ALU Agriculture and Land Use National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Software
Greenhouse gas emissions inventories are conducted by governments to quantify the influence of anthropogenic activity on emissions and removals of several gases, particularly CO2, N2O and CH4. Emissions occur due to activity related to energy use, industrial production, waste management, agricultural production, and land use and forestry management. Developing a GHG inventory that quantifies anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and removals at a national scale is a challenge for most countries. However, an accounting of emissions and removals is important for informing policy decisions, and also required for reporting to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by countries who are signatory parties to the treaty agreement.
The Agriculture and Land Use Greenhouse Gas Inventory (ALU) Software guides an inventory compiler through the process of estimating greenhouse gas emissions and removals related to agricultural and forestry activities. This software is based on the methods in the IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Guidelines. The software simplifies the process of conducting the inventory by dividing the inventory analysis into steps to facilitate the compilation of activity data, assignment of emission factors and completion of the calculations. The software also has internal checks to ensure data integrity. Many governments also have an interest in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and forestry. Determining mitigation potential requires an understanding of both current emission trends and the influence of alternative land use and management practices on future emissions. Our software program is designed to support an evaluation of mitigation potentials using the inventory data as a baseline for projecting emission trends associated with management alternatives.
The program has been used to support UNFCCC regional GHG inventory capacity-building projects in Southeast Asia and Southern and Eastern Africa. The software was also developed and used in a previous a capacity-building effort in Central America. Funding has been provided by US Environmental Protection Agency, US Agency for International Development and US Forest Service. Developers at Colorado State University have designed the software to make the inventory process easier to implement and consistent with guidelines provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Please contact us if you would like additional information.
