An alliance to support CA local government SEEC ClearPath ... · An alliance to support CA local government SEEC ClearPath California 101: Getting Started December 2014. Page | 2

An alliance to support CA local government

SEEC ClearPath California 101:

Getting Started

December 2014

Page | 2

Contents

1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……….4

a. About this guide…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….4

b. Online trainings………………………………………………………………………………………………………………4

c. Selecting a track……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4

d. Tool modules……………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………5

2. Inventories………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….6

a. Scoping…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..6

b. Data collection……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….7

c. Factor sets……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..9

d. Data entry………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………9

3. Forecasts…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..12

a. Data collection……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..12

b. Annual growth rates…………………………………………………………………………………………………….13

c. Factor sets……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………15

d. State polices…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………15

e. Applying growth rate factors to the forecast module.…………………………………………………16

4. Planning……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………18

a. Set reduction goals…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…18

b. Create reduction strategies…….……………………………………………………………………………….…..19

c. Create scenario…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….20

Appendix 1: Factor set tables for solid waste and electricity…..……………………………………………………….23

Appendix 2: Transportation emissions factors…………..…………………………………………………………………….25

Appendix 3: Registering for SEEC ClearPath CA………………………………………………………………………….…...27

The Statewide Energy Efficiency Collaborative (SEEC)

is an alliance between the Local Government

Commission, ICLEI Local Governments for

Sustainability, the Institute for Local Government and

California’s four investor-owned utilities. This program

is funded by California utility customers and

administered by Pacific Gas and Electric Company®,

San Diego Gas & Electric Company®, Southern

California Edison® and Southern California Gas

Company under the auspices of the California Public

Utilities Commission.

www.californiaseec.org

© 2015 Statewide Energy Efficiency Collaborative. Trademarks

are property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

SEEC partners:

・ICLEI, Local Governments for Sustainability

・Institute for Local Government

・Local Government Commission

・Pacific Gas and Electric Company

・San Diego Gas & Electric Company®

・Southern California Edison

・Southern California Gas Company

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Introduction

About this Guide

SEEC ClearPath California is a powerful tool to help you measure and track greenhouse gas (GHG)

emissions in your community. This guide provides an introduction to the basic structure of SEEC

ClearPath CA and to important concepts that will help you use the tool effectively. Once you have read

this introduction, please refer to the detailed user guides for each SEEC ClearPath CA module, which can

be accessed from the SEEC ClearPath CA home screen. If you have not already registered for a username

and password to use SEEC ClearPath CA, detailed instructions on doing so are provided in Appendix 3.

Online Training

An extensive set of online self-paced recorded trainings is available through www.californiaseec.org to

help you use SEEC ClearPath CA, and to get started with your inventory, forecast or climate action plan.

To view these trainings, follow these two simple steps:

• Step 1: Select ‘Resources and Guidance’

• Step 2: Check the ‘On-demand Training’ box under resource type

You may further narrow the results by checking boxes under ‘Browse by Topic’, if you wish. If you are

new to greenhouse gas measurement and management, it is recommended that you view the trainings

relevant to the task you are trying to complete (inventory, climate action plan, etc.) and then come back

to this quick start guide as a reference as you use SEEC ClearPath CA.

Figure 1: Accessing online trainings

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Selecting a Track

Figure 2: Selecting a Track

After logging into SEEC ClearPath CA, you will need to select either the government operations or

community track to begin, as shown in Figure 2. SEEC ClearPath CA allows analysis of GHG emissions

data at two different scales:

• The government track addresses things like buildings owned by your local government, and the

vehicle fleet it operates.

• The community-scale track is much broader and includes homes, businesses, and privately

operated vehicles in the community.

These two tracks are kept separate within the tool, although you can switch back and forth to enter data

in both.

Tool Modules

Within each of the government operations and community tracks, SEEC ClearPath CA is organized into

modules for each of the major tasks the tool can assist with. This organization is shown in Figure 3.

Click here to start

government

operations analysis

Click here to start

community analysis

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Inventory

•Baseline conditions

•Relationships between activities and emissions

Forecast

•Projected levels of future activites

•Expected changes to relationships between activities and emissions

Planning

•Scenarios of combinations of mitigation actions

•Expected performance of mitigation actions in forecasted conditions

Monitoring

•Compare performance of mitigation actions against expectations

•Compare performance of inventories against expectations

Figure 3: Basic structure and workflow of SEEC ClearPath CA.

