Using the Energy and Climate Registry for carbon management in China

Abstract

With the pressure of energy shortage rising and climate change looming as an imminent disaster, it is up to individual corporate entities to set the pace for climate change action. A good action plan relies heavily on climate knowledge and basis quantification. After the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009, the quantification of greenhouse gases (GHG) emission became the key issue in climate change-mitigation strategy, and was an especially key issue in the negotiations between China and the USA. This report addresses the issue of GHG quantification by demonstrating the potential effectiveness of the Energy and Climate Registry (ECR) that was launched in 2009 in China to help entities input, calculate, analyze, third-party verify and report the energy consumption and GHG emission in China. The ECR is an adaptation of the North American Climate Registry based in Los Angeles, USA. The system will play a pilot role for entities and allow them to measure energy consumption and GHG emissions in an accurate, consistent and verifiable way. This is the first step towards better energy management and the reduction of GHG emissions. © 2010 Future Science Ltd.