Renewable Power
As global demand for sustainable and affordable energy grows, industries and organizations are shifting to renewable or low-carbon energy sources and evaluating their existing energy systems.
Mitigation and Reduction of Carbon Emissions
Reducing carbon emissions and implementing effective mitigation plans requires an understanding of complex site-specific technologies, offset opportunities, and innovative strategies for compliance and risk management.
Renewable Fuels
Organizations face significant operational challenges when they transition to renewable fuels. State and national regulations add regulatory complexity to operational challenges by introducing compliance requirements requiring thoughtful navigation.
Carbon and Water Assessments
Without accurate carbon and water footprint assessments, organizations lack critical tools to monitor and mitigate climate change risks, make informed decisions using operational data, and establish a science-based approach for regulatory and stakeholder engagements.
Carbon Management and Reduction Strategy and Policy Support
Clients, investors, regulators, and communities expect organizations to demonstrate their commitment to carbon management and reduction strategy by disclosing transition plans and climate-related risks.
Eric Amundsen Presents on Energy Transition at the ABA SEER 51st Spring Conference on Environmental Law
Eric Amundsen, J.D. (Massachusetts) presented "ENERGY TRANSITION: Prevent Pitfalls with Proactive Public Planning and Prescient Private Partnerships" at the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER) 51st Spring Conference on Environmental Law at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco, California on April 7, 2022.
Renewable Energy and Clean Energy
Renewable & Clean Energy Projects Nothing Found
Overview of Environmental Planning and Management
Our clients understand environmental and occupational safety and health risk management is a vital component of maintaining overall operational excellence. Geosyntec's environmental management team builds compliance solutions, distinguishes between potential and actual environmental risks, and develops strategies to decrease energy and water utilization. Environmental and health & safety (EH&S) management system support services benefit our private and public sector clients who are committed to achieving high standards of EH&S performance and compliance. We develop documented management systems that allow our clients to identify, prioritize, and manage more efficiently the potential EH&S risks associated with their operations using a plan, do, check, act framework to ensure continuous program improvement. With a diverse portfolio of services, Geosyntec improves public and private sector clients' environmental and health and safety performance; manage risk; and reduce environmental liabilities consistent with their financial and stewardship goals. Our compliance, permitting, and auditing specialists have technical expertise across a broad range of disciplines. Accordingly, we are able to help our clients by proactively identifying compliance obligations and opportunities to improve their compliance record. Geosyntec practitioners specialize in solving complex challenges of occupational safety and industrial hygiene that affect workplace operations, staff comfort and productivity, or occupant health. Addressing such challenges involves the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of known risks and emerging hazards in the workplace. Our practitioners conduct assessments using the sound scientific principles and practices of industrial hygiene, public health, and toxicology. We provide comprehensive Process Safety Management (PSM) and Risk Management Program (RMP) services to meet our clients' needs as they relate to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) 29 CFR 1910.119 PSM Standard and the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 40 CFR Part 68 RMP. The standards require the development and implementation of a system of procedures aimed at preventing accidental releases of hazardous chemicals from subject processes. All levels of an organization can benefit from our assistance in managing the daily aspects of its operations through development of environmental management systems, compliance programs and procedures, and regulatory research and applicability assessments. We accomplish this by implementing tools in a plan-do-check-act framework to ensure continuous program improvement.
Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Evaluations
Navigating climate change risks is increasingly critical for businesses worldwide. These include two distinct kinds of risk: those associated with transitioning to a lower-carbon economy and the physical risks of a changing climate. The risks involved with transitioning to a lower-carbon economy include policy and legal, technology, and market and reputational risks associated with reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and decarbonizing in general. Transition risks to industrial clients are often closely associated with how air quality is managed at facilities and how rapidly changing regulations affect the work our clients do. They must navigate issues including the following: measuring the GHGs they generate; choosing the best technologies for detection, estimating, accounting, and reporting; and identifying and acting upon opportunities to reduce emissions. Geosyntec’s air practitioners stay up to date on the evolving climate change and GHG policies in order to advise on low-carbon strategies to minimize these risks. Low-carbon strategies include considering opportunities for process improvements in energy efficiency, manufacturing processes changes, product or feedstock substitution, renewable energy, use of low-carbon fuels, carbon capture and storage, and carbon sequestration. Often, our solutions involve innovative technologies, which can also include consulting related to how current or future policy might accommodate innovation. We help clients estimate the costs, benefits, and economic and other impacts of implementing carbon reduction technologies and practices. One of the fundamental aspects of a GHG strategy is quantifying emissions with the proper level of accuracy and including the proper boundaries for assessing the extent of a client’s Scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG emissions. Geosyntec’s experts develop emission inventories for many reporting and strategic planning purposes that include direct Scope 1 source or facility emissions, indirect Scope 2 emissions from energy use, and Scope 3 emissions within the value chain. These inventories can take the form of submittals to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) under the mandatory reporting rule (MRR) or other jurisdictions, serve as underpinning for corporate reports relying on the GHG protocol, or provide clients with a basic carbon footprint for sustainability planning. Our air practitioners apply multiple protocols for data collection, accuracy, and reporting from federal and state programs, international and industry trade organizations, and client-specific guidelines. We advise clients as they develop these protocols. Additionally, we minimize risk for our clients by conducting informal audits of their GHG inventories to prepare for third-party verification in states like California and Washington that require mandatory GHG inventory verification. We also develop GHG monitoring plans and help detect and reduce methane leaks. Geosyntec has worked for years addressing environmental challenges at landfills, and we maintain a landfill gas management practice. We help with planning, design, permitting, construction, and operation of landfill gas collection and control systems, as well as methane migration mitigation in the subsurface. Additionally, we assess GHG impacts of proposed new development or planned modifications of capital projects during project planning, permitting, and licensing. Regarding physical risks, Geosyntec's cross-functional team of practitioners conduct climate change studies and climate impact evaluations to help clients understand how changes in the weather, like heat waves and incidents of climate cooling or air stagnation, can affect their facilities, operations, and bottom line. Usually, these studies examine temperature and precipitation trends influenced by climate change, and our team can apply modeling tools to help identify strategies for mitigating climate change effects.
