Project 2° Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Project 2°?

Project 2° is a set of practical tools and services to enable cities around the world to measure, compare and reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The project’s Web-based Emissions Tracker software enables cities to calculate the carbon footprint of both municipal operations and the communities they service in a uniform way. Additionally, the tool enables cities to plan meaningful actions that save energy and money, and that makes a profound impact in the fight against climate change.

The project is a key component of the Clinton Climate Initiative’s diverse efforts to ensure that cities around the world have the products, services and tools they need to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Project 2° is a collaboration between CCI, Microsoft, and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. Additional expertise has been provided by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) and Ascentium Corporation.

2. Who can use Project 2°?

Project 2° has been specifically designed for cities, though access may be granted to other kinds of users at a later date. The Emissions Tracker software will initially be made available to the C40 member and affiliate cities and ICLEI cities by invitation. If you are interested in using the Emissions Tracker software, please contact us at admin@project2degrees.org.

3. What is the Emissions Tracker software designed to do?

Emissions Tracker is a greenhouse gas accounting and management system. It supports full cycle Climate Action Planning, including creating and tracking emission inventories and reduction activities, and setting and monitoring progress towards reduction goals. It accepts GHG data directly or takes your available data on energy use, waste generations, transportation, etc., and converts that into GHG emissions using calculators powered with International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) algorithms and formulas.

4. What is Climate Action Planning?

Emissions Tracker is designed to support Climate Action Planning. This is the process a city uses to understand and then reduce GHG emissions. It typically includes creating a baseline emissions inventory for a particular year and forecasting emissions growth presuming no action would be taken. Local governments then set a goal to reduce emissions to below the baseline level and then develop a plan with quantifiable actions to meet its goals. See the Project 2° Administrators and Users Guidance Manual for more information about this.

5. How can my city get an account, or cancel an account?

The Project 2° team is currently designing a system to facilitate access to cities around the world. Initially, it will be available to invited users of the C40 and ICLEI networks. Contact either of these networks to express your interest in joining.

6. How much does access to Emissions Tracker cost my city?

A license to use the software is free to invited city and local governments.

7. What are the system requirements needed to run the software?

Emissions Tracker is a fully internet-based web application. There is nothing to download. The application runs on Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari. You should use the most updated version of your browser as possible. Adobe Flash Player is also recommended for some features.

Project 2 Degrees uses a very secure login process. Unfortunately, some organizational firewalls and IT settings block the authentication needed for the site. If you experience difficulty logging into Emissions Tracker, we suggest you ask your IT department for assistance.

8. Where does my data reside and who will have access to a city’s data?

All data input into Emissions Tracker resides on servers hosted in various facilities around the world. Emissions Tracker is designed to promote user control of data. By default, no local government data is shared, and cities can specify what data, if any, shall be published to the Two Degrees public web site or to organizations affiliated with the city (like C40 or ICLEI). The decision to make any data available always rests with the city.

9. If I am using existing software to manage GHGs, should I consider using Emissions Tracker?

Using the Project 2° toolset allows cities to share and compare actions against climate change. You should carefully evaluate Emissions Tracker and your existing software to determine which one or what combination is appropriate for your situation. You may use Emissions Tracker as your core GHG and data accounting framework, or you may manage data in an existing system and use Emissions Tracker for network reporting and sharing.

10. How does Emissions Tracker compute emissions?

The Project 2° Emissions Tracker is designed to measure as many municipal and corporate activities as possible. Users enter data on emission producing activities such as fuel and electricity consumption, vehicle traffic, waste production, industrial processes and air and sea vessel fuel use. The software then converts the data into greenhouse gases, including tons of CO2 equivalent, taking into consideration the source and type of activity. Algorithms in the calculators are consistent with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s “2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.” Fuel mix per region is pre-loaded into the calculators and will be updated yearly. Users can customize the data and coefficients for the calculations if new local information becomes available. Data is managed in a private and secure environment that allows administrators to choose what data to publish and share with other users.

