DOI: 10.25338/b84615
title: Greenhouse gas reduction opportunities for local governments: a quantification and prioritization framework

description: The goal of this research was to present a decision-making
 framework for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation strategy selection for local
 governments based on the development of life cycle GHG mitigation “supply
 curves”. This approach offers the ability to combine the impacts and
 cost-effectiveness measurements of numerous GHG mitigation options at the
 same time. Life cycle GHG emissions accounting considers emissions
 generated throughout the supply chain of a product or process, and also
 typically considers system-wide or consequential effects on emissions as
 well. Life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) were
 the two methods used to quanitfy the costs and environmental impacts of
 the strategies, respectively. Los Angeles (LA) County and Yolo County were
 selected and the following actions for inclusion in GHG
 mitigation supply curves for each county were selected: 1. Los Angeles
 County chose to move forward with quantification of two strategies; a.
 Transit bus electrification, which is being undertaken by Foothill
 Transit, a transit agency that serves not just the unincorporated regions
 of LA County, but also incorporated regions, and b.
  Implementation of alternative fuel vehicles for LA
 County fleet 2. Yolo County chose to move forward with quantification of
 six strategies; a. Emissions reductions from electricity as a result of
 switching from PG&E to a community choice aggregation (CCA)
 entity, Valley Clean Energy (VCE). b. Bike lanes connecting other cities
 in Yolo County to Davis for employees not living in Davis. c. Changes to
 start and stop, roundabouts, and speed limits in Yolo County affecting
 vehicle fuel economy. d. Solar panel canopies installed for electricity
 generation for electric vehicle charging and lighting on county parking
 lots. e. Full depth reclamation versus conventional pavement
 rehabilitation methods. This document summarizes the data for each
 strategy.
description: The input and output data for each of the strategy listed below
 as well as the models to process the data are included in its relevant
 excel file. If any other way of processing the data is used such as
 coding, the code has been included in the relevant strategy section below.
 The references to the data sources is cited in the final report.
 <b>LA COUNTY -
 STRATEGIES:</b> <b>1a. Transit bus
 electrification, which is being undertaken by Foothill Transit, a transit
 agency that serves not just the unincorporated regions of LA County, but
 also incorporated regions </b> 
 <em>Bus and battery production data is presented in the excel file
 “BusProductionLCI.xlsx”.</em><br>   Vehicle and
 battery LCI data is presented in the sheet "Sheet1".
 Energy and emission LCI results by bus type are presented in the
 sheet "Sheet2". The equation to
 calculate emissions by battery size is presented in the sheet
 "Sheet3" along with the method to arrive at that
 equation.<br>   
 <em>Total emissions data was compiled and processed in the excel
 file “Foothill_Electrification.xlsx”.</em><br>   Planned
 installations of buses per depot and other relevant information
 are presented in the sheet “Energy Needs”. All costs
 such as of all fuel types considered, buses, battery, etc, are calculated
 in the sheet “Costs.” Emissions for bus lifecycle,
 charging station production, and solar panel production are compiled and
 calculated in the sheet “Emissions”. 
 <b>1b.
 Implementation of alternative fuel vehicles for LA County
 fleet</b> <em>This study
 consists of 4 Excel files, 3 main Excel files for each of the scenarios,
 and one file summarizing the results of all the scenarios to develop
 comparison charts and tables. These files are titled as:</em> <em>The
 summary file: “AFV for LA Fleet, Summary.xlsx”</em>
 <em>The model file for the first scenario: “1_AFV for LA,
 BAU.xlsx”</em> <em>The model file for the
 second scenario: “2_AFV for LA, All at Once.xlsx”</em>
 <em>The model file for the third scenario: “3_AFV for LA,
 Gradual Transition.xlsx”</em><br>   
 <em>All the data, assumptions, and modeling
 approaches for each scenario are available in the corresponding Excel file
 for that scenario, but the data sources and modeling approach are the same
 across all three. The main structure of each of the model files include
 the followings:</em> Historical data on
 miles per gallon (mpg) of different vehicle categories and model years
 (MLs) are presented in the sheet “mpgHist” with the data taken from Energy
 Information Administration (EIA) website (link provided in the
 sheet), Projections of mpg for different categories
 between 2020 and 2050 are presented in the sheet “mpgProj” with the data
 taken from EIA website (link provided in the sheet)
 The projection of fuel prices for different types of fuel is
 presented in the sheet “F.Price Projs”. The data are taken from multiple
 sources, and the website links are provided in the sheet.
 Historical and projections of vehicle fuel prices are presented
 in the sheets “VP Hist” and “VP Projs”, respectively, with data taken
 mostly from the EIA website. The links to data sources are presented in
 each sheet. The cost of maintenance and repairs for
 each vehicle category and fuel type combination is presented in the sheet
 "M&R" with the data sources and assumptions well
 documented within the sheet. The data required for
 quantifying the vehicle and fuel cycle impacts are mostly taken from the
 GREET model by the Argonne National Laboratory, which is presented in the
 sheet titled “LCA.” Links to data sources are presented where
 needed. The main modeling effort is conducted in the
 sheet “Main Model,” where the costs of purchasing, maintaining and
 repairing vehicles, and the salvage value of the vehicles sold in addition
 to the cost of fuel are calculated for each year for the entire fleet. The
 model also calculates similar items for fuel consumption, vehicle cycle
 environmental impacts, and fuel cycle impacts for each year for the entire
 fleet. The sheet titled “Results” has two functions:
 Provide a
 simple method for the user to modify the main assumption of the model,
 such as when to change the vehicle (age or mileage) and what alternative
 fuel technology to use when changing a vehicle.
