RESEARCH & IDEAS
Lawrence Lab Plays Role in Setting Emission Targets

Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory recently began taking measurements of regional greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to improve state emission estimates.

Staff scientist Marc Fischer in the lab’s Atmospheric Science Department is working with scientists across the country to conduct an initial study on how to estimate greenhouse gas emission levels by focusing on the greenhouse gases CO2, methane and carbon monoxide.

The project, called the California Greenhouse Gas Emissions Project, is being supported by the Public Interest Energy Research Program of the California Energy Commission.

The Sutro Tower in San Francisco takes one air sample a day, while the tower in Walnut Grove takes 24-hour measurements of the greenhouse gases, said Arlyn Andrews, scientist at the Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. The lab is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“The location of the Sutro Tower was chosen because it would give an indicator of what comes into the Bay Area before it comes across regions of America,” Andrews said.

The administration runs a national laboratory of towers to collect greenhouse gas samples and monitor national emission levels, and is providing tools and analyzing the data gathered by the California towers.

Andrews said the towers across the country are generally spread out, but the two neighboring California locations were chosen to get a better read on the state’s emission levels.

“It provides a higher-resolution picture of the Bay Area and Sacramento Valley,” she said.

Fischer said he plans to eventually have 10 towers across California to build a better state emission model.

“Different towers respond differently to emissions from one place to another place,” he said.

The current research is aimed at looking at ways to effectively measure and quantify emissions.

“What we are doing is basically searching to identify whether atmospheric measurements could be effective in improving on estimating emissions,” said Fischer.

Fischer will use California Air Resources Board estimates as a starting point in calculations and compare them with data collected at the tower sites.

If the two measurements are different, he said the scientists can conclude that either the model is wrong or emissions are different from what was previously thought.

This initial estimate provided by the state agency is the baseline from which progress toward accomplishing the goals outlined in state Assembly Bill 32 is being measured.

The bill requires that the current level of state greenhouse gas emissions be lowered 25 percent by 2020, bringing it even with 1990 levels. By 2050, emissions should be 80 percent lower than 1990 emission levels.

The project will not have a direct role in immediately upcoming policies, Fischer said. However, the model currently being developed in this pilot study can help to keep track of emission levels.

“What the project is attempting to do is show lawmakers the baseline.When you’re looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, you need to see how the strategies you’re putting into work is working,” said Guido Franco of the Public Interest Energy Research Program.

In order for the project to be useful for Assembly Bill 32, Fischer said, the data collection needs to run from now to the bill’s commitment period of 2050.

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