11. Does Project 2° Emissions Tracker adhere to accepted GHG accounting protocol?

Project 2° is designed to be protocol and regime neutral. Algorithms in the calculators are consistent with IPCC’s “2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.” Users can modify and use the data for multiple purposes, such as participation in voluntary or regulatory emission reduction programs. Users can also structure their data in order to follow any accounting protocol, such as ICLEI’s International Local Government GHG Emissions Analysis Protocol, the World Resources Institute GHG Protocol Standard, or ISO 14064.

12. What services are available to me when using the software?

Emissions Tracker provides online help files and these FAQs. Under the Resources tab, a GHG Accounting manual, the ICLEI Protocol for Local Governments, expert contacts and Best Practice case studies are all available for reference. A global helpline can be accessed at help@project2degrees.org. In C40 cities, local CCI City Directors are available to answer questions, provide training and strategy. Additional support, such as in-person training and climate planning strategy support, may be offered by ICLEI. Please contact these organizations for more information.

13. Can consultants use Emissions Tracker?

Yes. Consultants can use Emissions Tracker when hired by cities to help perform inventories and prepare climate action plans. Emissions Tracker is designed to allow cities to grant access and assign some management privileges to third parties such as consultants. Cities may require consultants to report all work through the Emissions Tracker system.

14. How can my data be verified when using Emissions Tracker? Does Emissions Tracker verify data?

No. Emissions Tracker is an accounting system, and Project 2° staff will not attempt to verify the data entered by cities. We recommend, though do not require, that data be third-party verified before entering the system, as this is good practice, and some programs or regulations may require it in the future. Cities can easily grant access to their Emissions Tracker account to a verifier of their choosing, and the software readily tracks which data has been verified.

15. Can I work with other cities using Project 2°?

Yes. Project 2° is not just a set of tools but is also a network of cities using the tools. We encourage cities to share information.

16. Where will Project 2° be available?

It is a global project and will be released in as many countries as possible, pending support and capacity. Initially it will be available in all countries that have participants in the C40 network.

17. What languages will Project 2° support?

Although the initial Emissions Tracker launch will be in English, Project 2° is multi-lingual and will soon support the six UN languages – French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Chinese and Portuguese. In the future more languages may be added based on demand.

18. How is this different from Zero Footprint or other carbon calculators?

Emissions Tracker is more than a calculator. It’s an online GHG accounting system that supports climate action planning and the production of robust GHG inventories for both local government operations and communities as well as the ability to track emission reduction projects. It’s designed for long term use by cities as a data repository for all of their climate change activities. Typical carbon calculators, such as a footprint calculator, produce a single snapshot of emissions based on a fixed parameters embedded in the footprint tool. Emissions Tracker includes a suite of fully configurable GHG calculators so cities can compute emissions based on local conditions.

19. Who do I contact if I have a problem?

Help is available within the Emissions Tracker site, simply click “?” or “Help”. If you need to speak with someone, you can contact your CCI City Director or ICLEI contact via email. For general enquires you may contact us at help@project2degrees.org. We recommend that you always try to resolve your issues with your local CCI or ICLEI contact prior to reaching out to the global help line.

20. Do I need to be an expert in GHG accounting or computers to use the Emissions Tracker?

No. Emissions Tracker has been designed to be user friendly and to help guide you through the processes necessary. However, it is helpful to be familiar with GHG accounting terms and protocols. Please refer to the Glossary, ICLEI’s Local Government Protocol and the Administrators and Users Guidance Manual before getting started.

21. Can I import data from other software programs?

Yes. Emissions Tracker allows cities to import emissions data as XML, a general purpose markup language that helps information systems share structured data over the Internet. The site also includes a spreadsheet which the user can use to copy data from their other spreadsheets. When finished, the data can be imported into the Emissions Tracker software.

22. Does the software take into account my local conditions?

Yes. Regional coefficients and their references can be viewed in the Administration section of Emissions Tracker. Each value is linked to a citation.

23. There is no local data for my city, only national data. How did you estimate this data?

The default coefficients in Emissions Tracker have been collected on a country-by-country basis from IPCC guidelines, UNFCC national reporting documents, and national environmental and energy agencies. Coefficients and their references can be viewed in the Administration section of Emissions Tracker. Users with Administrator access may override coefficient values for their city.

