White Papers and Resources

As a leader in the climate change space, ClearCarbon produces white papers on issues of interest to our industry, our clients, and our peers. We believe it is important to share best practices to foster an environment of learning and improve the quality of carbon measurement, management, and monetization practices. If you are interested in publishing a ClearCarbon white paper or would like to request that we write on a particular topic, please contact:

Renee Morin
Carbon Project Manager
571-527-4191
info@clearcarboninc.com

Below find ClearCarbon's current white papers, presentations, and additional resources.

• How to Calculate a Carbon Footprint A resource for organizations learning how to measure a carbon footprint for the first time. This process is appropriate for submissions to the Wal-Mart Sustainability Index, Carbon Disclosure Project, U.S EPA Climate Leaders, and other carbon registries.
• White Paper: The New Roadmap for Agribusiness

  It is widely acknowledged that production agriculture, such as livestock rearing, crop cultivation, timber production, and ornamental horticulture production, contributes a significant amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An analysis of the National Inventory Reports (NIR) submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as part of the Kyoto Protocol, indicates that greenhouse gas emissions in production agriculture range from 5 to 25 percent in developed countries and from 20 to 35 percent in large developing nations, like Brazil, China, and India. At the same time, production agriculture also offers a number of opportunities for mitigating GHGs…

• White Paper: Phased Inventory Approach

  With changing customer expectations and looming government regulations, companies are increasingly recognizing the social and economic value of conducting a carbon footprint (also known as a corporate GHG inventory). The first step toward a corporate reduction strategy is the creation of a baseline GHG inventory. Creating an entity-wide inventory for all emissions sources for a single base year provides companies with a benchmark against which management can identify and leverage efficiency improvements; evaluate various GHG reduction strategies; accurately measure progress towards sustainability goals; report the corporate carbon position to senior management, shareholders, and voluntary reporting initiatives; and position to protect…

• White Paper: Sample-Based Estimation and Uncertainty Analysis

  When undertaking a corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, the preferred approach is to gather and receive actual activity data (e.g. purchased electricity, purchased natural gas, fleet fuel usage) for all corporate locations and operations. However, many companies, especially those with a significant portion of leased or franchised locations, or other sources of disparate data, view data collection for a full GHG assessment as burdensome, costly and time-consuming. As an alternative, sample-based estimations can be applied on a large scale for companies wishing to conduct a preliminary inventory estimate. ClearCarbon has found that performing sample-based inventory estimates allows our clients to…

• White Paper: Event Footprinting

  The vast majority of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventories are conducted at a corporate level, however there is increasing interest in capturing emissions from areas that fall outside of a corporation’s operational boundaries but are still related to their core business. One broad category of tangential emissions is event emissions. This paper outlines a clear approach to creating a GHG inventory for events, while highlighting challenges and best practices for this specific category of inventories.

  Most companies and organizations host or sponsor occasional events, such as conferences, charity fundraisers, and large working meetings. Other industries, such as sports and entertainment…

• White Paper: CDP Supply Chain Leadership Collaboration (SCLC) Pilot Results and Findings Report

  The Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) Supply Chain Leadership Collaboration (SCLC) is an effort to help companies better understand the climate impacts within their supply chains. Twelve companies (members) participated in a pilot collaboration launched in October 2007 and completed in February 2008. Members distributed surveys to 328 suppliers, requesting information on their climate change initiatives. Forty-four percent of suppliers solicited responded. A particularly noteworthy finding was that, of the 144 responding suppliers, 95 companies submitted information to CDP for the first time. The number of new reporters is evidence of how supply chain initiatives can create excellent penetration into industry for broader disclosure on climate change…

• Glossary of Terms
• Emissions Factor Resources