Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse
Gas Inventories
Report of the IPCC Expert Meeting on Use of Models and Measurements in GHG Inventories
9-11 August 2010, Sydney, Australia

Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse
Gas Inventories
Report of the IPCC Expert Meeting on Use of Models and Measurements in GHG Inventories
9-11 August 2010, Sydney, Australia

Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Inventories

Supporting material prepared for consideration by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This supporting
material has not been subject to formal IPCC review processes. Neither the papers presented at the expert meeting nor
this report of its proceedings has been subjected to IPCC review.

The IPCC would like to thank the Government of Australia for hosting this meeting and providing technical support.

Published by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Hayama, Japan on behalf of the IPCC
© The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2011
Please cite as:
IPCC 2011, Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse Gas Inventories (Report of IPCC Expert Meeting on
Use of Models and Measurements in Greenhouse Gas Inventories 9-11 August 2010, Sydney, Australia) eds: Eggleston
H.S., Srivastava N., Tanabe K., Baasansuren J., Fukuda M., Pub. IGES, Japan 2011.

ISBN 978-4-88788-075-7

IPCC Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (TFI)
Technical Support Unit
℅ Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
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Hayama, Kanagawa
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http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp
Printed in Japan

Table of Contents
FOREWORD ........................................................................................................................................................... 6
Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................................. 7
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 92 Why use more complex methods? ........................................................................................................... 10
2.1 Models................................................................................................................................................... 10
2.2 Facility-level data................................................................................................................................... 11
2.3 The 2006 IPCC Guidelines.................................................................................................................... 11
3 Use of Models in Good Practice National Greenhouse Gas Inventories ............................................... 14
3.1 Suitability ............................................................................................................................................... 14
3.2 Model evaluation ................................................................................................................................... 15
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.2.3

Calibration data........................................................................................................................................... 15
Independent data ........................................................................................................................................ 15
Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis ............................................................................................................ 16

4.1.1

Gathering facility-level data and information............................................................................................... 18

4.2.1
4.2.2

Institutional Arrangements for data collection ............................................................................................. 18
Category specific reporting ......................................................................................................................... 19

4.3.1
4.3.2
4.3.3
4.3.4
4.3.5

Choosing data and the criteria for selection ............................................................................................... 19
Reviewing the data ..................................................................................................................................... 21
Matching the definitions of source categories to the IPCC source categories............................................ 21
Treating categories with incomplete coverage by facility-level data ........................................................... 21
Time series consistency ............................................................................................................................. 22

4.4.1
4.4.2
4.4.3

Aligning facility-level fuel and IPCC fuel types............................................................................................ 22
Ensuring biogenic carbon can be separated .............................................................................................. 22
Consistency with energy statistics for the country ...................................................................................... 22

3.3 Interpretation of model results ............................................................................................................... 17
4 Use of Facility-Level Data in Good Practice National Greenhouse Gas Inventories ............................ 18
4.1 Gathering facility-level data ................................................................................................................... 18

5

4.2

Documenting facility-level information in the Inventory Report.............................................................. 18

4.3

Methods of integrating facility-level data into an inventory .................................................................... 19

4.4

Energy data ........................................................................................................................................... 22

National Experience in Using Facility-Level Data .................................................................................... 24
5.1 Australia: National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act .................................................................. 24
5.2 Facility data in the Netherlands Greenhouse Gas inventory ................................................................. 24
5.2.1

Responsibilities (from the Netherlands QA/QC plan) ................................................................................. 24

5.3.1
5.3.2

Data reported under the EU ETS................................................................................................................ 25
Other facility-level emissions data .............................................................................................................. 26

5.3

UK facility-level emissions reporting, including Greenhouse Gas emissions ........................................ 25

5.4 United States Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) ....... 26
6 Enhancing the use of Models and Facility-Level Data ............................................................................ 28
7 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................ 29
Annex 1. Example of check list for documenting the Tier 3 Model-Based Inventory developed based on the
Guidance from the 2006 IPCC Guidelines......................................................................................................... 31
Annex 2. Background papers......................................................................................................................... 33
Annex 3. Co-Chairs Summary ...................................................................................................................... 125
Annex 4. Meeting Agenda............................................................................................................................. 127
Annex 5. Participants .................................................................................................................................... 129
Annex 6. References ..................................................................................................................................... 134

Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse Gas Inventories

FOREWORD
The IPCC’s Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories has, as part of its mandate, the objective of
encouraging users to adopt the IPCC methodological guidelines for estimating national inventories of greenhouse gases.
This report is one of a series, developed through expert meetings, which aims to assist users of the guidelines byaddressing specific problem areas.
The use of higher tier methods, complex models or plant specific measurements or estimations, is becoming morewidespread. However, while this has improved national inventories it is believed to have reduced transparency andtherefore made the results less credible to all stakeholders. This expert meeting has brought together inventory
practitioners and modellers to share their experience and to learn how they address transparency and ensure credible
reporting of their inventories. The Co-chairs of the Task Force Bureau would like to thank all those involved in thismeeting, and we would like to express our sincere thanks and appreciation to the Government of Australia and its
Department of Climate Change for their support by hosting this meeting.

