Last reviewed on September 30, 2008.

Greenhouse Gas Protocol Development Activities

The California Air Resources Board is actively working to develop and adopt greenhouse gas (GHG) protocols to support the Climate Change Program.  ARB is working in collaboration with other agencies and organizations, including the California Climate Action Registry, to adopt consistent and standardized methods to accurately report GHG emissions.  Currently, these protocols are for use in voluntary actions to reduce GHGs. (see Feb. 2008 Board meeting)

What's New

Protocols for Local Government Operations, Manure Management Digesters and Urban Forests were adopted by the Air Resources Board on September 25, 2008.

• Download the Staff Report and other meeting materials

Greenhouse Gas Protocols

There are two kinds of GHG protocols. A reporting protocol is a set of common standards and calculation tools for estimating and reporting the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for a facility or entity in a particular sector. A project protocol is a set of standards and specific guidance to define GHG reduction projects, and quantify and report GHG reductions from project activities. GHG protocols are developed by multiple-stakeholder groups.

Completed Protocols

Reporting Protocols

• Forestry Sector - In October 2007, the ARB adopted three protocols for the forestry sector, including a sector protocol, a project protocol, and a certification (verification) protocol.  The Board also asked staff to initiate a process to update the protocols in order to encourage greater participation in forest carbon accounting projects.
• Local Government Operations - Adopted on Sptember 25, 2008.

Project Protocols

• Manure Management Digesters - Adopted on September 25, 2008.
• Urban Forests -Adopted on September 25, 2008.

Protocols Under Development

Protocols currently under development are listed below with the time frame of their anticipated presentation to the Air Resources Board.

Reporting Protocols

• Forestry (update) - 2009
• Natural Gas Transmission and Distribution - 2009 (contact: Byard Mosher)
• Oil and Gas Exploration & Production - 2009 (contact: Byard Mosher)
• Community Scale Inventories - 2009

Other GHG Emission Quantification Methods

All protocols involve GHG emissions quantification methods. During the development of the Mandatory Reporting Regulation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, ARB developed methods for GHG emission estimation and reporting for the following industries. These methodologies were taken through a public review process.

• Utilities and Electric Power Generation;
• Petroleum Refineries;
• Hydrogen Plants;
• Cogeneration Plants (combined heat and power);
• Cement plants;
• General Stationary Combustion Sources;