A: The tool includes GHG and criteria pollutant emissions from large facilities in California that are subject to the GHG Mandatory Reporting Regulation. The GHGs included are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Criteria pollutants included are volatile organic compounds (VOC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), and ammonia (NH3). The tool does not include GHG emissions from transportation fuels, natural gas suppliers or electricity importers. Back to top

2. Are all covered entities subject to the Cap-and-Trade Program included in the tool?

A: Not all entities covered by the Cap-and-Trade Regulation are presented in the tool. The tool only includes emissions data for facilities that have a release point physically located in California. The tool does not include GHG emissions from entities of transportation fuels, natural gas suppliers or electricity importers which might also be covered by the Cap-and-Trade Regulation. For more information please read the Legal Disclaimer on the tool. Back to top

3. Why are the GHG emissions of some facilities in the tool different from those posted on the GHG reporting website?

A: Prior to 2011, reported emissions only included GHG emissions directly emitted from the facility. Since 2011, the new reporting regulation requires total GHG emissions that include not only emitter’s GHG emissions, but also GHG emissions from fuel suppliers. In order for emission numbers to be consistent and comparable throughout the years in the tool, fuel suppliers’ GHG emissions were deducted from the total facility GHG emissions. In the reporting website, on the other hand, the total emissions for a facility include emissions from all sources. These differences between the tool and the reporting website are most likely to occur in 2011 and subsequent years, specifically in refineries and oil and gas production facilities. Back to top

4. What are the units for GHG emissions in the tool?

A: GHG emissions are reported in metric tons (MT, or 1000 kilograms) per year. Criteria pollutants are reported in short tons (2,000 pounds) per year. In order to compare emissions of different greenhouse gases in a chart or table, emissions of non-CO2 greenhouses are converted to CO2 equivalent Metric Ton (CO2eMT) using their respective global warming potentials (GWP). This tool employs the GWP values from the Second Assessment Report (SAR) of IPCC. Specifically, GWP_CH₄ = 21 and GWP_N₂O = 310. Back to top

5. What do the different color markers represent on the map?

A: The markers represent individual facilities. The markers are color coded to represent the industrial sector to which the facility belongs. A legend for the facility markers is available above the map, under the “Facilities” tab. If you click on a marker legend, all the facilities of the corresponding industrial sector will bounce on the map. This helps users identify and locate the facilities of a particular industrial sector, especially when facilities are clustered together on the map. Back to top

6. How can I find the top GHG emitters?

A: There are two options to find facilities by emissions level.

Option 1: First, select the target pollutant from the ‘Pollutant’ dropdown list within the ‘Facility Search Criteria’ in the WEST pane. Next, find the facilities and emissions list in the EAST pane where emissions are grouped by facility, which is the default option. Click on the pollutant name header of the emissions summary table to sort facilities based on emissions in descending or ascending order. The top emitters will be listed first when facilities are sorted on a descending emissions level.

Option 2: Select the target pollutant from the ‘Pollutant’ dropdown list within the ‘Facility Search Criteria’ in the WEST pane. If another pollutant is already selected, clear it from the list by clicking the ‘x’ next to its name. Next, in the ‘Emission Level’ section of the ‘Facility Search Criteria’, filter facilities by sliding the ‘Min’ and ‘Max’ bars to minimum and maximum emission thresholds. Users can also type the low and high emission thresholds in the ‘Min’ and ‘Max’ textboxes. Only facilities with the emissions above the ‘Min’ value and below ‘Max’ value will be selected. To get top emitting facilities of the selected pollutant, set the ‘Min’ value high enough to screen out facilities with low emissions. You can also use this method to select facilities whose emissions of a particular pollutant fall into a certain range. Back to top

7. How can I find the emissions trends for an individual facility?

A: users can click a facility marker on the map and the facility information window will pop up. Click on the ‘GHG Trend’ or ‘Criteria Trend’ tabs, and the emissions trend will be presented in both graphic and tabular formats. The emissions data for the selected ‘Emission Year’ is highlighted in both in the trend chart and the trend table. Back to top

8. How can I find the emissions trends for facilities in a particular industrial sector?

A: Following the steps below, users can find the emissions trend from facilities of a particular industrial sector.