Inventories

A greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory estimates the quantity of GHG emissions associated with a

community, or with government operations, during a chosen analysis year. Protocols provide the

approach for each kind of inventory, and the calculation methods that are used in SEEC ClearPath CA.

Government operations inventories are governed by the Local Government Operations Protocol, while

community inventories are governed by the Community Protocol. Inventories serve two purposes. One

is to establish the baseline conditions that will be used to project future emissions and set goals. The

other purpose is to perform periodic performance checks to measure progress against the baseline and

goals.

For background information on inventories, see the Quick Start Guide for Conducting a Greenhouse Gas

Emissions Inventory, and for more detail on using the SEEC ClearPath CA inventory module, see the

Inventory Module User Guide (both available through www.californiaseec.org).

Forecasts

Once you have completed a GHG inventory for a baseline year, the forecast module will help you to

project business-as-usual emissions into the future (what emissions would be in the absence of local

action to reduce emissions). See the Forecast Module User Guide for more detail.

Planning

The planning module will help you develop a climate action plan, which lays out a set of discrete,

specific actions that collectively will reduce GHG emissions to meet a target chosen by your local

government. See the Planning Module User Guide for more detail.

Monitoring

The monitoring module allows you to track implementation of climate action plan measures and the

resulting energy savings, emissions reductions and other indicators. Monitoring records connect with

measures in the climate action plan, allowing comparison of actual emissions reductions over time with

those projected. Reports also allow comparison of emissions by sector across multiple inventories. See

the Monitoring Module User Guide for more detail.

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Inventory

The steps to completing an inventory for community or government operations emissions are shown in

figure 4, and are described in more detail below.

Figure 4: Inventory steps

1. Inventory Scoping

The first step in conducting an inventory is to determine the boundaries of what is included—this

process is referred to as scoping. For a government operations inventory, this boundary is determined

by the concept of operational control. Essentially, any buildings, facilities (such as water and wastewater

treatment plants), and vehicles operated by the local government will be included in the inventory:

typical sectors and data sources for them are shown in Table 2. Determining what to include in the

community inventory will require more decisions on your part. The Community Protocol requires at

least inclusion of five basic emissions generating activities, outlined in Table 1. In addition, using the

recommended local government influence reporting framework, you should consider what other

emissions sources and activities in the community your local government may have significant influence

over.

Scoping

• Determine the emissions sources and activites to include

Data collection

• Request needed data from internal records, utilities, and other sources (see tables 1 and 2)

Factor sets

• Enter emissions factors in SEEC ClearPath CA (see Appendix 1)

Data entry• Enter data in SEEC ClearPath CA

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2. Data Collection

Tables 1 and 2 provide an overview of the data you will need to collect for government operations and

for community inventories, respectively. For more information about data collection, see the

Community Inventory Data Collection and Conditioning Instructions and the Local Government

Operations Inventory Instructions. Excel based master data work books for community and government

operations are also available to organize your data before entry into SEEC ClearPath CA if desired.

Table 1: Government Operations Inventory Data (Common sectors)

Sector Data and Where to Find Where to Enter in SEEC ClearPath CA

Local government

operated buildings

Electricity and natural gas use

from local government

records or utility

Buildings & Facilities -> Emissions from Grid

Electricity

and

Emissions from Stationary Fuel Combustion

Streetlights and traffic

signals

Electricity use from local

government records or utility

Streetlights & Traffic Signals ->

Emissions from Grid Electricity

Water and wastewater

treatment and

transport facilities

(if operated by local

government)

Electricity and natural gas use

from local government

records or utility

Emissions from Grid Electricity

and

Emissions from Stationary Fuel Combustion

Vehicle Fleet Local government records Vehicle Fleet -> Fleet Vehicle Emissions

Employee Commute Employee survey Employee Commute -> Employee Commute

Landfills (if operated by

local government)

Local government records Solid Waste Facilities -> Government

Owned/Operated Landfill

Government generated

solid waste

Local government records Solid Waste Facilities ->

Waste Generation

Utility Serving

Community

How to Access Local Government Operations Electricity and/or Natural Gas Data

PG&E Visit the Green Communities Data Portal, request access, and request reports.

http://www.pge.com/en/about/environment/whatyoucando/greencommunities/

index.page

SCE, SDG&E, and

SoCal Gas

Work with your existing account executive.

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Table 2: Community Inventory Data Collection and Entry (Basic Activities)

Five Basic Emissions

Generating Activities

Data and Where to Find Where to Enter in SEEC ClearPath CA

1. Electricity: Use of

electricity by the

community

Request aggregate usage by

residential and commercial

categories from your local

electric utility (see below).

Residential Energy-> Emissions from Grid

Electricity

and

Commercial Energy -> Emissions from

Grid Electricity

2. Natural Gas: Use of

fuel in residential and

commercial stationary

combustion equipment

Request aggregate usage by

residential and commercial

categories from your local

natural gas utility (see below).

Residential energy -> Emissions from

Stationary Fuel Combustion

and

Commercial energy -> Emissions from

Stationary Fuel Combustion

3. Transportation: On-

road passenger and

freight motor vehicle

travel

Request total community

vehicle miles traveled (VMT)

from your Metropolitan

Planning Organization (MPO).

Transportation and Mobile Sources->

*Updated* On Road Transportation

Choose ‘On-Road Factor’ Calculation

Method

4. Water: Use of energy

in potable water and

wastewater treatment

and distribution

Request from water supply

and wastewater treatment

facility operators. If

unavailable use defaults:

Water & Wastewater -> Emissions from

Wastewater Treatment Energy Use

and

Emissions from Supply of Potable Water

5. Waste: Generation of

solid waste by the

community

Request from local

government department

responsible for waste

collection.

Solid Waste -> Waste Generation

Utility Serving

Community

How to Access Community Electricity and/or Natural Gas Data

PG&E Go to:

http://www.pge.com/en/about/environment/whatyoucando/greencomm

unities/index.page

SCE Go to:

https://www.sce.com/wps/portal/home/partners/partnerships/access-

energy-usage-

data/!ut/p/b0/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfGjzOL9PQydPSyCDTwtwoIt

DRw9nU3MXQ09DQwMTPQLsh0VAS5Q60E!/

SDG&E Go to: sdge.com/energydata. Aggregated customer usage data reports are

publicly available through this site. An online request form is also available

on the site to enable a formal data request if additional data is needed.

SoCal Gas Go to: https://energydatarequest.socalgas.com/. From here you can view

available usage reports or submit a request for a customized report based

on user-defined criteria.

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3. Factor Sets

Factors sets are used in SEEC ClearPath CA to store numbers that are used in multiple emissions

calculations, but that are different for different communities. You will need to enter data in several

factor sets in order to complete your inventory. These factor sets and where to find the data to enter

are summarized in Table 3.

Table 3: Factor sets needed for community and government inventories

Community Inventory Factor Sets

Waste Characterization Percentages of different materials in community generated solid waste.

Use local waste characterization survey or table A1 in Appendix 1.

Grid Electricity Local emissions factors for your utility: lbs CO2/MWh, lbs CH4/GWh, lbs

N2O/GWh. These may be provided by your utility along with usage data; if

not use factors from Table A3 in Appendix 1.

Government Operations Inventory Factor Sets

Transportation Fuel efficiency for government fleet vehicles; calculate from local

government records on fuel use and miles traveled. Factors for g CH4/mi

and g N2O/mi can be found in Table A4 in Appendix 2. You may create

different factor sets for different groups of vehicles or departments if you

wish.

Waste Characterization Percentages of different materials in government generated solid waste.

Use local waste characterization survey or table A2 in Appendix 1.

Grid Electricity Local emissions factors for your utility: lbs CO2/MWh, lbs CH4/GWh, lbs

N2O/GWh. These may be provided by your utility along with usage data; if

not use factors from Table A3 in Appendix 1.

4. Data Entry

Now you are ready to enter the data collected during Step 2 into SEEC ClearPath CA. Open the inventory

module and select the sector and calculator, as indicated in Table 2 or Table 3. A brief description of

entering some common data for community inventories is provided below. For more information about

data entry, see the inventory module user guide, and the online trainings.

Electricity and Natural Gas

Figure 5: Electricity and natural gas calculators

Step 1: Select sector

Step 2: Select

calculator

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Community use of electricity and natural gas is entered by sector: residential, commercial and industrial.

Select each sector as shown in Figure 5.

• Step 1: Select the appropriate sector, Residential, Commercial, or Industrial to enter your

community electricity and/or stationary fuel data.

• Step 2: Select the appropriate calculator i.e. electricity is entered in the calculator ‘Emissions

from Grid Electricity,’ and natural gas or any other stationary fuel (propane, fuel oil etc.) in

‘Emissions from Stationary Fuel Combustion’.

Community Transportation

For community transportation, you have the option of selecting from four different calculators to

estimate community scale transportation emissions. In order for the Transportation Data to accurately

translate to the Forecasting, Planning and Monitoring Modules, transportation data has to be entered

separately for each fuel (i.e. Gasoline, Diesel or other fuels).

• VMT & MPG – this calculator will be utilized if you are able to find specific community VMT data

along with vehicle class fuel efficiency breakdown by fuel types (gasoline and diesel) (a good

method, although the On-Road factor method will allow use of more locally specific emission

factors for most CA communities).

• On-Road Factor: this calculator will be utilized if you are able to locate specific CO2, CH4 and

N20 emission factors either aggregated across each fuel type or for each specific vehicle type

(highly recommended and most common for California).

• Fuel Consumption: this calculator will be utilized if you are able to find fuel consumption data

for your community’s vehicles (not recommended unless it is the only option).

• Direct Entry: this calculator can be utilized if you already calculate emissions from a previous

inventory or you did the calculations outside of SEEC ClearPath. Note – if you only have a CO2e

figure, you can enter that in the CO2 row (not recommended unless it is the only option).

For the sake of providing the most locally specific emission factor, we recommend your community

utilize the on-road emissions factor from the California Air Resources Board’s EMFAC model. Appendix 2

provides detailed instructions for obtaining this factor. Appendix 2 also provides factors you will need

for transportation CH4 and N2O emissions. You may also use on-road emissions factors provided by your

local MPO, if available.

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Once you have total VMT for your jurisdiction and the emissions factors, go to the Transportation &

Mobile Sources sector in SEEC ClearPath CA, and follow the steps as shown in Figure 6.

• Step 1: Select the ‘On Road Transportation’ calculator. Under Calculation Method, select ‘On-

Road Factor,’ and the Select the appropriate Fuel Type

• Step 2: Enter your aggregated community VMT by fuel type in the value box VMT

• Step 3: Enter the factor for CO2 in the value box CO2 On Road Average Emissions Factor

• Step 4: Enter the factor for CH4 in the value box CH4 On Road Average Emissions Factor

• Step 5: Enter the factor for N2O in the value box N2O On Road Average Emissions Factor

Figure 6: Community Transportation Data Entry

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Forecast

Once you have completed your municipal operations and/or community scale baseline inventories in the

Inventory module, the next step is to utilize SEEC ClearPath to create a Business-As-Usual emission

forecast of future emissions, based on specific growth indicators at the municipal or community scale. A

Business-As-Usual emission forecast calculates future emissions if no action is taken to mitigate them.

The Forecast Module in SEEC ClearPath provides users the opportunity to create multiple emission

forecasts that represent different scenarios in their communities. Steps to create a forecast are shown

in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Steps to completing a forecast for community or government operations

Step 1: Data Collection

Data for emissions forecasts most commonly comes from your community’s general plan, or you’re your

metropolitan planning organization (MPO). Data you will want to try to gather for a community forecast

is outlined in Table 4, while that for a government operations forecast is outlined in Table 5. Note that

one of the data points, service population, can be calculated from resident population and employment.

For example, if your community had a 2010 population of 50,000 and the number of jobs was 15,000,

then your 2010 service population would be 65,000. If your General Plan estimates the 2050 population

to be 75,000 and the number of jobs to be 22,000, then your 2050 service population would be 97,000.

Data

collection

• Get information about projected growth in population, employment, and number of households

Annual growth rates

• Convert to annual growth rates using the Compound Annual Growth Calculator, if needed

Factor sets

• Enter annual growth rates into forecast factor sets

State policies

• Create forecast factor sets for renewable portfolio standard and vehicle fuel efficiency

Apply

• Apply factor sets to each fuel type to create forecast

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If your general plan or MPO provides annual growth rates, use these; if only projections for specific

future years are provided, SEEC ClearPath CA will help you convert these to annual growth rates as

described below.

Most communities outline growth forecasts for 2020, 2035 and, most notably, 2050. You will want to

gather data on population, number of households, and employment for each year included in your local

or regional growth forecast, as well as for your inventory baseline year (or a year near it). While having

each of these sets of data will provide the most accurate forecasting, you can use a proxy if one is not

available. For example, growth in number of households tends to provide the most accurate forecast of

residential energy use, but if it is not available, you can use projected population growth instead.