 Summarize the results from the sheet “Main Model” in terms of
 life cycle costs, fuel consumption, and global warming potential (GWP) and
 putting them into graphs.<br>   
 <em>The summary Excel file titled
 "AFV for LA Fleet, Summary.xlsx" takes the tables and graphs
 from the three main model files into a separate Excel file to allow a
 comparison of the results across different
 scenarios.</em>  
 <b>YOLO COUNTY
 STRATEGIES</b> <b>2a. Emissions reductions
 from electricity as a result of switching from PG&E to a community
 choice aggregation (CCA) entity, Valley Clean Energy
 (VCE)</b> <em>All the data
 used for analyzing this strategy and the resulting output can be found in
 the excel file “PG&E_to_VCE.xlsx”.</em><br>   The values of fuel
 pathway LCIs for various potential fuels for electricity can be found in
 the sheet “LCI”. The varius fuel mixes and the
 resulting values based on LCI data can be found in the sheet “Power Mix
 and Emissions”. Emissions for the various fuel mixes,
 as well as the difference in emissions between the fuel mixes of
 PG&E and VCE, over the 25 year analysis period are calculated and
 presented in the sheet “Emissions”. 
 <b>2b.
 Bike lanes connecting other cities in Yolo County to Davis for employees
 not living in Davis</b> <i>All
 the data used for analyzing this strategy and the resulting output of the
 analyses are listed below and could be found in the excel file
 “2019_Bike_Study.xlsx”.</i> 
 Summary of costs related to materials, construction and
 maintenance can be found in the sheet “Tab_A”.
 Estimated project costs are listed in the sheet
 “Table_9”. Davis, Woodland and West Sacramento
 traffic count data can be found in the sheet “Tab_B”.
 Length of the bike paths and lanes for main analysis are in
 sheet “Tab_C” whereas for sensitivity analysis are in sheet
 “Table_9”. The GHG emissions due to construction and
 maintenance of the pavement, slurry seal, and aggregate can be found in
 the sheet “Tab_D”. GHG emission reduction due to
 reduction in vehicle miles travelled (VMT) and GHG emissions due to
 construction and maintenance of the new bike structures for an analysis
 period of 25 years could be found in the sheet “Table_7”.
 New bike structure costs and fuel savings due to reduction in
 VMT over 25 years analysis period can be found in the sheet
 “Table_8”. For sensitivity analysis purposes – GHG
 emission reduction due to VMT reduction and GHG emissions due to bike
 structure construction and maintenance over the analysis period of 25
 years can be found in the sheet “Table 10”. For sensitivity analysis purposes
 – New bike structure costs and fuel savings due to reduction in VMT over
 25 years analysis period can be found in the sheet “Table 11”.
 <b>2c.
 Changes to start and stop, roundabouts, and speed limits in Yolo County
 affecting vehicle fuel economy </b> <i>All the data used for
 analyzing this strategy and the resulting output of the analyses are
 listed below and could be found in the excel file
 “2019_Intersections_Study.xlsx”.</i> The
 pavement material, cnstruction and maintenance cost along with the LCCA of
 the intersection and roundabouts are presented in the sheet “Pavement
 LCCA”. The traffic data is presented in the sheet
 “Traffic”. Drive cycle for a vehicle at an
 intersection and a roundabout is shown in the sheet
 “Drivecycle”. GHG emissions per vehicle class type
 and total emissions per intersection (for traditional start-stop as well
 as proposed roundabouts), along with the models are presented in the sheet
 “Emission”. The
 annual GHG emissions and annual cost for an existing intersection and
 proposed roundabout intersection for 25 years analysis period can be found
 in the sheet (Table_15_16). 
 <b>2d. Solar panel
 canopies installed for electricity generation for electric vehicle
 charging and lighting on county parking lots</b>
 <em>All the data used for analyzing this
 strategy and the resulting output can be found in the excel file
 “Yolo_Solar_Canopy.xlsx”.</em><br>   Summed emissions
 and costs data of installation and electricity production over the 25 year
 lifecycle can be found in the sheet “Emissions + Cost”.
 Material emissions of the solar canopy can be found in the sheet
 “LCI”. Information on the parking lots that were
 analyzed, including addresses, number of parking spaces, and number of
 installed solar canopies can be found in the sheet “Parking Lot
 Info”. The calculated number of beams required for
 installation was calculated in the sheet “Beams Info” based on the number
 of spaces each canopy covered. 
 <b>2e.
 Full depth reclamation versus conventional pavement rehabilitation
 methods</b> <em>All the data,
 assumptions, and modeling approaches are available in the Excel file
 titled “FDR_Local Govs.xlsx”.</em><br>   The unit prices
 for all treatments are taken from Caltrans Contract Cost Data Book (CCDB)
 and are available in the sheet “CCDB”. The
 sheet “Main Model” includes all the assumptions and modeling approaches
 implemented in this study and the calculation steps conducted to calculate
 life cycle impacts and the cost of the different strategies under
 investigation in this study. The geometric dimensions
 of the project (length and width) are estimated using Google maps and the
 limits of the project as obtained through email communication with the
 project engineer at Yolo County. The environmental
 impacts are calculated by using life cycle inventory (LCI) data from the
 UCPRC LCI Database as referenced in the report.
 Summary results of primary energy demand (PED), global warming
 potential (GWP), and costs for different maintenance strategies are
 presented in three separate sheets titled “Summary PED”, “Summary (GWP)”
 and “Summary Costs” respectively.