All Directly Financed Emissions and Select Directly Encouraged Emissions: In addition to the previous boundary, this boundary includes Scope 3 emissions that are encouraged, but not necessarily financed by the University. For instance, a university policy that requires students to study abroad for a certain period of time would indirectly require them to use air transportation, although they might not be reimbursed for the trip.
“All Accountable Emissions” - All Directly Financed or Significantly Encouraged Emissions AND Selected Upstream Emissions: This is the largest potential boundary for reporting campus GHG emissions. In addition to the previous boundary, certain other Scope 3 emissions are also included to help inform decision-makers and further reduce GHG emissions. For example, if a policy to decrease paper consumption was in effect, then the paper category would be included in the inventory to observe the impact of paper reduction policy. Second Nature strongly encourages reporting additional Scope 3 emissions, especially from large and meaningful sources influenced by the institution.
Selection of a study boundary is vital for any GHG Inventory study. Selection of a limited boundary excludes important emissions sources and results in an underestimation of the actual emissions resulting from the institution. On the other hand, developing an inventory for all actual emissions requires significant time and resources – and detailed and/or complete data is often not available in all desired categories. For FY20, there was a 36% increase in Pitt’s GHG emissions by going beyond the most limited reportable boundary (Scope 1 and 2 only) to the most extended reportable boundary (Scopes 1, 2, and 3). Table 24 showcases Pitt’s GHG emissions from each inventoried year. Table 24 – Pitt GHG Emissions for All Inventory Years (MT CO2e)
Scope 3
Category Steam, Produced On-Campus Other On-Campus Stationary Direct Transportation Refrigerants & Chemicals Agriculture Purchased Electricity Steam, Purchased Employee Commuting Student Commuting Directly Financed Air Travel Other Directly Financed Travel Study Abroad Air Travel Solid Waste Wastewater Paper Scope 2 T&D Losses
0 9,200 500 800 0 138,700 55,100 13,600 5,200 24,800 100 0 5,700 1,500 1,600 16,600
FY11 FY14 FY17 22,200 32,981 25,623 5,700 6,386 5,245 700 1,273 1,388 2,300 2,192 1,266 1 2 1 135,500 115,341 105,607 29,400 23,404 17,238 14,700 9,845 12,433 5,500 6,064 5,962 33,600 23,921 24,706 50 211 548 1,100 775 4,578 1,400 1,437 1,522 1,400 136 104 1,500 1,949 2,441 13,400 7,596 5,523
FY19 24,978 7,470 1,992 2,240 1 73,802 16,892 23,293 12,036 36,560 582 8,816 1,454 102 729 4,575
FY20* 29,627 7,102 1,629 789 2 84,753 13,247 15,330 10,318 10,273 1,593 3,489 1,793 107 509 5,509
Totals
Scope Scope 1 (Direct Emissions) Scope 2 (Indirect Emissions)
FY08 FY11 FY14 FY17 10,500 30,901 42,834 33,523 193,800 164,900 138,744 122,845
FY19 36,681 90,694
FY20 39,148 98,000
Scope 1
Scope 2
FY08
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