Table 4: Community Forecast Data

Growth

Indicator

Data Applicable Sectors Where to

find?

Number of

households

Projected growth of housing units

in the community (or current and

future # of households)

Residential Energy General Plan

or MPO

Population Projected resident population

growth (or current and future

population)

Residential Energy,

Transportation, Solid Waste,

Water/Wastewater, Process &

Fugitive Emissions

General Plan

or MPO

Employment Projected growth in the number of

jobs in the community

Commercial Energy, Industrial

Energy

General Plan

or MPO

Service

Population

Growth in the sum of both number

of jobs and Population

Transportation, Solid Waste,

Water/Wastewater

General Plan

or MPO

Table 5: Government Operations Forecast Data

Growth

Indicator

Data Applicable Sectors Where to

find?

Municipal

Employment

Projected number of municipal jobs Buildings & Facilities, Street Lights

& Traffic Signals, Vehicle Fleet,

Employee Commute, Scope 3

Generated Waste

General Plan

or MPO

Population Projected resident population

growth (or current and future

population)

Transit Fleet, Electric Power

Production, Solid Waste Facilities,

Water & Wastewater Facilities

General Plan

or MPO

Service

Population

Growth in the sum of both number

of jobs and Population

Transit Fleet, Electric Power

Production, Solid Waste Facilities,

Water & Wastewater Facilities,

Process & Fugitive Emissions

General Plan

or MPO

Calculating Annual Growth Rates

If your general plan or MPO provides only projections for particular future years, you will need to

convert these to annual growth rates to enter into SEEC ClearPath CA.

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Figure 8: Opening the Compound Annual Growth Rate Calculator

You can convert growth projections for a particular year into compound annual growth rates by using

the Compound Annual Growth Rate Calculator provided in the tool. Access this calculator using the

following steps as shown in Figure 8.

• Step 1: Click on the Forecast tab in SEEC ClearPath

• Step 2: Click on the Forecast Helpers button

• Step 3: Select the Compound Growth Rate Calculator

Figure 9: Using the Growth Rate Calculator

Once you have opened the calculator, enter the starting and ending values and years, as shown in Figure

9, to arrive at your compound annual growth rate.

• Step 1: Enter the name of your growth rate based on your data in Name entry box.

• Step 2: Enter the Start Year Value of your data (e.g. population in the start year).

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• Step 3: Enter the Start Year.

• Step 4: Enter the End Year Value of your data (e.g. population in the end year).

• Step 5: Enter the End Year.

The growth rate will be shown in Outputs. You may save this record, and then repeat for additional

growth indicators and year ranges as needed.

Creating Factor Sets

Like the inventory module, the forecast module uses factor sets to store data that may be used more

than once. In this case, you will enter the growth rates in factor sets as shown in Figure 10. Then you will

be able to apply those to particular fuel types (as will be shown in Figure 12.)

• Step 1: Click on Factor Sets tab

• Step 2: Click on Forecast Growth Rates tab

• Step 3: Enter the name of your Growth Rate in the Name box

• Step 4: Enter the compound annual growth for each five year period starting from the beginning

of your forecast to the final year.

If data is available, create a factor set for each growth indicator shown in Table 4 and/or Table 5

(depending on whether you are creating a community forecast, government operations forecast, or

both).

State Policies

Currently, there are two state policies that have an effect on emissions forecasting at the government

operations and community level. The Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) affects the carbon intensity of

the grid electricity by mandating that all Investor Owned Utilities and Municipal Utilities reach 33%

renewable energy by 2020. Additionally, the Pavley II Standards outline fuel efficiency improvements for

Figure 10: Entering Forecast Growth Rates

Page | 16

Figure 11: Creating a new forecast

on-road vehicles until 2025. Table 6 shows growth rate factors for these two policies. You should create

a forecast factor set for each policy.

