03 Jul How will Austin get to Zero GHG emissions by 2050? Meet the committee trying to figure it out.

Austin's Community Climate Steering Committee is officially in business. This group of 15 environmental thought-leaders gathered for the first time last Friday, setting the tone for all of the work they will be getting done in the coming months.

Here’s what they did at their meeting: 

1. Proposed a draft charter statement, listing the committee's goals and purpose. It stated that the goal of the committee is to provide leadership and guidance from the Austin community, in order to steer the delivery of City Council's plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. 

The draft charter statement also said: 

• the committee process should be open and transparent and represent the interests of the broad Austin community
• the final plan developed by the committee should be realistic, while positioning Austin as a leader and be supported by the community and City Council
• the committee process must allow the City of Austin to be successful in implementing and completing the plan, while realizing the benefits of deep greenhouse gas emissions reductions

2. Discussed the organization structure of the committee.

Four technical advisory groups will work with the committee to consult on the nitty gritty of specific subject matters. The four groups will focus on energy, transport, waste, and industry. They will help to write action plans, which will include a calculation of current greenhouse gas emissions from each sector, a list of short and long term actions needed to get those emissions to zero, and an assessment of the feasibility of meeting those goals. 

3. Went over a rough timeline for achieving committee goals. 

September- the committee must provide interim greenhouse gas emission reduction targets to council and offer up a framework for meeting those targets. 

March 2015- final committee plan/report must be completed and will include focused actions and reduction calculations. The final report will also combine emissions reductions and climate resiliency into one comprehensive plan document that will be presented for community review and council adoption. 

4. The Office of Sustainability presented an overview of current GHG emissions in Travis County. 

In 2010, GHG emissions in Travis County were estimated to be 15.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent per year.

GHG emissions in Travis County come from the following sources: 52 percent from energy, 36 percent from transportation, 5 percent from landfills and wastewater, 7 percent from semiconductor and cement manufacturing.

Of those GHG emissions from transportation: 94 percent come from on-road cars and trucks, 3 percent come from off-road vehicles, 1 percent comes from rail, 1 percent comes from airplanes, and 1 percent comes from buses. 

Of those GHG emissions from energy: 38 percent comes from residential use, 40 percent comes from commercial use, 14 percent comes from industrial use, and 8 percent comes from natural gas.

Of those GHG emissions from waste and manufacturing: 42 percent comes from landfill emissions, 35 percent comes from semiconductor manufacturing, 21 percent comes from lime manufacturing, and 2 percent comes from wastewater treatment. 

But perhaps the most shocking statistic presented by the Office of Sustainability was this one – Largely due to population growth, if Austin were to do nothing, GHG emissions in the city would double by 2050.

All of this means that getting to zero GHG will be a particularly daunting task. Luckily, the committee seems eager for the challenge.