24. How do I change the pre-loaded data?

Default country-level data used to calculate emissions is pre-loaded for all users of Emissions Tracker. Sometimes this information may need to be changed –because better local data is available, or because science has changed, etc. Cities that want to change this default data should reference the Emissions Tracker help documentation for details on how to do this.

25. How exactly do the calculators work?

Users enter data on emission producing activities such as fuel and electricity consumption, vehicle distance traveled, and waste production. The software then converts the data into greenhouse gases, including tons of CO2 equivalent, taking into consideration the source and type of activity. In order to apply the proper coefficients and complete a calculation, the Emissions Tracker calculators often require users to select certain parameters, such as climate type for waste or vehicle type for transport.

Detailed descriptions of each calculator and its parameters can be found in the Help documentation for Project 2 Degrees. Algorithms in the calculators are consistent with IPCC’s “2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.”

26. This is the first time my city has considered GHG emissions. Where should I start?

Congratulations on starting your efforts to reduce GHG emissions. Using Emissions Tracker is just one resource available to support your climate planning efforts. Support is available through both the ICLEI and the C40, as both are active networks supporting cities and local governments with climate planning.

27. How much time should I set aside to collect the data necessary to use the software?

Using Emissions Tracker is a long term commitment if you are using it to support tracking of your emissions over time. Typically, start up will require the most time as you build your initial baseline emissions inventory. There is no exact formula for this as it depends on how much detail you’d like to enter in your inventory. For those that have no emission inventory in hand, from experience this process takes from a few months to a year depending upon how much stakeholder input your city requires as part of the process.

28. I just want to do scenario planning. How can I skip the inventory piece?

Scenario planning requires a baseline inventory as a basis of comparison, but that baseline inventory could just be a simple estimate of emissions by sector. This can be done by creating a single emissions record in each sector using the Direct Entry calculator.

29. The information my city has is very general. Where should I go to find more detailed info?

If you require more detailed information than what is readily available, you will have to reach out to outside sources for help. Gathering data is a research exercise and many people hold parts of the data you need. For government data you will require the cooperation of city employees and the local utilities. It is always helpful to have the Mayor or City Council instruct its employees to cooperate with the research exercise through a memo. For community data this can be trickier. You should always reach out to energy providers, regional transit agencies, waste management companies/authorities and other entities that might manage data at a higher level. You might also reach out to a local university (such as its civil engineering department) and enquire if they have local traffic data. Once again, when reaching out to local data sources it is always wise to be able to present a letter or some other documentation that this is an official city activity and their support is requested.

30. What are Scopes? I am not confident that I am choosing the right scope for every emission source. Is there a complete list I can refer to?

Scopes are a concept for GHG accounting. Review ICLEI’s Local Government Protocol and the Users and Administrators Guidance Manual Section 5.4, and refer to Appendix E of the Emissions Tracker help document. The Emissions Tracker user interface contains scope definitions to help users select the appropriate scope for emissions records.

31. I have made a mistake in my inventory. How do I change it?

As long as an inventory audit is not in progress, any users with a Contributor or Administrator role may edit or delete any inventory record in a sector that the user has been granted access to. In addition, GHG producing activities can be added to or removed from any record. Refer to the Emissions Tracker help documentation for instructions on how to make such changes.

32. Why can’t I log in at project2degrees.org?

There are several common solutions to this problem listed below. If none of these solutions apply contact Technical Support.

A) Has your city requested an account? Each invited city must email admin@project2degrees.org with the name and email address of the appointed administrator for their 2 Degrees account. We will create the account and send a login name and temporary password. Once the city's account administrator has logged in they can add other users to the city's account in the Administration section of 2 Degrees.

B) Are you logging in with a log in name that looks like SND\loginname? Some users are having trouble because they leave off that SND\ prefix to their log in name. We are updating the site to make sure that is very clear, but in the meantime, this may be the solution to a log in problem.

C) Has your temporary password expired? When a city administrator adds a user to their account, a temporary password is created for that user. This password is valid for 3 days. If that password has expired, the city administrator needs to re-issue the invitation.

D) Are you remembering your password correctly? If a user has forgotten his or her password, a city administrator can issue a new temporary password. If the administrator has forgotten his or her password, he or she should contact Technical Support.