Table 6: Growth factors for state policies

Renewable Portfolio Standard Pavley II Standard

Utility Annual growth rate* Time period Annual

growth rate 2010-2014 2015-2019

Anaheim Public Utilities -0.031 -0.024 2010 - 2014 -.0164

City and County of San Francisco -0.031 -0.024 2015 - 2019 -.0215

City of Palo Alto Public Utilities -0.031 -0.024 2020 – 2024 -.0263

Glendale Water & Power -0.030 -0.031 2025 – 2029 -.0222

Los Angeles Dept of Water & Power -0.024 -0.028 2030 – 2034 -.0143

Pacific Gas & Electric Company -0.045 -0.059 2035 – 2039 -.007

PacifiCorp -0.031 -0.024 2040 - 2044 -.0027

Pasadena Water & Power -0.030 -0.031 2045 - 2049 -.0011

Riverside Public Utilities -0.030 -0.031

Roseville Electric -0.030 -0.031

Sacramento Municipal Utility Dist. -0.037 -0.046

San Diego Gas & Electric -0.058 -0.053

Sierra Pacific Resources -0.031 -0.024

Southern California Edison -0.028 -0.034

Turlock Irrigation District -0.030 -0.031

CA Total -0.034 -0.034

*For 2020 and after, use an annual growth rate of zero for the Renewable Portfolio Standard.

Applying Growth Rate Factors to the Forecast Module

Now that you have created forecast factor sets for growth indicators and for state policies, you are

ready to apply these to create an emissions forecast as shown in Figure 11.

• Step 1: Click on the Forecasts tab.

• Step 2: Click on ‘New Forecast.’

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• Step 3: Give your forecast a name.

• Step 4: Check the ‘Use Start Values from Inventory’ option and select your baseline inventory to

automatically populate the inventory values into your forecast.

• Step 5: Enter the End Year of the forecast you wish to calculate.

• Step 6: Save your new Forecast.

• Step 7: After you save the forecast, you will need to click ‘Edit Records’ to begin applying

growth rates

Figure 12: Selecting forecast growth rates

The forecast module is organized by sectors matching those in the inventory. Within each sector the

fuels that might be used are listed. Apply growth rates to the fuels in each sector as indicated in Tables 4

and 5. A sample entry for the Residential Energy sector is shown in Figure 12. Note that you only need to

enter growth rates for fuels that are actually included in your inventory. You will see that for electricity

you are able to select a carbon intensity factor in addition to a growth rate. This is where you will select

the renewable portfolio standard factor set. Similarly, for transportation forecast records you will find a

place to select carbon intensity factor, which you will use to select the factor set for the Pavley II

Standard.

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Planning

The SEEC ClearPath CA planning module allows you to analyze specific emissions reduction strategies,

and to combine these into different emission reductions scenarios. Steps for creating a planning

scenario are shown in Figure 13.

Figure 13: Steps to create a planning scenario

Set Reduction Goals

Figure 14: Setting Goals

Set reduction goals

• Enter one or more emissions reduction goals

Create reduction strategies

• Research and set up different emissions reduction actions your local government might take

Create scenario

• Combine strategies in different ways to create different scenarios

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To begin a planning scenario, you will need to set one or more goals for emissions reduction in future

years as shown in figure 14. These goals are expressed in the form of a percent reduction from your

baseline year emissions (either community-wide or government operations), to be achieved by a certain

year.

• Step 1: Click on the Planning tab.

• Step 2: Click the ‘Emissions Reduction Goals’ button.

• Step 3: Give your goal a name.

• Step 4: Enter the % Reduction.

• Step 5: Enter the End year.

• Step 6: Save your goal.

Create Reduction Strategies

The planning module provides calculators and information on many different reduction strategies, which

you can view as shown in Figure 15.

• Step 1: Click on the Planning tab.

• Step 2: Click ‘New Reduction Strategy.’

• Step 3: You can browse through the entire list of strategies, or you can narrow the list using the

Filters at right. If you want to filter, follow steps 3a and 3b.

o Step 3a: Click on ‘Deselect All.’

o Step 3b: Check the box for the category(s) you want to look at. You may also apply steps

3a and 3b to ‘Tags.’

• Step 4: Click the name of the strategy calculator you are interested in.

You can look through these strategies as a starting point to decide which measures to include in your

climate action plan. You may also want to gather ideas for reduction strategies from key stakeholders

within and outside your local government, and from the general public. Once you have selected

Figure 15: Viewing reduction strategies

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strategies that you may want to include in your climate action plan, you will need to gather some data

to calculate the emissions reductions. The data needed will depend on the particular strategy.

As an example, let’s look at creating a reduction strategy for ‘Increased Residential Solar Photovoltaic’,

shown in figure 17.

• Step 1: Enter the scope of the initiative. This is essentially how many units of the strategy will be

implemented. In this case it is the kW of solar capacity that will be installed each year1.

