Quantitative Greenhouse Gas Impact Assessment Method for Spatial Planning Policy (QGasSP)

The QGasSP project seeks to create a standardised, modular, and open-source tool to help national, regional, and local planning authorities quantify how spatial planning decisions affect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The methodology focuses on three primary sectors: building energy use, transportation and infrastructure, and land use change and forestry (LULUCF). To ensure pan-European applicability, the tool will employ a hierarchical data structure, allowing users to start with European averages and refine results with national or local data. The project integrates this quantification process into the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) framework to support evidence-based climate mitigation. The tool's effectiveness will be tested through four pilot case studies in Ireland (County Meath), Northern Ireland (Rathlin Island), Finland (Kymenlaakso region), and Scotland (Edinburgh).

• The QGasSP project focuses on three direct emission sources that are most dependent on spatial planning decisions: building energy use (heat and electricity), transportation and infrastructure, and land use change and forestry (LULUCF).
• To achieve pan-European applicability despite varying data availability, the tool will use a hierarchical data structure where default European averages are used first, then replaced by more detailed national, sub-national, or local datasets as they become available.
• The tool is designed to be integrated into the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process, specifically during the preparation of the environmental report to compare proposed developments against baseline scenarios and reasonable alternatives.
• The project will employ a modular, open-source architecture, allowing for the addition of new calculation modules and updates to existing methodologies without requiring private datasets or dependency on the original service providers.
• The methodology incorporates both production-based accounting (emissions within a boundary) and consumption-based accounting (including imported emissions), with the latter utilizing a tiered-hybrid LCA method to address the lack of standard terminology in consumption inventories.
• Four diverse pilot case studies have been selected to test the tool: County Meath in Ireland (commuter region), Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland (offshore rural), the Kymenlaakso region in Finland (focusing on traffic), and Edinburgh in Scotland (developed urban area).
• A comparative analysis of existing tools (SPACE, MapEire, SYKE, SCATTER, and Ecocity Evaluator) revealed that no single tool currently covers the full range of QGasSP's requirements, particularly regarding pan-European applicability, systematic consumption accounting, and integration with SEA.

APA

Cachia, R., Gartland, D., Grišakov, K., Kumpulainen, J., Kriiska, K., Lylykangas, K., Moloney, R., O’Shea, J., Oviir, A., Partanen, J., Peterson, K., Teliö, A., & Walke, P. R. (2021). Quantitative Greenhouse Gas Impact Assessment Method for Spatial Planning Policy (QGasSP). Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/qgassp-adjusted-inception-report.pdf

Chicago

Cachia, Rebecca, Donna Gartland, Kristi Grišakov, Joonas Kumpulainen, Kaie Kriiska, Kimmo Lylykangas, Rowan Moloney, et al. Quantitative Greenhouse Gas Impact Assessment Method for Spatial Planning Policy (QGasSP). Stockholm Environment Institute, 2021. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/qgassp-adjusted-inception-report.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{cachia2021quantitative, author = {Cachia, Rebecca and Gartland, Donna and Grišakov, Kristi and Kumpulainen, Joonas and Kriiska, Kaie and Lylykangas, Kimmo and Moloney, Rowan and O’Shea, John and Oviir, Anni and Partanen, Jenni and Peterson, Kaja and Teliö, Aki and Walke, Peter R.}, title = {{Quantitative Greenhouse Gas Impact Assessment Method for Spatial Planning Policy (QGasSP)}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/qgassp-adjusted-inception-report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }