GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS - The Sallan Foundation

APPENDIX B – GLOSSARY
Base Year: The year for which the CCP member conducts its emissions inventory. For
New York City, the base year for the Citywide Inventory is 2005. For the Government
Inventory, the base year is Fiscal Year 2006, which began on July 1, 2005 and ended
on June 30, 2006.
Background Year: Years used to determine the trends registered in greenhouse gas
emissions prior to the base year. For the Citywide Inventory, the background years are
1995 and 2000. For the Government Inventory, the background year is Fiscal Year
2001.
Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ): Carbon dioxide is essential to living systems and is released by
animal respiration, decay of organic matter, and fossil fuel burning. It is removed from
the atmosphere by photosynthesis in green plants. The concentration of CO 2 in the
atmosphere has increased by about 30 percent since the burning of coal and oil began
on a large scale.
Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e): CO 2 e is a unit that allows emissions of
greenhouse gases of different strengths to be added together or compared. For carbon
dioxide itself, emissions in tons of CO 2 and tons of CO 2 e are the same thing, whereas
for methane, an example of a stronger greenhouse gas, one ton of methane emissions
has the same potential effect on global climate change as 21 tons of CO 2 . Thus, one ton
of methane emissions can be expressed as 21 tons of CO 2 e. One ton of nitrous oxide
(N 2 O) has the same potential effect on global climate change as 310 tons of CO 2 . 33
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs): Chlorofluorocarbons are carbon compounds that also
contain some chlorine and some fluorine. CFCs do not occur naturally: they are
synthetic products used in various industrial processes and also as propellant gas for
sprays. CFCs are typically used in refrigerants, solvents, foam-makers, and for use in
aerosol sprays. CFCs are significant contributors to ozone depletion and also contribute
to global climate change.
Cities for Climate Protection ® (CCP) Campaign: A campaign of ICLEI – Local
Governments for Sustainability, CCP is a performance-oriented campaign that offers a
framework for local governments to develop a strategic agenda to reduce global climate
change and air pollution emissions, with the benefit of improving community livability.
The over 750 local governments participating in the Campaign represent 15 percent of
global greenhouse gas emissions.
33 Although the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) revised the global warming potential
of methane and nitrous oxide in 2001 with the release of the Third Assessment Report (23 for methane
and 296 for nitrous oxide), international practice is to use the global warming potential for these gases
from the IPCC’s Second Assessment Report (1996). Those values are what are used by countries that
are parties to the Kyoto Protocol and are what current trading mechanisms and registries (e.g. California
Climate Action Registry) are based on.
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