• Step 2: Click the Reference Sheet link to help you determine the energy impacts. (Some

calculators have reference sheets; for others you will need to find information about energy

impacts from an outside source).

• Step 3: Read the annual generation per kW installed capacity for your region from the Reference

Sheet.

• Step 4: Enter the Energy Impacts.

• Step 5: Save your strategy (not shown in figure).

You might want to created different versions of a strategy, for example, one for moderate

implementation and another for more aggressive implementation. You can then test the effect of each

in the scenario planner as described below.

Create Scenario

Once you have created several reduction strategies, you can apply them to create a reduction scenario,

as shown in figure 18.

1 In order to determine the level of implementation that makes sense for your community, think about

things like the number of households in your community, the average size (kW) of existing residential

solar PV systems, and the rate at which systems have been installed in recent years, or in other

communities that have created an incentive or promotional program similar to the one you are

considering.

Figure 17: Reduction Strategy Inputs

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Figure 18: Creating a Planning Scenario

• Step 1: Click on ‘New Planning Scenario.’

• Step 2: Give the scenario a name.

• Step 3: Select the forecast you want to work from.

• Step 4: Click ‘Create Planning Scenario.’

• Step 5: Click on ‘Edit Records’ to begin applying reduction strategies to your scenario.

Adding Reduction Strategies to Scenario

Figure 19: Adding a Reduction Strategy

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• Step 1: Click the dropdown labeled ‘Choose a reduction measure,’ which will bring up a list of

the reduction strategies you have created, and select the strategy you want.

• Step 2: Click the ‘Add’ button.

• Step 3: Enter the implementation start year.

• Step 4: Enter the implementation end year. Most strategies are cumulative, meaning the impact

will increase the longer it is implemented.

• Step 5: Check the box for ‘Active.’

• Step 6: Save the scenario.

You will initially see the business as usual forecast; each time you save with additional or changed

planning measures, the forecast will adjust to reflect these. You can quickly show the impact of different

measures by checking or unchecking the ‘Active’ box, then saving. You can also save different scenarios

with different combinations of measures.

Page | 23

Appendix 1: Emissions Factors for Solid Waste and Electricity

Table A1: Default Community Waste Characterization

Waste Component Percentage

Newspaper 1.3

Office Paper 4.9

Corrugated Cardboard 5.2

Magazines/Third Class Mail 5.9

Food Scraps 15.5

Grass 1.9

Leaves 1.9

Branches 3.3

Dimensional Lumber 14.5

Note: Only components that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions are included, thus the

components do not total to 100%.

Source: CalRecycle’s 2008 report table 7: Overall Disposed Waste Stream

Table A2: Default Local Government Waste Characterization

Waste Component Percentage

Newspaper 5.5

Office Paper 9.1

Corrugated Cardboard 5.1

Magazines/Third Class Mail 19.5

Food Scraps 9.8

Grass 8.1

Leaves 8.1

Branches 0

Dimensional Lumber 5.0

Note: Only components that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions are included, thus the

components do not total to 100%.

Source: This factor set is to match the Municipal CACP Waste Profile

http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/WasteChar/BizGrpCp.asp

Page | 24

Table A3: Electricity Emissions Factors

CO2 Emissions Factors by Utility, Years 2000-2010 (lbs/MWh)

2000a 2001

a 2002

a 2003

a 2004

a 2005

a 2006

a 2007

a 2008

a 2009

a,b 2010

b

Anaheim Public

Utilities 1,399.80 1,416.74 1,543.28

City and County of San

Francisco 76.28

City of Palo Alto Public

Utilities 320.94 39.02 426.82

Glendale Water &

Power 1,065.00

Los Angeles

Department of Water

& Power

1,407.44 1,403.39 1,348.48 1,360.07 1,360.60 1,303.58 1,238.52 1,227.89

Modesto Irrigation

District, Retail Power 1,036.17 942.99

Modesto Irrigation

District, Wholesale

Power

2,048.09 2,026.12

Pacific Gas & Electric

Company 566.20 489.16 455.81 635.67 575.38 444.64

PacifiCorp 1,811.00 1,812.22 1,747.30 1,775.28

Pasadena Water &

Power 1,409.65 1,664.14

Riverside Public

Utilities 1,333.45 1,346.15 1,325.65

Roseville Electric 565.52 793.80

Sacramento Municipal

Utility District 769.00 616.07 555.26 714.31 526.47

San Diego Gas &

Electric 613.75 546.46 780.79 806.27 739.05 720.49

Sierra Pacific Resources 1,442.78

Southern California

Edison 678.88 665.72 641.26 630.89

CO2 Emissions Factors by Utility, Years 2011 and After (lbs/MWh)

