A review of greenhouse gas emissions and their removal by green areas in Brazilian higher education institutions

Milagre, Jocimar Caiafa; Mendes, Lucas José; Pereira, Rudiney Soares; Tabaldi, Luciane Almeri

doi:10.1590/S1413-415220240105

home Sumário navigate_before Anterior Atual Seguinte navigate_next

home Sumário

Literature Review • Eng. Sanit. Ambient. 30 • 2025 • https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-415220240105 linkcopy

A review of greenhouse gas emissions and their removal by green areas in Brazilian higher education institutions

Uma revisão das emissões de gases de efeito estufa e sua remoção por áreas verdes em instituições de ensino superior brasileiras

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

Higher education institutions (HEIs) play a crucial role in society by acting as drivers of sustainability in their education, research, and outreach activities. While promoting sustainable practices, their activities also generate environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An exploratory literature review was conducted to evaluate inventories of GHG emissions and removals at Brazilian HEIs. Data from 12 HEIs that reported emissions using the GHG Protocol methodology between 2010 and 2024 were analyzed. The results showed that the number of HEIs in Brazil that quantified their GHG emissions and removals is very limited. A considerable variation in the scopes and total volumes of emissions was observed, with scope 3 being the main emissions group for many HEIs, primarily due to emissions from commuting to campus. The capacity of HEIs to compensate for their emissions in green areas was limited and showed significant variation. The management of GHG emissions by HEIs can be improved by increasing the inventoried sources, standardizing methodologies, and developing specific reduction strategies for each scope. The adoption of these practices by HEIs may serve as a model for other institutions, amplifying the impact of GHG emission reduction actions across the country.

Keywords:
carbon footprint; urban green spaces; universities; urban forests; carbon compensation

Institution	Organizational boundary	Emission source
Institution	Organizational boundary	Scope 1	Scope 2	Scope 3
UFV	Viçosa Campus	Stationary combustion, mobile combustion, livestock, wastewater, and organic fertilization	Electricity	Solid waste
Ifes	Nova Venécia Campus	Stationary combustion, mobile combustion, fugitive emissions, and wastewater	Electricity	Commuting to campus, work travel, and solid waste
UFSC	Trindade Campus but includes categories from other campuses	Stationary combustion, mobile combustion, and fugitive emissions	Electricity	Work travel, solid waste, and wastewater
Unicamp C	Zeferino Vaz Campus	Stationary combustion, mobile combustion, fugitive emissions, and land use change	Electricity	Work travel, upstream transportation and distribution, solid waste, and wastewater
UFF	School of Engineering at the Praia Vermelha Campus	Stationary combustion, mobile combustion, and fugitive emissions	Electricity	-
UFS	All campuses (São Cristóvão, Aracaju, Itabaiana, Laranjeiras, Lagarto, and Nossa Senhora da Glória)	Stationary combustion, mobile combustion, fugitive emissions, and wastewater	Electricity	Commuting to campus, work travel, solid waste, upstream transportation and distribution, services purchased or acquired, consumer and capital goods, and leased assets
Unisinos	São Leopoldo Campus	Stationary combustion, mobile combustion, fugitive emissions, solid waste, and wastewater	Electricity	Upstream transportation and distribution and work travel
Unicamp L	School of Technology at the Limeira Campus	Mobile combustion	Electricity	Commuting to campus and solid waste
UFRRJ	Seropédica Campus	Stationary combustion, solid waste, and transportation (automobile movement)	Electricity	-
PUC-Rio	Gávea Campus	Stationary combustion, mobile combustion, and fugitive emissions	Electricity	Commuting to campus, work travel, and solid waste
UTFPR	Central and Ecoville Sites of the Curitiba Campus	Stationary combustion and mobile combustion	Electricity	Commuting to campus and solid waste
UFT	Palmas Campus	Mobile combustion and agricultural activities (rectorate); stationary combustion and mobile combustion (university campus)	Electricity (university campus)	-

