AB0401 Sustainable EnterpriseSem02 Group 09

Adeline Graciani SidikChong Cui XinChong Yu Hui

Chong Ren Jie, IanChua Shu Ling Jolene

CO2 Australia

Content Page Carbon footprints

Stakeholder analysis

Alternatives and evaluation

Critics on CO2 Australia and conclusion

Executive summary

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Carbon FootprintScope Source Total Emission (kg), CO2Scope 1

  

Campus-generated electricity NegligibleDirect Transportation 233,715Other On-Campus Stationary 5,870

 Scope 2 

Purchased Electricity 47,108,012Purchased Heat 9,774,322

Scope 3    

Faculty Commuting 2,624,518Student Commuting 3,942,218Financed Travel 480,034Paper Consumption 142,996Waste 136,590

 Total   64,448,275  Students   32,984Employees   6,612 Total per student (kg)   1581.32Total per employee (kg)   1858.74

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Stakeholder AnalysisStakeholders InterestsNTU management • Environmental friendly reputation,

locally and internationally• Campus sustainability• Viable environmental friendly

recommendations• Provide better facilities and learning

environment to students• Attract more talented students, locally

and internationally

Students • Better learning environment and resources

• Reasonable tuition and administrative fees

• Convenience- travelling to school and around campus

• Reputation of the school

Teaching & administrative staff

• Better staff facilities and benefits

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Stakeholder AnalysisStakeholders InterestsCommunities • Lesser overall carbon footprints

• Healthier and greener environment

Government (National Environment Agency)

• Environmental friendly image for Singapore

• Reduce carbon footprints and promote the efficient use of resources by different industries

• Environmental sustainability in different industries

NTU investors • Capital return on investments• Sustainable growth of NTU,

economically and environmentally

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Alternatives &

Evaluation

1. Energy Initiatives Why evaluate?

Being located in at the equator, Singapore is experiencing summer, with an average high of 30° and low of 24° throughout the year

People often switch on air- conditioners to ease the high temperature

Air- conditioners are also vastly used to cool down data centers

High energy levels are being consumed which leads to high carbon footprints in Singapore

Therefore, there is a need to provide energy initiatives and evaluate them.

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1. Energy Initiatives What and how NTU should do?

Online Metering and Energy Monitoring System Installing of meters for electricity, water and

chilled water around the campus Assign departments to monitor the energy

consumption online to detect energy consumption “hot spots”

Enable NTU to prioritize energy conservation projects to reduce operational costs

Centralized air- conditioning system Maintaining the optimum temperature of 25° all

around NTU Reduces additional energy consumption and

reduces operational (electricity) costs of NTU

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1. Energy Initiatives Reward system for halls with lowest

energy usage Giving higher number of recommendation

quota, increase in limit for Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Games to join Inter-Hall Games for halls with lowest energy usage

Motivates hall residents to play a role in conserving energy to increase their chances of staying in hall

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Advantages Disadvantages

• Enable NTU to reduce operational costs by conserving energy. The costs saved can be put to other uses to benefit the students and NTU

• Involve everyone (both staff and students) in NTU to play a role in reducing energy consumption

• Carbon footprints are reduced through the energy conserved from the efforts of the monitoring departments and hall residents

• Might be expensive to implement with the installation of meters around the campus

• Reward system for halls with lowest energy usage can only motivates hall residents to conserve energy. Others who do not stay in hall might not be motivated to do so

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1. Energy Initiatives

2. Transportation

Why evaluate? Transport sector is the second largest

contributor to the CO2 emission in Singapore after industrial sector

Increase in car ownerships among young university students in NTU

Shuttle bus services available within the whole campus led to increase in CO2 emission

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What should NTU do? Bike-sharing initiatives

Engage with students in Green and Sustainable Technologies Society to come out with feasible proposal

Reward students with NTU green rebates for subsequent purchases of stationaries and textbooks at NTU Yunan Bookstore

Encourage whole NTU community to cycle around the school instead of taking shuttle or public buses and cars

2. Transportation

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What should NTU do? Car-pooling services

Reserved carpool parking spaces throughout the campus for all carpoolers

Set up online community to recruit interested car owners to participate in NTU car pooling program

Engage students in Green and Sustainable Technologies Society to explore phone applications for NTU students to find and book cars at ease

Reward NTU green rebates

2. Transportation

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Advantages Disadvantages

• Reduce reliance on public transportation and private car usage

• Rewarding green rebates will motivate students to take up greener transport alternatives

• Bike-sharing allows students to move around in the campus more conveniently

• Raise the awareness of moving towards green transportation by engaging the whole NTU community

• Students may be reluctant to accept the new alternatives in the short term

• Bike-sharing may exclude students who do not know cycling

2. Transportation

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3. Sustainable Waste Management

What?