2011 2012 2013

Pacific Gas & Electric

Company 393 445 427

CH4 and N2O Emissions Factors, Statewide (lbs/GWh)

2000 2001 2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

CH4 29 33 31 31 29 30 31 29

N2O 9 11 10 11 11 11 9 10

Page | 25

Appendix 2: Transportation Emissions Factors

Transportation Factor for CO2/mile from EMFAC

EMFAC is an online emissions database maintained by the California Air Resources Board. The database

contains emissions for on-road vehicles by county and year. You will use this data to calculate an on-

road emissions factor for CO2/mile that can be applied to the vehicle miles traveled for your

community.

Part 1: Locating and retrieve EMFAC emissions from

the County to be applied your community

Step 1.1: Visit EMFAC Emissions Database at

www.arb.ca.gov/emfac

Step 1.2: Data Type: mark Emissions

Step 1.3: Region: County (County your jurisdiction is

in)

Step 1.4: Calendar Year: Select Inventory Year

Step 1.5: Season: Select Annual Average

Step 1.6: Model Year: Aggregated

Step 1.7: Speed: Aggregated

Step 1.8: Fuel: Gas or Diesel

You will want to download a separate CSV file for gasoline and for diesel to help separate your future

SEEC ClearPath transportation entries.

A CSV file will download for the selected County. Repeat to download files for both gasoline and diesel.

Part 2: Data Conditioning of EMFAC CSV File for County Emissions

Step 2.1: Open the CSV File

Step 2.2: Highlight Column D (Vehicle Class), Column I (VMT (miles/day) and Column AK (CO2_RUNEX)

Note: Pavley 1 & LFCS pertains to passenger car and light duty trucks for gasoline and diesel and the

planning module will take into consideration those higher fuel efficiencies

Note: Row Header explanations

- CO2_RUNEX: Emissions from vehicle in motion

Page | 26

- CO2_IDLEX: Emissions from vehicle while idling

- CO2_STREX: Emissions from vehicle ignition

NOTE: At the moment, accounting for idling and start emissions is

not recommended for the CO2 emission factor for VMT data. It is

up to the local government to capture the start and idle emissions

at their own discretion and applicability to their community

inventory.

Step 2.3: Sum column I VMT (miles/day) for all vehicle types by each

individual fuel type: gasoline or diesel

Step 2.4: Sum total column AK - combined CO2_RUNEX, to obtain daily

combined tons CO2.

Step 2.5: Multiply the result by 2000 (lbs in ton) to convert to daily

combined pounds of CO2

Step 2.6: Divide daily combined pounds of CO2 by Total daily County

VMT by to arrive at Pounds Per VMT and then multiply by 453.592 to create CO2 g/mile

You will now have a combined vehicle class Grams of CO2 Per VMT to be applied to your city and/or

county specific VMT breakdown. Repeat to calculate factors for both gasoline and diesel.

Table A4: N2O and CH4 Emission Factors by inventory year (g/mile)

Year N20 CH4 N20 CH4

Gasoline

Passenger Cars Gasoline Light Trucks

2010 0.017 0.020 0.025 0.023

2009 0.020 0.021 0.029 0.025

2008 0.023 0.023 0.034 0.027

2007 0.026 0.025 0.040 0.030

2006 0.030 0.027 0.046 0.034

2005 0.033 0.030 0.053 0.037

2004 0.037 0.033 0.060 0.042

2003 0.041 0.037 0.067 0.047

2002 0.044 0.041 0.074 0.052

2001 0.048 0.045 0.080 0.058

2000 0.051 0.050 0.087 0.064

Diesel Passenger Cars Diesel Light Trucks

All 0.001 0.0005 0.0015 0.001

Gasoline Heavy Trucks Diesel Heavy Trucks

All 0.0134 0.0333 0.0048 0.0051

Step 2.4

Page | 27

Appendix 3: Registering for SEEC ClearPath CA

1. Go to www.californiaseec.org/software-tools, and click on the Account Setup button.

2. Complete the form, being sure to check the box accepting the User License Agreement, and click

‘Submit Query.’