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( .I"I V OF SOUTH BEND , OFFICE OF THE CLERK
<br /> the ones. There are six (6) main greenhouse gases and the City reports carbon dioxide, methane
<br /> and nitrous oxide. Those are most applicable to municipalities. The other three (3) gases result
<br /> from very specific industrial processes which we, as a City, don't own or control and, for the most
<br /> part, don't have in our community. Some gases do have stronger warming effects than carbon
<br /> dioxide and that is one(1) thing I think is important to understand. So, for example, nitrous oxide
<br /> has a warming potential three hundred (300) times greater than carbon dioxide. So, for every
<br /> molecule of nitrous oxide in the air, it can cause three hundred (300) times more warming than a
<br /> molecule of carbon dioxide. Emissions of each gas are converted to carbon dioxide equivalents so
<br /> that they can be accounted for in the same way. So, that would be like converting multiple
<br /> country's currencies into US dollars, so you can better compare and have a dialogue about it. So,
<br /> we are just focusing on those three(3) gases.
<br /> She continued, So, our operational emissions, we understand the basics of greenhouse gas
<br /> inventories, so how is the City of South Bend contributing to emissions with our day-to-day
<br /> operations. I'll share with you the results of our 2016 operational inventory. The four (4) primary
<br /> sources of greenhouse gases that we identified are stationary combustion of natural gas, which
<br /> includes any gas used in buildings such as space heating and water heating. For example, Venues,
<br /> Parks & Arts just installed these new boilers at the Martin Luther King Center. The second (2n1)
<br /> one(1)is consumption of electricity that can be in buildings and also by our water and waste water
<br /> infrastructure, street lights and traffic signals. Mobile combustion by City vehicles ranging from
<br /> passenger cars all the way to heavy-duty vehicles. Lastly, the treatment of waste water because
<br /> chemical and biological waste water treatment, those processes directly contribute emissions. So,
<br /> they are creating some of those other gases aside from carbon dioxide.
<br /> She went on, So, our total emissions by source is shown in this pie chart(referencing a slide in the
<br /> presentation). Electricity was the greatest. About two thirds (2/3) of our emissions come from our
<br /> electricity use and second(2nd)is mobile combustion from the vehicles that we own. You can also
<br /> look at it not only by source but also by scope if you want to get a feel of that controllability factor.
<br /> So, scope one(1) considers stationary,natural gas in buildings,mobile and waste water treatment.
<br /> Then scope two (2) is solely electricity. So, I think it hard to talk about how much a metric ton of
<br /> carbon dioxide is. Is it tall, short,big,how much does it weigh? It weighs a ton but what does that
<br /> even mean, it's air. So, I think it is helpful to use equivalencies that relate it in terms that we can
<br /> understand. The EPA has an excellent greenhouse gas equivalency calculator which allows you to
<br /> put energy information or emissions information in and get out something that is a little more
<br /> meaningful. So, we look at our City operational emissions in terms of cars driven for one(1) year
<br /> on the road. You can see that our scope one (1) emissions for fuels that we use, as a City, equates
<br /> to about 3,600 extra cars driving around on the road for a year. Then, the electricity we use, in
<br /> emissions terms, accounts for another 5,300 on the road. That is in addition to the actual cars that
<br /> we actually drive on the road.
<br /> She continued, It is also helpful to break down emissions by department, again, because we are
<br /> looking for how we can make an impact. So, I want to point out our top three (3) winners of the
<br /> emissions challenge. Utilities is about twenty-five percent (25%). Public Works and Engineering
<br /> is at about sixteen percent (16%) and that is weird, but I'll explain why. And then the Police
<br /> Department is at about ten percent (10%). You'll notice that most of the administrative functions
<br /> have very low contributions to our overall footprint because we are paper-pushing bureaucrats and
<br /> we don't drive a lot or go out to fires and take care of things like that. So, most of the other
<br /> departments have between five and ten percent (5% - 10%). I want to point out what we thought
<br /> EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY j INNOVATION INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT
<br /> 455 County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221,f574.235.9173 I I D574.235.5567www.southbendin.gov
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