Institution	Base year	People*	Emissions (tCO₂e)
Institution	Base year	People*	Scope 1	Scope 2	Scope 3	Total	Per capita
UFV	2019	-	1,993.78	1,184.69	313.98	3,492.46	-
Ifes	2019	3,785	14.73	24.51	1,109.65	1,148.88	0.30
UFSC	2019	-	1,275.57	1,861.81	2,024.91	5,162.49	-
Unicamp C	2019	-	1,102.55	7.05	2,454.79	3,564.39	-
UFF	2019	4,951	13.41	132.80	-	146.21	0.03
UFS	2017	32,795	754.97	1,632.67	30,211.16	32,598.80	0.99
Unisinos	2015	-	597.95	1,328.97	779.52	2,706.44	-
Unicamp L	2015	1,572	0.08	93.62	1,972.56	2,066.26	1.31
UFRRJ	2015	-	9,922.66	842.11	-	10,764.18	-
PUC-Rio	2011	19,699	87.75	12.86	5,681.21	5,781.82	0.29
UTFPR	2011	10,797	90.30	75.40	21,403.20	21,568.90	2.00
UFT	2009	-	165.77	52.54	-	218.31	-

Institution	Source	Vegetation type	tCO₂e	tCO₂e year^-1	Compensation (%)
UFV	Native forests	Arboreal	-	8,547.76	100.00
Ifes	Afforestation	Arboreal	327.52	20.03	1.74
Unisinos	Forests in Permanent Preservation Areas	Arboreal	-	255.00	9.42
Unicamp C	Land use change	-	-	0.18	0.01
UFRRJ	Forest plantations, native forests, and pastures	Arboreal and grassland	130,210.46	-	-

Institution	Methodology
UFV	Calculation of annual carbon removal (R, in tCO₂ year^-1) according to the following equation: $R = A \times IF \times 44 / 12$ , where A: forest area obtained by satellite imagery (ha); IF: carbon increment factor according to the succession stage (in tC ha^-1 year^-1); 44/12 = conversion factor of CO₂–C in CO₂.
Ifes	Calculation of annual carbon removal (R, in tCO₂ year^-1) according to the following equation: $R = TC/Ag \times 44 / 12$ , where TC: total carbon stored in the aboveground biomass of the trees (in tC), obtained from the data of tree census (DBH and height), subsequently applied to models from the literature; Ag: age of the trees (in years), obtained from planting records, sequential satellite images, and average annual increase in volume from the literature; 44/12: conversion factor of CO₂–C in CO₂.
Unisinos	Calculation of annual carbon removal (R, in tCO₂ year^-1) according to the following equation: $R = A \times SF$ , where A: forest area (ha) and SF: carbon sequestration factor from the literature (in tCO₂ ha^-1 year^-1).
Unicamp C	*Use of the emission factor from the literature to calculate the carbon stored in vegetation.
UFRRJ	Calculation of the carbon stored (CS, in tC) in the aboveground biomass of trees from the data of forest inventory plots (DBH and height), applied to models from the literature. For pastures, green and dry biomass were measured in plots and the factor 0.45 was used to convert biomass to carbon. The total CS (trees+pastures) was multiplied by 44/12 (conversion factor from CO₂–C to CO₂) to obtain the value in tCO₂e.

vertical_align_top show_chart

more_horiz close
- image
- translate
- link
- article
- vertical_align_top
- file_download
- show_chart
- image
- translate
- link
- article

location_on

Associação Brasileira de Engenharia Sanitária e Ambiental - ABES Av. Beira Mar, 216 - 13º Andar - Castelo, 20021-060 Rio de Janeiro - RJ - Brasil - Rio de Janeiro - RJ - Brazil
E-mail: esa@abes-dn.org.br

rss_feed Acompanhe os números deste periódico no seu leitor de RSS

[TFN1] ^*
Number of people specified in the GHG inventory.