Smart Columbus
At a Glance
Industry
Government/Public Administration
Project Types
Goals/Targets, Sustainability and Energy Management Strategy
Year
2021
Location
Columbus, OH
Summary
Rishika Surya designed clean energy adoption strategies for Smart Columbus Energy’s partner organizations.
Goals
To accelerate the clean energy transition in Central Ohio, Smart Columbus Energy is providing end-to-end advisory services to its partner organizations. Rishika Surya was enlisted by Smart Columbus Energy to create a strategy and plan for clean energy adoption for two organizations by identifying the best clean energy options for the specific organization to achieve their goals. The plan would include benchmarking, goal setting, and feasibility studies for selected best options.
Solutions
Rishika approached the problem in three phases:
- Baselining and benchmarking the organization: Rishika started by creating a Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG inventory using consumption data from utilities, fuel consumption data from vehicle fleets, and refrigerants data. After discussion with the partner organizations, Rishika finalized the market peers for comparison and then compared them with the current sustainability initiatives of the partner organization to identify areas for improvement.
- Setting science-based targets for reducing scope 1 + scope 2 emissions: Based on the GHG inventory, and the partner organization’s goals, Rishika used the Science-based target Initiative’s protocol to identify emission targets. She also identified renewable energy goals which would be critical in meeting the emission cuts.
- Analyzing clean energy procurement options and performing feasibility analysis for making recommendations and suggesting a way forward: Rishika identified the various clean energy options present in the market, and mapped their benefits and shortcomings. She built financial models for on-site solar to showcase the cost savings and net present value of such a project.
Potential Impact
Rishika created a roadmap for the partner organizations to get started on their clean energy journey. The recommendations are being considered by the organizations and one of the partner organizations has decided to move ahead with a detailed on-site solar feasibility study to install a solar array.
If implemented by the organizations, the recommendations could offset emissions of over 10,000 tons of CO2 by 2034.