Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Accounting Certificate Curriculum

Introduces you to the emerging field of GHG emissions accounting and develops the skills needed to identify, verify, and report a corporation’s GHG emissions. Increasingly businesses are recognizing that tracking and managing GHG emissions can result in measurable environmental, social, and economic benefits. You are introduced to the basic skills and techniques needed to generate GHG emissions inventories for entities or corporations, including the requirements for reporting and verifying entity-level direct emissions (e.g., Scope 1) and indirect emissions from purchased electricity (e.g., Scope 2). This is the first course in a series of 4 courses that satisfy the requirements for the Certificate in GHG Accounting.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Identify appropriate energy units for a particular emissions activity and be able to covert between different energy units
  • Derive emission factors for different activity types
  • Identify, extract, and process relevant data for emission inventories
  • Categorize GHG emissions according to their activity type and scope
  • Identify and apply appropriate default emission factors by activity type
  • Understand and apply GHG accounting techniques and standards to quantify entity-level GHG emissions
  • Verify GHG emission inventories reported by others
  • Understand uncertainties and limitations in GHG emission inventories

Builds off the concepts learned in Foundations in Greenhouse Gas Accounting I, and introduces you to more advanced skills and methods needed to produce credible greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventories. Best practices and requirements for GHG inventories are continuing to evolve as the science advances, and as governments enact GHG mitigation policies. This course includes emerging, evolving, and more advanced GHG accounting methods and approaches, including market-based approaches for Scope 2 emissions accounting and estimation approaches when gaps in activity data exist. This course, together with the first course in the series, provides you with the foundation to construct a GHG inventory for most types of corporations and organizations. This is the second course in a series of 4 courses that satisfy the requirements for the Certificate in GHG Accounting.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Describe the history, evolution, and key components of the U.S. electricity grid.
  • Describe the different options that corporations have for procuring renewable energy and the additionality claims that can (or cannot) be attached to each.
  • Explain the difference between traditionally regulated and deregulated electricity markets and the impact these markets have on renewable energy procurement.
  • Describe different market-based approaches for Scope 2 emissions calculations.
  • Identify appropriate activity data and be able to assess the quality of that data.
  • Select appropriate methodologies for calculating emissions based on the purpose of inventory, availability of data, and requirements of reporting program.
  • Apply appropriate estimation methodologies to fill gaps in activity data.
  • Assess the completeness and accuracy of reported activity and emissions data.

Teaches you the methods and skills needed to quantify Scope 3 or value-chain emissions for an organization following globally-accepted standards and frameworks, as well as how to quantify the life-cycle emissions associated with a specific product. You will also learn how to use value-chain emissions to identify the greatest GHG reduction opportunities across a company’s entire value chain. Scope 3 emissions are indirect emissions that occur as a result of activities outside of an organization’s own operations, but often represent its largest source of emissions. Quantifying Scope 3 emissions enables organizations to comprehensively manage their emissions-related risks and opportunities, and provides a more transparent and holistic account of their GHG emissions or impact. Therefore, understanding the sources of Scope 3 emissions can help an organization know where to focus its reduction efforts and is foundational to effective GHG mitigation and management. This is the third course in a series of 4 courses that satisfy the requirements for the Certificate in GHG Accounting.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Explain how a company’s definition of their organizational boundary impacts how emissions are categorized.
  • Describe reporting requirements for value chain or Scope 3 emissions.
  • Select and apply appropriate data for calculating Scope 3 emissions and be able to assess the quality of that data.
  • Identify the different Scope 3 emission categories and their minimum boundaries
  • Select appropriate methodologies for calculating Scope 3 emissions.
  • Apply reported emissions to identify GHG-related risks and prioritize reduction efforts across a company’s or organization’s value chain.

Introduces you to the best practices for designing emission reduction goals, evaluating the business case for GHG mitigation/management projects, and assessing the impacts of GHG projects to ensure they achieving their intended goals. To reduce GHG emissions, corporations and organizations are adopting a variety of climate change and/or GHG mitigation goals. In order to do so, they need to be able to identify and select the most appropriate mitigation projects based on effectiveness, cost, return-on-investment, and other factors. Companies also need to assess and report progress toward their goals in a relevant, complete, transparent, and accurate manner that is consistent with accepted methodologies. Some mitigation goals can be achieved by a combination of emission reductions within the boundary of an organization and through purchased offsets provided via carbon markets. This course introduces you to best practices for GHG emissions management and mitigation, and builds off the foundation developed in the first three courses of the certificate. It is the final course in the Certificate in GHG Accounting.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Apply national and international greenhouse gas inventory standards to identify mitigation opportunities for a corporation or organization.
  • Communicate the advantages and disadvantage of various types of mitigation goals for a given project and/or corporation or organization.
  • Evaluate the potential costs and benefits of mitigation projects, including return on investment and payback period.
  • Calculate allowable emissions in a given or target year based on emission reduction goals.
  • Apply accurate accounting methods to tracking and report progress towards meeting emission reduction goals over time.