Challenge 

The impacts of climate change on different sectors of society are interrelated. Drought can harm food production and human health through water scarcity, famine, malnutrition, and increased health risks. Flooding can spread diseases and damage ecosystems and infrastructure by contaminating water sources, creating a breeding ground for disease-carrying insects and disrupting natural environments.[1] These interconnected environmental factors underscore the urgent need for a coordinated response to mitigate its effects on our population and planet.   

On January 27, 2021, President Joe Biden prioritized climate change as an essential element of national security in Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, and directed federal agencies to evaluate, monitor, and reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.   

Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Carlos Del Toro, recognized climate change as one of the most destabilizing forces of our time, exacerbating other national concerns and posing serious readiness challenges. In May 2022, Secretary Del Toro issued the Department of the Navy (DON) Climate Action 2030 which directs the development of strategies and milestones to achieve bold yet necessary goals to address the impact of climate change.[2]

Since the start of the Industrial Revolution circa 1750, human activities have contributed substantially to climate change by adding GHG (i.e., carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4)).[3] One of the primary goals of President Biden’s executive order is to reduce federal government GHG emissions by 65 percent by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.  

Solution 

To monitor and ensure progress toward these goals, the DON’s Performance Improvement Office (PIO) and Chief Data and Analytics Officer (CDAO) collaborated with EMI Advisors (EMI) to create a deterministic data model that seamlessly integrates internal DON data and publicly available Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data. This integration aimed to extract and garner insights into emission factors and fuel mix composition within the electrical grids powering Navy installations. Combining these data sources has given DON senior leadership the ability to quantify each base’s GHG emissions, broken down by the percentages of each base’s non-renewable and renewable energy sources. DON leaders can utilize this resource to inform and develop specific improvement projects to support energy transition plans. 

Outcomes 

EMI aggregated various data sources to create interactive Qlik-based visualizations using the Department of Defense (DoD) Advanced Analytics (Advana) platform, highlighting GHG emissions for DON installations worldwide. The visualizations, showing the time series of base emissions, brought insights into which types of past projects and initiatives may have the highest return on investment for GHG emissions reduction. For example, a project that transitioned from a coal-fired plant to other fuel sources saw a larger reduction in GHG emissions compared to similar reduction efforts at other bases. For bases identified as being connected to “dirtier” electrical grids, DON leaders have initiated plans to transition to cleaner on-base generated energy to remove reliance on the external power grid. These activities exemplify how EMI’s predictive analytic capabilities and modeling are helping DON leaders better understand the potential impact of multiple interventions by a base, accounting for the complexity and diversity of each installation’s ecosystem.  

"This dashboard provides valuable insights that help us understand climate performance and set data-driven targets,” said Deborah Loomis, Senior Advisor to the SECNAV.[4]

The impact of this new data visibility and predictive modeling has spurred additional projects that quantify the GHG emissions impact of the DON’s carbon sequestration efforts and track GHG emissions back to individual ships and jets. EMI’s dashboard efforts and analytics are also gaining visibility across other DoD components, leading to similar data-to-action efforts across the agency. 

“If by 2030, we cut our carbon emissions in about half – and, by 2050, we don’t emit any more carbon emissions than the planet can absorb each year – scientists predict that we can avoid the worst threats of climate change” according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[5,6] Together, we must act now to tackle climate change, enhance installation resilience, and drive transformational change. Our joint efforts will leave a lasting impact and create a better future for our planet. 

Curious to learn more? Please reach out to hello@emiadvisors.net. Our team is passionate about harnessing the power of data to better understand climate change and is ready to collaborate on any green initiatives your organization may have!