Environmental Professional (EP) and EP in-training designations

Canada · ECO Canada · professional · unverified source

22practice questions written to this syllabus
3subjects

Format

Competency-based application assessed against the national occupational standard, with references; specialty designations exist (for example in GHG and EMS auditing).

Sections

Over the years

The ECO Canada certification page path tried returned 404; details are from general knowledge.

Official source: https://www.eco.ca/

Subjects this exam draws on

Soil Organic Carbon & Carbon Sequestration4 questionsCarbon Accounting & Greenhouse Gas Inventories13 questionsCarbon Markets, Offsets & Payments for Ecosystem Services5 questions

Five practice questions, worked

Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.

1. In a soil-carbon re-sampling round, why should samples be taken at the same georeferenced points or strata as the baseline?

  1. To reduce the influence of spatial variation on the measured change
  2. To make sure the laboratory receives samples on the same calendar date
  3. To allow the verifier to skip checking the laboratory chain of custody
  4. To avoid any need for bulk density measurement in the second round
Answer and working

A. To reduce the influence of spatial variation on the measured change

Paired sampling cuts variance from spatial heterogeneity. It does not replace bulk density or chain-of-custody checks.

Soil Organic Carbon & Carbon Sequestration · Soil sampling for carbon: depth, bulk density and equivalent soil mass

2. A cold store tops up its refrigeration system with 5 kg of HFC-134a to replace leakage. Using the AR5 GWP100 of 1,300 for HFC-134a, what Scope 1 emission is reported?

  1. 6,500 t CO2e
  2. 6.50 t CO2e
  3. 7.15 t CO2e
  4. 0.005 t CO2e
Answer and working

B. 6.50 t CO2e

Leakage replaced = emissions: 5 x 1,300 = 6,500 kg = 6.50 t CO2e (a fugitive Scope 1 source). 7.15 uses the AR4 GWP of 1,430; 0.005 ignores the GWP; 6,500 forgets kg-to-t.

Carbon Accounting & Greenhouse Gas Inventories · GHG Protocol Corporate Standard: boundaries, Scopes 1 and 2

3. Which ordering of the carbon credit life cycle is correct?

  1. Registration, issuance, methodology selection, validation, retirement, monitoring, verification
  2. Issuance, validation, registration, verification, monitoring, methodology selection, retirement
  3. Methodology selection, validation, registration, monitoring, verification, issuance, retirement
  4. Validation, issuance, monitoring, registration, retirement, verification, methodology selection
Answer and working

C. Methodology selection, validation, registration, monitoring, verification, issuance, retirement

Design to an approved methodology, validate, register, monitor, verify results, issue credits, then sell and retire. Credits are never issued before verification.

Carbon Markets, Offsets & Payments for Ecosystem Services · Voluntary carbon market structure: standards, registries, buyers

4. A company updates its inventory from AR4 to AR5 GWP values. Under the GHG Protocol, how should its base year be treated?

  1. Leave the base year on AR4 values for ever, since GWP changes are outside the company's control
  2. As a methodology change: recalculate the base year with AR5 values if the change passes its significance threshold
  3. Recalculate only the current year with AR5 values and report the trend with mixed GWP sets in the two compared years
  4. Restart the base year in the year of the change, discarding all earlier inventories from the record
Answer and working

B. As a methodology change: recalculate the base year with AR5 values if the change passes its significance threshold

A change in GWP values is a change in calculation methodology, a recalculation trigger subject to the company's significance threshold, so the base and current years use the same values. Mixed GWP sets distort the trend; refusing to update makes the inventory inconsistent with current science; discarding history is unnecessary.

Carbon Accounting & Greenhouse Gas Inventories · Base years, recalculation and targets

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