E) Is your organization’s technical setup blocking the login process? Project 2 Degrees uses a very secure login process. Unfortunately, some organizational firewalls and IT settings block the authentication needed for the site, so if you are having trouble logging into Emissions Tracker with a valid login name and password we suggest you ask your IT department for assistance. An easy test for this problem is to attempt to access the application from another location (such as from home). If your IT department cannot solve your login problem, please contact Technical Support and let us know as many details as possible, such as the version of operating system and browser you are using on your computer, what exactly you are seeing on your screen, whether you have experienced this on other websites, and any 3rd party software you use for security or password storage.

33. How can I speed up the website?

Because of the complicated calculations and reports that go into the website, some of the pages are slow to load. We have identified this as a priority and are working to increase performance. In the meantime, you should make sure that you are not running other programs that are uploading or downloading lots of data while you use the Emissions Tracker.

34. How can I delete an inventory?

At this time, you can delete the records within an inventory but not an entire inventory at once. If that is not a workable solution for you, please let us know at help@project2degrees.org.

35. Why are there inventory years on the Overview page that I haven't created?

The Overview page shows both your inventories and your measures. If you have measures that span from 2007-2010 all of those years will show up in the table.

36. Why can't I enter a negative number in my inventory?

We did not enable negative entries as most emissions inventory methodologies do not recommend using negative values in inventories. Often offset purchases, etc. are notes or information items. If you need to enter negative numbers as part of your inventory it would be helpful to know the circumstance that causes you to have a negative value for your emissions.

37. Why can't I enter CO2e?

CO2e for direct entry has not been enabled to preserve your reporting options. With CO2e entry, you could never report by gas. Also, the software wouldn’t know which Global Warming Potentials were used to calculate that CO2e. That said, we want the software to be useful to you. If you want to be able to do this, please let us know if there specific cases where you would use a CO2e direct entry option, or if it is something you would always want available.

38. Why can't I delete notes?

The notes history was originally intended to be preserved as an audit trail of the activity on an inventory record. Several cities have told us that they would like the ability to delete notes, so this is being considered for a future release.

39. Are the savings for measures meant to be annual savings or savings over the life of the project?

Measures should be recorded as annual savings in Emissions Tracker. We are developing a feature that allows you to record variable annual savings, but right now you can record a flat annual value that is the same for each year of the project.

40. If I choose to make my inventory public, what will it look like?

The public inventory report is a simple total of your emissions by scope for community and government inventories. The public report of the action plan is more interactive and allows the public to filter the emissions by scope and sector.

41. I put a link in my public profile, but project2degrees.org got added to the URL so it doesn't work. How do I fix this?

Today when you paste an internet address into your public profile, you need to paste the entire URL including any prefix like "http://" (for example, http://www.microsoft.com).

42. How do I use the XML export in excel?

We are creating a friendlier Excel export of inventory data. In the meantime, the way the current export works best is to export and save to your computer. Open Excel. Click “File”, “Open”. Pick your export file. Excel will ask you how you want to open it. Pick “As an XML list”. If you get another message saying the file does not refer to a schema just click “OK”. Then you should see all of your data as well as a few codes in columns like “RecordID” that the software uses to identify records.

43. Why did my screen freeze? Why did I get an error message?

We have tested the software extensively, but it is possible you have encountered a bug we haven't yet found. The more information you can give us about the issue the better. We’d like to get to the bottom of these types of errors. The type of details that would help us diagnose this are the version of operating system and browser you are using on your computer; the exact task you were doing (e.g. typing an electricity use value, choosing a scope, etc.); and whether there was some specific circumstance that may have been involved (like you had multiple tabs open to the same record in your browser, or you walked away from your computer for a while). Please send all bug reports to help@project2degrees.org.

44. What is the difference between an inventory and a forecast?

An inventory is meant to be an accounting of real emissions. As such, inventories are done for previous years. Forecasts are projections of emissions that are likely to occur in the future. For example, the business as usual forecast in the Action Plan part of Emissions Tracker is meant to be a projection of future year emissions if no action is taken to address climate change.

45. When calculating stationary combustion emissions, such as those from Natural Gas use, there is a selection for "Activity Area". What does that mean?

Activity Areas help select the CH4 and N2O emissions factors.

