WHAT IS A GREENHOUSE GAS INVENTORY?
HOW DOES IT HELP?
It provides an overall measurement of Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHGs), and contributing elements.
"It’s like weighing yourself before starting a weight loss program — you can’t improve what you can’t measure..."
It helps to find the "low-hanging fruit" — and focus reduction efforts on biggest impacts, best ways to apply scarce resources cost-effectively.
Two inventories have been developed:
- Municipal Inventory Report
- city owned and operated assets, e.g., city buildings and vehicles
- baseline year 2005
- Los Altos Municipal GHG Report by ICLEI, September 2009
- Community Inventory Report
- all residential and business-related activity
- baseline year 2005
- Report developed by Los Altos Environmental Commission, April 2010