Background of FSCM | AIChE

Background of FSCM

With the belief that it is the responsibility of engineers and engineering professionals to respond to the global challenge of addressing worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, the five major engineering societies, AIChE, ASME, AIME (AIST, SPE, TMS, SME), IEEE, and ASCE, have joined together to organize an initiative to the challenges posed by developing and implementing Technologies for Carbon Management.  

Goals & Objectives

Leadership

Accomplishments:

  •  Establishing a Founder Society project team with technical leaders and members from each society
  • Refining project objectives to incorporate recommendations and experience of the team participants
  • Hosted workshops
  • Development of Scorecards for the Pilot Project Sectors
  • Selection of two energy sector Pilot Projects – electric power and transportation – with the following questions to be addressed: 
  1. What are the available options and projected future technologies?
  2. How are technologies being evaluated?
  3. What boundaries and metrics should be used?
  4. What are the gaps and barriers to implementation?

Communication and outreach is key to achieving the project goals. Specific initiatives include:

  • Congressional briefings
  • Establishing a central website
  • Press releases
  • Journal articles
  • Linking with K-12 educational programs

Scorecard Project

Members of the Founders Society Carbon Management project have been working to identify practical steps the country can take toward managing greenhouse gas emissions, a key issue in the climate change debate. The group has selected the Scorecards approach as a tool for assessing the merit of various greenhouse gas management options. The Scorecards developed so far focus on electric power and transportation systems (4-wheel passenger vehicles).
The objective of the Scorecard approach is to identify options that could be implemented in sufficient quantity to provide a significant impact on GHG reduction in the 2020 and 2050 timeframes. In general, options for 2020 timeframe will be different from those that become important in 2050.

The nomenclature used in the Scorecards is:

  • Options: Technologies and/or other measures that could reduce GHG emissions
  • Attributes: A set of indicators (metrics) used to grade each Option; in combination, they yield a relative (compared to other options in the same scorecard) potential for success in a timely manner.

The Scorecards employ a simple A, B, C, D and E grading system (similar to that used in many schools) for the Attributes. The Electric Power Scorecard rates major types of power sources (with and without carbon capture and sequestration), including coal, natural gas, nuclear, and renewable technologies (i.e., solar, wind, and biomass) using several Attributes.

The Transportation Scorecard rates various transportation systems, using traditional or new fuel sources and technologies, by the same set of Attributes. The Attributes include items such as GHG reductions, technical issues, cost, environmental issues, social-political issues, risk issues, and timing.

The Carbon Management Committee developed the initial list of Options and Attributes. The participants of the workshop on Gaps & Barriers Workshop, held in October 2009, were asked to complete the Scorecards. Based upon the input from the Workshop participants the Scorecard format was revised and the generic Scorecard and Instructions are found at see the below web links. 

Additional Projects Include:

  • Biofuels Metrics
  • Energy System Boundaries
  • Carbon Capture and Sequestration Network
  • Carbon Management Conference
  • Gaps & Barriers
  • GHG Measurement : Early Adopter Experiences, Protocols, and Direct Measurement
  • Communications