Greenhouse gas balance 2019/2020
Greenhouse gas balance 2019/2020
The years 2019 and 2020 were recorded together in the university's first greenhouse gas balance sheet. The year 2019 was defined as the base year for the Climate Action Concept, which is used to measure the progress of climate protection efforts.
Methodology and system limits
The following areas were taken into account when calculating greenhouse gas emissions:
- Scope 1: Gas procurement, vehicle fleet (without upstream chains)
- Scope 2: Electricity procurement (taking into account the federal electricity mix)
- Scope 3:
- Upstream chains (building energy & vehicle fleet)
- Mobility (business trips, semesters abroad, everyday mobility*)
- Procurement (IT, paper)
- University catering (meat & fats)
- 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 not previously taken into account (e.g. office furniture, overnight stays on business trips, etc.) can also be included in the balance sheet.
At this point, it should be noted that there is currently no standardised rule or regulation for universities and colleges, or for educational institutions in general, regarding the accounting of GHG emissions. Differences in the base years, system boundaries and application of the accounting standards must therefore be taken into account when comparing with other universities.
* The data basis for the field of action of everyday mobility involves very rough extrapolations. The data quality in this area will be improved for the update of the balance sheet.
Total emissions 2019/ 2020
The total emissions of Carl von Ossietzky University in 2019 amounted to 21,378 tonnes of CO2-equivalents. The effects of the coronavirus pandemic had a strong reducing effect on the university's emissions, resulting in a total of 14,528 tonnes of CO2-equivalents for 2020. The federal electricity mix was taken into account in these values to enable better comparability with other surveys.
Development of emissions according to Scope 1 to 3
Broken down into the three scopes of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (Scope 1-3), it is particularly clear how crucial the inclusion of emissions from Scope 3 is for the overall balance. A total of 4,667 tonnes of CO2-equivalents were generated in Scope 1 in 2019 and 5,491 tonnes in 2020. Taking into account the federal electricity mix, Scope 2 accounted for 7,778 tonnes of CO2-equivalents in 2019 and 4,843 tonnes of CO2-equivalents in 2020. In Scope 3, 8,934 tonnes of CO2-equivalents were recorded for 2019 and 4,194 tonnes of CO2-equivalents for 2020. These values take into account the federal electricity mix.
The increase in Scope 1 emissions is due to the commissioning of the natural gas-fuelled combined heat and power plant at the Wechloy site. At the same time, the emissions in Scope 2 for electricity procurement were reduced. The sharp reduction in Scope 3 emissions is due to the marked decline in mobility as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Breakdown by fields of action
Building energy accounts for the largest share of total emissions. In 2019, a total of 14,430 tonnes of CO2-equivalents were produced here, in 2020 it was 12,318 tonnes of CO2-equivalents, if the federal electricity mix is used. This sector therefore accounted for 67.5% of total emissions in 2019 and as much as 84.78% in 2020. As a result, climate protection measures in this area are particularly important for achieving climate neutrality.
The GHG balance sheet also shows the importance of the mobility field of action. In 2019, this area accounted for 28.68% of total emissions (4,528 tonnes of CO2-equivalents for everyday mobility, 1,603 tonnes of CO2-equivalents for international mobility and vehicle fleet). Due to the pandemic, the share of this area fell to 11.76% in 2020 (1,129 tonnes of CO2-equivalents from everyday mobility, 580 tonnes of CO2-equivalents from international mobility and vehicle fleet).
Note: The values for the area of everyday mobility are based on very imprecise extrapolations. In addition, the area of university catering will no longer be included in future balances.
The emissions in the area of procurement and university catering are relatively small. Procurement accounted for 348 tonnes of CO2-equivalents in 2019 and a total of 304 tonnes of CO2-equivalents in 2020. This means that this area accounted for 1.63% of total emissions in 2019 and 2.09% in 2020. 469 tonnes of CO2-equivalents were generated in university catering in 2019 and 198 tonnes of CO2-equivalents in 2020. This means that the canteen's share of emissions fell from 2.19% in 2019 to 1.36% in 2020. This reduction is also due to the pandemic period and the associated closure of university catering and restricted campus operations.
Dual reporting 2019/ 2020
The accounting standard of the GHG Protocol stipulates that emissions in Scope 2 must be presented according to two different approaches.
On the one hand, the localised 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 equalise the regional differences in the electricity mix purchased in order to enable better comparability of the figures. This approach also makes it easier to visualise the effect of efficiency measures in electricity consumption on emissions. According to this approach, the university's total emissions were 21,378 tonnes of CO2-equivalents in 2019 and 14,528 tonnes of CO2-equivalents in 2020.
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, the guarantees of origin from the production of renewable energy from third parties can therefore be taken into account. The University of Oldenburg is integrated into a framework agreement for green electricity via the state of Lower Saxony. Accordingly, the emissions in the market-based approach for Scope 2 (= electricity procurement) are to be set at 0 tonnes of CO2-equivalents. The total emissions are then 12,838 tonnes of CO2-equivalents in 2019 and 9,054 tonnes of CO2-equivalents in 2020. This increases the share of the other fields of action in the total emissions.