Greenhouse gas balance
COUNTS
Since August 2023, HochNiNa has been coordinating the COUNTS project (standardization, further development and communication of greenhouse gas balances of universities in Lower Saxony). As part of the project, a common greenhouse gas accounting framework is being developed for universities in Lower Saxony that takes into account the specific circumstances and requirements of universities. On this basis, a freely accessible web-based balancing tool will be developed.
Greenhouse gas balance
The balancing of greenhouse gas emissions represents the core of sustainability controlling at the university. This is made possible above all by a balance sheet framework that is as comprehensive as possible. The basis for the balance is the Greenhouse Gas Protocol with consideration of Scope 1-3. The rhythm of the balance is every 2 years. The years 2019/2020 were balanced first, followed by the year 2022. The next balance will be calculated in spring 2025 for the year 2024. The University of Oldenburg follows the dual reporting approach, but focuses on the values taking into account the federal electricity mix.
Greenhouse gas balance 2022
Total emissions
The total emissions of Carl von Ossietzky University in 2022 were 22,888 tCO2 equivalents. This means that emissions have increased by 1,510 tCO2 equivalents compared to the base year 2019. The increase in emissions is due, among other things, to the commissioning of a new combined heat and power plant (CHP) at the Haarentor site in autumn 2021, as this is powered by natural gas. In addition, the emission factor for the federal electricity mix has worsened.
Broken down into the three scopes of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, emissions have developed differently. Due to the new CHP plant, emissions in Scope 1 in particular rose sharply to 10,602 tCO2 equivalents in 2022. At the same time, emissions in Scope 2 fell to 3,903 tCO2 equivalents. In Scope 3, emissions have established themselves at a similar level compared to 2019, at 8,383 tCO2 equivalents.
emissions per capita and per square metre
Due to the constant changes the university is undergoing in its development, the development of per capita emissions and total emissions in relation to the net area are important indicators. Due to the use of a new CHP unit, emissions per capita have also increased despite a slight decrease in university staff and now stand at 1.24 tCO2 equivalents per capita.
Breakdown according to fields of action
The largest share of total emissions is in the area of building energy. Here, a total of 16,898 tCO2 equivalents were produced in 2022, if the federal electricity mix is used. Taking green electricity products into account, this field of action accounted for 12,538 tCO2 equivalents. This area thus accounted for 73.83% of total emissions in 2019. The commissioning of the new CHP unit and the corresponding increase in emissions in this field of action has also increased the significance of this area in the overall balance sheet.
Nevertheless, the field of action of mobility continues to be of great importance. A total of 5,581 tCO2 equivalents were caused by everyday mobility, international mobility and the use of the vehicle fleet.
Compared to the GHG balance 2019/2020, the values in the field of everyday mobility are now based on a comprehensive mobility survey of students and employees, so that the data quality has been significantly improved. Compared to 2019, the values in this field have decreased by 102 tCO2 equivalents. In the field of business travel, emissions have actually fallen by 412 tCO2 equivalents to 700 tCO2 equivalents compared to 2019. However, this is probably mainly still due to the influence of the pandemic, which continued to have a significant impact on 2022. In the area of the vehicle fleet, there was a small GHG reduction of 7 tCO2 equivalents, so that this area accounted for a total of 37 tCO2 equivalents.
System boundaries of balancing 2022
The scope of the GHG balance 2022 comprised the following fields of action:
- Scope 1: Gas procurement, vehicle fleet (without upstream chains; without ships)
- Scope 2: Electricity procurement (taking into account the federal electricity mix)
- Scope 3:
- Upstream chains (building energy & vehicle fleet)
- Mobility (business trips, semester abroad, everyday mobility)
- Procurement (IT, paper)
- Water consumption & waste water
The aim is to further develop and refine the data basis for greenhouse gas balancing in the future so that areas that have not been taken into account so far (e.g. office furniture, overnight stays during business trips, etc.) can also be included in the balance.
At this point, it should be pointed out that so far there is no uniform rule or regulation for universities and colleges, or for educational institutions in general, on the balancing of GHG emissions. When comparing with other universities, differences in the base years, system boundaries and application of accounting standards must therefore be taken into account.
Dual Reporting 2022
For the presentation of emissions in Scope 2, the accounting standard of the GHG Protocol stipulates that emissions be presented according to two different approaches.
On the one hand, the location-based approach applies, according to which the emissions from electricity procurement are to be determined taking into account the federal electricity mix. This is intended to compensate for regional differences in the electricity mix purchased in order to enable better comparability of the figures. In addition, this approach makes it easier to show the effect of efficiency measures in electricity consumption on emissions. According to this approach, the total emissions of the university are 22807 t CO2 eq in 2022.
According to the market-based approach, it can be taken into account that the organisation already purchases green electricity from a green electricity contract. At this point, therefore, the guarantees of origin from the production of renewable energies from third parties can be credited. Through the state of Lower Saxony, the University of Oldenburg is integrated into a framework agreement for green electricity. Accordingly, the emissions in the market-based approach for Scope 2 (=electricity procurement) are to be set at 0 t CO2 eq. The total emissions are then 18,528 t CO2 eq. This increases the share of the other fields of action in the total emissions.
