What Does It Mean to Be “Carbon Neutral”?

What Does It Mean to Be “Carbon Neutral”?

In our first article on carbon neutrality, we covered the basics of how emissions from human activity (like energy, manufacturing, and transportation) have increased the levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, warming the planet and causing social, economic, and environmental impacts.

Now that we understand the problem we’re trying to address at Avangrid with our goal to achieve carbon neutrality in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030, let’s learn about solutions!

The Solutions

So how can companies help solve the problem of too much CO₂ in the atmosphere? Solutions generally fall into 3 high level categories:

1. Reducing or avoiding emissions so there is less CO₂ in the first place;
2. Purchasing “offsets”, which fund and create demand for more emissions-free projects;
3. Capturing and permanently storing CO₂ so it doesn’t get into the atmosphere at all.

At Avangrid, we’re focused primarily on initiatives in category #1 (reducing or avoiding emissions). Not only because it’s best practice to do so, but because the positive impact of #2 varies by region, and the technology involved in #3 is new, costly, and not as practical for us as other options (however it is something we will continue to evaluate as technology advances).

How Can Companies Reduce and Avoid Emissions?

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a common emission from day-to-day activities – such as producing electricity and heat, manufacturing the things we buy, and transportation using fossil fuels.

So, some of the biggest areas of opportunity for organizations to reduce or avoid CO₂ and other greenhouse gas emissions throughout their operations include:

1. Energy – increasing deployment of renewable energy, mitigating methane and other greenhouse gas leaks, minimizing fossil fueled sources, improving customers’ energy efficiency, and increasing electrification;
2. Transportation – increasing use of electric, hybrid, and alternatively-fueled vehicles;
3. Manufacturing – sourcing responsibly, operating efficiently, and using renewable power.

Companies and organizations can also invest in research and partnerships to accelerate emissions technology solutions and review their third-party supply chains for opportunities to engage suppliers in reducing their own emissions.

But How Do You Measure Emissions?

This is important, because our 2030 carbon neutrality goal is specific to 2 out of the 3 categories of emissions – Scope 1 and Scope 2.

A company’s greenhouse gas emissions are broken into 3 categories aimed at capturing all emissions that are part of a company’s own operations AND its value chain (like customer and supplier emissions).

Scope 1 emissions come directly from sources we own or control. For example – emissions from our Klamath gas-fired cogeneration plant, as well as fleet vehicles, and natural gas operations. Scope 2 emissions relate to energy we purchase from another entity for our every operations – for example, electricity use in our buildings and facilities, and network losses. Scope 3 emissions are those from a broad range of activities in our value chain – for example, emissions from goods and materials that we buy, employee business travel and commuting, energy we purchase for customer use, and leased assets.

Our 2030 carbon neutrality goal is specific to Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. You can see Avangrid’s overall greenhouse gas emissions levels in our 2023 Sustainability Report, which we make public annually and which houses a wealth of information and data about the sustainability of our operations (check out page 85 for detailed data on our emissions!). The methodology for reporting on greenhouse gas emissions (the “GhG Protocol”) is highly complex, especially as technologies change. At Avangrid, a variety of business and corporate experts work together to report on our emissions – including the Environmental, Health & Safety team, Electric & Gas Operations, Renewables Field Operations, Internal Audit, and more.

Now that we understand the problem we’re trying to solve (a warming planet) and what the root cause is (greenhouse gas emissions – especially carbon dioxide – from human activities like transportation, energy, and manufacturing), and we understand the solutions (reduce, avoid, offset or store), we can better understand how Avangrid’s own initiatives are driving progress.

In our final article on Emissions (Part 3), we’ll look at a variety of initiatives driving progress across Avangrid’s operating companies and regions to reduce emissions.