FUNCTIONS
Bilan Carbone is an instrument and methodology with the two major functions of:
- Evaluating the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted by a structure (company, local government, territory...)
- Evaluating this structure's dependence on fossil energies – in order to anticipate the economic and social impacts of increasing scarcity of such fuels.
Therefore, the aim of the Bilan Carbone® is not to decide who is responsible for GHG emissions, but who can act to reduce them.
Besides, Bilan Carbone® focuses exclusively on GHG emissions and their relationship to climate change. No other environmental externality is taken into account.
CHARACTERISTICS
Bilan Carbone® is a method for estimating GHG emissions originating from all kinds of business entities (services, industries, etc.) as well as government offices; after its latest update (v.6 – May 2009) it can now also assess the emissions of whole territories and local administrations.
Put simply, Bilan Carbone® now exists in two broad versions:
- “Company – Administration – Organizations”
- “Local authorities”, split into two different modules:
- “Assets and Services”: to assess the structures under the local authority’s direct control, and thus allow it to assume an exemplary ‘eco-responsibility’;
- “Territory”: to assess the territory under the local authority’s influence field. This module is more specifically oriented towards general decision-making to fight climate change.
Since 2006, other tools linked to Bilan Carbone® have also been developed by the ADEME:
- Bilan Produit® (assessment of the environmental impact of the products generated by a company, in order to launch an eco-design approach)
- Bilan Carbone Events® (GHG assessment for events organization)
- Bilan Carbone Campus® (GHG assessment for educational facilities)
- Dia’Terre® (energy and GHG emissions diagnosis for farms)
- ClimaTerre® (assessment of agricultural practices and agricultural production)
|