Step 1: Switch to the Charts view, and then select the Bar Chart or Column Chart icon;

Step 2: From the ‘Group by’ dropdown list, select group by ‘Emission Year’;

Step 3: In the ‘Primary Sector’ section of the ‘Facility Search Criteria’ pane, select one or more industrial sectors of interest from the dropdown list;

Step 4: In the ‘Emission Year’ section of the ‘Facility Search Criteria’ pane, select the years you are interested in. If no year is selected, all available years will be included in the trend data.

The result will be a chart showing the emissions trend for a specific industry. Users can further filter the facilities by geographic regions to get the emissions trend of specific industries in their area. Back to top

9. How can I find the emissions trends for facilities in pre-defined geographic regions?

A: Follow the steps below to find the emissions trend from any predefined geographic region.

Step 1: Switch to the Charts view, and select the Bar Chart or Column Chart type;

Step 2: From the ‘Group by’ dropdown list, select group by ‘Emission Year’;

Step 3: In the ‘Geographic Region’ section of the ‘Facility Search Criteria’ pane, select one or more areas of your interest from the predefined geographic regions, such as Air Basins, Air Districts, Counties, Cities, Zip Codes;

Step 4: In the ‘Emission Year’ section of the ‘Facility Search Criteria’ pane, select the years you are interested. If no year is selected, all available years will be included in the trend data.

The result will be a chart showing emissions trend for a predefined geographic region. Users can further filter the emissions by industrial sectors to get the emissions trend from a specific industry or industries in their area. Back to top

10. How can I find emissions trends for facilities in self-defined geographic areas?

A: Following the steps below, you can find the emissions trend for a self-defined geographic area.

Step 1: Switch to the Maps view;

Step 2: Select the Circle, Rectangle or Polygon shape from the Drawing toolbar located on the upper-right corner of the map;

Step 3: Draw a shape on the map that contains the area of interest. You can drag the shape to a different location, resize , or edit the shape to include the facilities of interest;

Step 4: Click on the shape, and an information window will popup. In the ‘GHG Trend’ or ‘Criteria Trend’ tabs, the emissions trends will be presented in graphic and tabular formats. The tool summarizes the emissions from all facilities contained in the shape you just drew. The emissions of the selected ‘Emission Year’ are highlighted in both the table and the chart. Back to top

11. Can I search facilities on the map by facility name?

A: There are two options to find facilities by name.

Option 1: Users can search for facilities using the ‘Facility Name’ field of the ‘Facility Search Criteria’ in the WEST pane. Facilities will be selected if any part of their names matches to the entered text string. The string match is not case sensitive, which means searching for ‘smud’ will return the same set of facilities as searching for ‘SMUD’.

Option 2: Alternatively, users can find facilities in the EAST pane when emissions are grouped by facility, which is the default group factor. Users can click on the ‘Facility’ header to sort facilities in alphabetical order, and then to find a facility in the table. Click on the facility in the table and the marker representing the facility will bounce on the map, with an open facility info-window. Back to top

12. How can I identify facilities in a particular geographic area?

A: Users can hover the mouse over the ‘Group by’ tab above the map, and move the mouse over the ‘Geographic Region’ subtab, then select a type of geographic area, such as air district, county, or zip code. For example, if ‘Group by County’ was selected, the emissions summary table on the EAST pane will show emissions by county, and a map of California counties will be loaded on the map. Users can now click a county on the emissions summary table, and all facilities in the selected county will bounce on the map. Users can identify facilities in air basins, air districts and zip codes in the same way.

Alternatively, users can load one or more map layers on the map along with facilities, which will give you an idea of what facilities are in your area. You can also filter facilities by location in the Facility Search Criteria pane, so that only facilities in your geographic area will show on the map. Back to top

13. How can I stop bouncing facility makers?

A: Users can click the ‘Stop’ bouncing button above the map, and all bouncing facility markers should stop bouncing. Back to top

14. How can I add map layers onto the map?

A: Users can hover the mouse over the ‘Map Layers’ tab above the map, then select a map layer such as air district, county, or zip code to add to the map. To remove a loaded map layer from the map, click again the map layer from the Map Layers dropdown list. To clear all map layers, click the ‘Clear Map Layers’ at the bottom of the ‘Map Layers’ dropdown list. Back to top

15. How can I summarize emissions by year, industrial sector, and predefined geographic region?

A: Users can hover the mouse over the ‘Group by’ tab above the map, and select a particular option. Clicking on a group option will result in an updated emissions summary table in the EAST pane. The emissions summary table is sortable by clicking any column headers. The emissions summary table also interacts with the map or chart in the CENTER pane. In the Maps view, users can click any row in the table and the corresponding facility markers will bounce on the map. In the Charts view, click any row in the table will result in the corresponding element on the chart being highlighted. Back to top

16. How can I calculate GHG emissions from multiple facilities in a self-defined geographic area?

A: Using the drawing toolbar located on the upper-right corner of the map, users can draw circles, rectangles and polygons on the map to cover an area of interest in any shape and size. Once a shape is drawn, users can drag, resize and modify the shape. Users can click on the shape, a tabbed information window will popup, which consists of geometry parameters of the shape, facilities within the shape, and aggregated emissions from all facilities within the shape in both tabular and graphical formats. Back to top

17. How can I export a map into my presentation or other documents?

A: Users can click on the ‘Get Image’ button in the upper-right corner of the map area, and a window will pop-up showing a static map. By right clicking on the map, users can copy or save the image of the static map for use in an external document or presentation. Please note that the number of facilities loaded on a static map is limited to around 85 facilities, and map layers such as counties and zip codes will not be displayed on the static map. Back to top

18. Can I do geocoding with the tool?

A: Yes. Users can use the tool for geocoding in two different ways.

The first option is using the search toolbar located on the upper-left corner of the map. As you type in an address to be geocoded in the search toolbar, the auto-completion function will find the best matched addresses for you. Click on the search icon on the right, and a marker will be placed on the map showing the searched address. Users can click on the marker to see the latitude and longitude of the address. The same toolbar also does reverse geocoding (i.e., estimating an address from its geo-coordinates). Type in the latitude and longitude (separated by a comma) in the search toolbar, and the tool will approximate an address for the location.

The second option is to use the drawing toolbar located on the upper-right corner of the map. Select the marker icon on the toolbar, and then click a location on the map for which you would like to find its geo-coordinates. A maker will be added on the map, and its latitude and longitude will be displayed in the information window. You can drag the maker and move it on the map, and its latitude and longitude will update on the fly. Back to top

19. How do I make a 2D/3D pie chart?

A: Users can click the ‘Pie Chart’ icon above the chart area, and the pie chart will toggle between 2D and 3D formats. Back to top

20. Can I sort a chart?

A: Yes. Users can click on a column header of the emissions summary table on the EAST pane, and the chart will be sorted based on the column being clicked. Back to top

21. Can the tool show multiple pollutants in a bar chart or a column chart?

A: Yes. Emissions of multiple pollutants can be shown on bar charts or column charts. Users can select multiple pollutants from the ‘Pollutant’ dropdown list in ‘Facility Search Criteria’ on the WEST pane, and the emissions data will be added on the chart in the CENTER pane and the table on the EAST pane. Non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions are converted as CO2e metric tons for easy comparison.

For pie charts and treemaps, only the first selected pollutant emissions are shown on the charts. Back to top

22. Can I download chart data?

A: Yes. Users can click the ‘Get Data’ button on the upper-right corner of the chart area, and the data used for creating the chart will be downloaded as a csv file. Back to top

23. Can I export a chart into my presentation or other documents?

A: Yes. Users can click the ‘Get Image’ button on the upper-right corner of the chart area, and a window will pop-up with an image of the chart. Right click on the image and you will have options to copy & paste or save the image. Back to top