While CO2 Emissions Factors are generally directly related to the quantity and carbon content of the fuel burned, CH4 and N2O emissions vary with the technology used to burn the fuel. The default CH4 and N2O coefficients in the application for stationary combustion are average emissions factors for each fuel based on the technologies commonly used in each activity area. The Energy Industry CH4 value may be lower than the Residential value, because the average power plant is much more efficient and has more controls on it than the average home furnace. Different data sources use different activity areas, so you may encounter that in the application the software just shows whichever activity areas were in the source data.

46. Does the solid waste calculation in the Emissions Tracker account for the life cycle emissions of materials?

The solid waste calculator in the Emissions Tracker uses the IPCC first order decay model and calculates the estimated annual direct emissions from waste disposal sites. This is just the CH4 and N2O emitted at the sites as the waste decomposes, net of any flaring or methane capture. Other waste models, such one from US EPA and in the ICLEI CACPS software calculate the lifecycle emissions of waste, rather than just the emissions of the landfill. Therefore, a city who uses both the CACPS software and 2 Degrees might find very different results for waste. The method in the 2 Degrees Emissions Tracker is recommended by IPCC and the ICLEI International Protocol. More information about the solid waste calculations in the Emissions Tracker can be found in the help file on the site.

47. Why are the CH4 and N2O coefficients for U.S. vehicles different in the Emissions Tracker than they are in the Local Government Operations Protocol?

In terms of CH4 and N2O, the LGO Protocol lists emissions factors by vehicle Model Year–so that you can calculate emissions from a fleet of 2005 Toyota Priuses, for example. Project 2 Degrees uses a weighted average emission factor for all vehicles on the road in a given year. Thus, when you are calculating emissions for passenger cars for a 2005 inventory in Project 2 Degrees, the emission factor used assumes some of those passenger cars are model year 2005, some are 2004, etc. In the U.S., both numbers come from USEPA--they are just different numbers. We haven't implemented the model year calculation in Project 2 Degrees. We'd be interested to know if that is something your city needs.

48. How do I select the language the site is displayed in?

The language is displayed based on the settings in the user's web browser. To see the site in a different language in Internet Explorer or Firefox, change your browser settings. In Safari on a Mac, you need to change the language settings of your operating system.

49. If I want to report data in more than one language, such as a French and English, how do I do that?

If you want to use two languages, you should enter information like record names in both languages in the same field. So, for example a Canadian that needs to use both French and English could call a record "Gaz Naturel / Natural Gas" or "Autobus / Bus". That way whenever the record name is shown it is shown in both languages.

The fixed text of the site (Sector names like Energy Use and greenhouse gas names like CO2, etc.) is fully translatable. The language that the site displays is determined by a user's internet browser settings, so if an English speaking user were looking a the Tokyo account, they would see all of the site text, other than the user-entered fields like record names and notes, in English.

50. Is there a way to enter all of the data on one screen instead of going through multiple screens?

You can use the import tool to bulk import data from an Excel spreadsheet. On the website, the wizard guides you through the selection of an appropriate calculator with the correct default coefficients. If you select "Stationary Fuel Combustion" as you are entering data, you will get different choices for calculation tools than if you select "Electricity, Steam, and District Energy Consumption."

51. How secure is my emissions data?

In order to ensure that information security is properly managed and maintained, Microsoft has chosen to measure its Online Services’ Information Security Program against the ISO/IEC 27001:2005 Standard’s rigorous requirements. This internationally recognized Standard provides a framework within which the range of threats relevant to information security are identified and effectively managed. Through the British Standards Institute (BSI) - the entity which developed the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) standard - Microsoft has achieved certification that it operates in accordance with the ISO 27001 Standard.

*For partners not satisfied with the publicly available conformation of certification (see references below), GFS may share the BSI assessment report with the following caveats:

• The Online Services Security & Compliance (OSSC) Policy & Governance (P&G) team owns and maintains the ISO 27001 assessment reports.
• Only the OSSC P&G team will distribute the assessment report to partners who are determined to have legitimate needs.
• Partners requesting the assessment report must be under NDA with Microsoft Corporation before the document can be shared.

References:
BSI Press Release
Certificates for ISO Certification via the BSI website