The United States will introduce a federal law covering greenhouse gas tracking in 2010, with the first reports due in early 2011. Many entities are affected including those in the realm of business and government and each must comply or be subject to heavy fines and penalties. Those organizations that use heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems or refrigeration and air-conditioning systems, or those that produce industrial chemicals or manufacture cars and engines are affected.
The US Clean Air Act aims to improve air quality and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Within this aim, the Climate Registry Protocol covers greenhouse gas tracking and outlines the need for mandatory monitoring.
A major part of the greenhouse gas tracking requirement involves a focus on refrigerant gases which are used in refrigeration and cooling systems at numerous facilities. Targets include food processors, grocery stores, hospitals, office buildings, retailers and municipalities. Refrigerant gases include significant levels of carbon in the form of hydrochlorofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and chlorofluorocarbons. These compounds have been regulated under the US Clean Air Act for several years now.
It is known that greenhouse gases absorb and then release radiation into the atmosphere. This process contributes greatly to the global warming effect. Greenhouse gas tracking will unveil the origin of these gases and monitor the discharged amounts. Officials have a significant amount of information, which they will use to measure future usage. Correct data, submitted in a timely fashion, will help to determine if guidelines are effective in lowering the effects of the substances on the Earth’s ozone layer.
Greenhouse gas tracking helps to measure both direct and indirect emissions and to keep extensive records on maintenance, leaks and disposal. Heating and cooling systems and other energy consumptions are defined as producing direct emissions.
The newly formed Obama administration has listed greenhouse gas tracking as a major goal, with the objective of protecting the future of the environment by reducing today’s carbon footprint. If no action were taken, the makeup of the earth would significantly alter with both human life and animal life badly affected across the board.
Greenhouse Gas tracking will become law because it was determined that certain manmade compounds contribute substantially to global warming. The substances are carbon dioxide, chlorine, bromine, nitrous oxide, chloroflurocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons, methane, methyl bromide, methyl chloroform, sulfur hexafluoride, hydroxyl, perfluorocarbobs, halons, carbon tetrachloride, fluorine, and the fluorinated gases hydrofluorinated ethers and nitrogen trifluoride. The mandatory law is aimed at reducing the use of these substances to lower the effects of global warming.
Although Greenhouse Gas tracking was optional, it becomes mandatory in 2010 with the regulation requiring companies and municipalities to submit exact information on how much of the global warming substances they use everyday and if any leaks occurred. The requirements are so extensive that vendors who are knowledgeable in the area have developed software programs and web-based applications to assist companies in complying with the law.
