for emission reduction will be dependent on several factors, including estimates of the following data:
The goals and timeline of the CRed-Chapel Hill project are also subject to the results of data analysis for the Town of Chapel Hill, Orange County, Carrboro, and Hillsborough, which will be used by ICLEI Energy Services to develop the draft Orange County Greenhouse Gas Emissions Strategy. This project is expected to provide a preliminary report in September of 2006.
Because of the need for additional information and analysis, we recommend at this time that the Council set the following preliminary objectives in the CRed pledge:
These goals would be subject to annual review by the Town and could be modified based on the continued work of Dr. Crawford-Brown, the progress of the Orange County Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Strategy, and ongoing efforts by the Town to monitor the impact of carbon reduction efforts.
In conjunction with the adoption of these goals, we believe it is important that the Town proceed with investment in resources necessary to monitor carbon emissions and develop a program to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from Town government sources. This could be done in conjunction with the development of an emissions reduction timeline. We recommend potential strategies for carbon reduction in each sector of Town municipal operations in Attachment 3.
NEXT STEPS
The Town staff will continue to work with Dr. Douglas Crawford-Brown and the CRed team at the Carolina Environmental Institute over the summer to refine the preliminary analysis of municipal emissions and begin the development of more focused strategies for Council consideration in the fall of 2006.
We will also continue to work with ICLEI toward development of the Orange County Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Strategy. A draft strategy will be presented for consideration in October of 2006.
RECOMMENDATION
Manager Recommendation: That the Town Council adopt the attached resolution setting an objective to reduce carbon emissions from Town municipal operations by 60 percent by 2050, in keeping with the following preliminary timeline: 5 percent by 2010; 15 percent by 2015; 25 percent by 2020; 35 percent by 2025; 45 percent by 2030; and 60 percent by 2050. A more detailed assessment on the appropriateness of these goals will be presented in October 2006 after further review and coordination with the ICLEI Greenhouse Gas Emissions strategy for Orange County. The resolution would also set an objective to ensure adequate data collection throughout the CRed process and would authorize the Town Manager to register the Town as a CRed site.
ATTACHMENTS