Implement extensive and sustainable waste management practices

Why?

Population of 31,392 students and staff lead to high consumption and waste disposal

Increasing dependence on electronic device and their decreasing lifespan means increasing e-waste

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How?

Canteen oil collected and sold to Biofuel companies

High volume consumables (Empty printer/toner cartridges or pens) collected weekly and sent to e-recyclers

Revenue earned can be used to offset logistical and manpower costs

3. Sustainable Waste Management

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Advantages Disadvantages

• Low initial costs of implementation

• Immediate result in real carbon footprint reduction

• Measurable results enable monitoring

• Revenue model increases sustainability of initiatives

• Initial unacceptance of new procedures from vendors

• No effect on actual reduction of waste creation

• Might lead to higher irresponsible consumption due to complacency

3. Sustainable Waste Management

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4. Infrastructure

Why evaluate?• Energy is a key area identified by the

Singapore government that will shape the future of Singaporeans.

• The current electricity needs which rely on oil, gas and coal in many parts of the world will not be met in the future because these reserves will slowly run out.

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What and how NTU should do?

Clean energy practices Upgrading NTU’s infrastructure to reduce the

amount of electricity generated by the campus Centralized air conditioning system

NTU can attach solar panels to the roofs of all bus stops and change their lightings to energy-saving LEDs.

Motion detectors can also be installed to control the lighting consumption based on the utilisation of the bus stop

4. Infrastructure19

What and how NTU should do?

Solar panels and LEDs Solar energy absorbed from these solar panels

will be a source of electricity for the LEDs, thus eliminating electricity required for lighting

The use of LEDs reduces the size of the solar panels and battery bank needed due to its energy-saving feature. LEDs also have 80% longer lifespan as compared to non-LED lights

4. Infrastructure20

What and how NTU should do?

Redesigning Redesign natural spaces such as the Yunnan

Gardens or Nanyang Lake to accommodate more greenery

This would increase the capacity of the carbon sink in NTU and reduce NTU’s net volume of CO2 produced

4. Infrastructure21

Advantages Disadvantages

• Increased cost savings on electricity usage in the long-run

• Carbon dioxide can be absorbed by greenery and released into the atmosphere as oxygen

• Green facilities in line with NTU’s goal to work towards environmental sustainability

• Enhanced reputation as NTU may be awarded Green accreditations

• Initial costs of purchasing solar panels and LED is high

• Planting more greenery is merely a short-run solution. It is a temporary carbon sink as carbon absorbed will be released into the atmosphere when the plant/trees die

4. Infrastructure22

Advantages Disadvantages

• Reduce paper usage and electricity to conduct physical lessons

• Commuting expenses

• Depends on individual habits e.g. continue to print notes, switch on air-conditioning

• May not be beneficial to learning

5. Online Lessons23

Critics on CO2 Australia and Conclusion

Alternative paths towards a carbon-neutral NTU

Purchasing carbon credits from CO2 Australia featured in the case

Assumptions and concerns Carbon sequestration process accredited by the New

South Wales (NSW) Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme (GGAS)→ focus on production and use of electricity→ question arises whether the standards overlook other aspects

Mallee eucalypt plants can survive harsh drought→ in cold and rainy seasons, the survival chances of the plants may be questionable. ( The plant raises the capacity of the soil to retain water. In the case of excessive flood, this may cause the soil to be water-logged and affect the plants’ sustainability.

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Alternative paths towards a carbon-neutral NTU

Carbon sequestration is a relatively new idea→ viability of such carbon-reducing methods is based on research and information e.g. the characteristics of eucalypt plants etc.→ lack of successful track records and real evidence to substantiate the true viability of such a model

Forestry rights up to 100 years only→ Uncertainty as to what would happen after rights has expired. E.g. Clear the forests?

Critics on CO2 Australia and Conclusion

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Critics on CO2 Australia and Conclusion

Alternative paths towards a carbon-neutral NTU

In conclusion, buying carbon credits would not tackle the root cause of inefficient and excessive amounts of carbon emissions. Buying carbon credits only provide easy way out to avoid the carbon cap rather than to seek long-term measures and seek ways to improve carbon efficiency. Further, after the agreement with CO2 is has lapsed, organizations would be back to square one, without increased awareness on carbon reduction methods.

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This presentation analyses the viability of the avenues NTU can take to move towards a carbon neutral future.

All in all, we believe that transforming more classroom lessons to the online platform together with many more alternatives would be more effective than buying carbon credits from CO2 Australia.

The former pushes the university to question and improves its existing activities, while the latter only provides an easy way out without raising the university’s awareness on key environmental issues to become more carbon-neutral. Further, buying carbon credits create dependency on other organization.

Executive Summary27