Thelma Krug

Taka Hiraishi

Co-Chair Task Force Bureau

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Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse Gas Inventories

Executive Summary
The expert meeting considered experience in the use of models and measurements for all sectors in greenhouse gas
emission inventories. The meeting compiled this report on experience and the lessons learnt, particularly related totransparency.
Measurements underlie both models and facility-level data. There is an increasing number of reporting systems thatcombine measurements made at individual plant covering all or part of specific sub-sectors. In general, models are used
to estimate those emissions or removals that cannot be easily otherwise obtained, and to extend limited measurement
information to cover national emissions and removals, both spatially and temporally. Models use measured data forcalibration and evaluation.
The use of both models and facility-level data in inventories should be encouraged. They both provide significant
opportunities to improve the overall quality through, amongst other things:
a. reducing uncertainty and improving uncertainty estimates in the national inventory;b. improving spatial and temporal resolution of data and further disaggregating data categories;c. improving the potential to correctly estimate impacts of mitigation on national inventories.
Transparency was identified as the key issue in the use of both models and facility-level data. The 2006 IPCC Guidelines
provide the overall approach to transparently documenting and reporting these types of data. Recent experience
provides useful additional guidance to inventory compilers on how to do this to increase the credibility and understandingof their results.
The meeting compiled lists of typical items that, when reported, may lead to improved transparency. These include:
Models• Basis and type of model• Application and adaptation of the model(1)• Main equations/processes• Key assumptions(2)• Domain of application(3)• How the model parameters were estimated• Description of key inputs and outputs• Details of calibration & model evaluation• Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis• QA/QC procedures adopted• References to peer-reviewed literature

Facility-Level Data
Institutional arrangements• Legal basis• Elements covered• Criteria for data selection• QA/QC• Confidentiality(4)Category-specific• Category emissions(5)• Implied emission factor• Uncertainty• How completeness and time seriesconsistency are ensured

Note: (1) Description of why and how the model was adapted for conditions outside the originally intended domain of application.
(2) Important assumptions made in developing and applying the model.
(3) Description of the range of conditions for which the model has been developed to apply.
(4) Description of which data are confidential, and why those were labelled as confidential.
(5) Including emissions, activity data, and emission factors, as appropriate as well as method used to generate category
emissions is also included.

The meeting also considered some of the factors inventory compilers need to consider when incorporating models andfacility-level data in greenhouse gas inventories.
••

For models, considerations include: reasons for model selection; interpretation of model results; calibration andparameterisation; evaluation of model, processes and results; comparisons with lower tiers and measurements;
uncertainty and sensitivity analysis.
For facility-level data, considerations include: do the facility-level data definitions match those of the inventory
and how has this matching been achieved; does the dataset completely cover a reporting category and if not
how this gap has been filled; how has time series consistency between the facility-level data and estimates forearlier years been achieved; and how might these data enhance the quality of inventories.

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Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse Gas Inventories
The participants also noted that the use of models requires a significant, sustained and dedicated effort over the lifetimeof the model to collect and update high quality and reliable data at a suitable resolution and to maintain and adapt
suitable models. The main barriers to the adoption of complex models are the need for enhanced financial resources andinstitutional capacity. In some cases, access to suitable models, and the ability to modify them, remains a barrier to theiruse.

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Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse Gas Inventories

1 Introduction
The IPCC Expert Meeting on the Use of Models and Measurements in Greenhouse Gas Inventories was held in Sydney
Australia on 9-11 August 2010.
The IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories are used by parties to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to report their national greenhouse gas emissions and removals as requiredby the Convention. The Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines and the subsequent Good Practice Guidance are currently
adopted by the UNFCCC for reporting. The IPCC has recently updated this guidance in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines andthis is currently being considered by the UNFCCC.
The 2006 IPCC Guidelines focus on providing guidance on lower level tiers, leaving nationally specific Tier 3 approaches
to national inventory compilers to design and document. However, the IPCC expert meeting in Helsinki in May 2008
identified that the transparency of Tier 3 models, specifically demonstrating the comparability of models with the IPCC
Guidelines, was an area where the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (TFI) could provide additional
guidance. Subsequently the Task Force Bureau (TFB) agreed that an expert meeting should cover:•••Tier 3 models: how they should be reported and documented and how they could, in general be validated;
Inclusion of facility-level data (both estimates and measurements, also Tier 3 approaches);
Ensuring inventories can track mitigation efforts in a transparent way.

The meeting focused on two main areas:••

Steps to increase the perceived transparency of Tier 3 models including use, evaluation, review anddocumentation of models (e.g. COPERT (COmputer Programme to calculate Emissions from Road Transport),
New Zealand’s enteric CH4 inventory model, CBM-CFS3 (Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector),modelling CH4 emissions from rice paddies);
Facility-level data and how they are incorporated into complete national inventories, including the use ofmeasurements at facilities.

Invited background papers (see Annex 1) and presentations 1 exploring these topics were followed by smaller group
discussions. In the light of these discussions and experience to date, the meeting compiled a report on experience andthe lessons learnt, particularly related to transparency, so that inventory compilers addressing these issues can benefit
from this experience.

1 All presentations are on the TFI website: www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp

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2 Why use more complex methods?
Simple approaches to estimating greenhouse gas emissions and removals are often un-satisfactory because they fail tocapture the complexity and diversity of systems and practices, and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions andremovals. Hence, a greater number of inventories rely on more sophisticated approaches, using models or direct
measurements to improve the accuracy and the resolution (both spatial and temporal) of inventory estimates.
Measurements underlie both models and facility-level data. Measurements may be made at individual plant covering allor part of specific sub-sectors, and the meeting noted that there is an increasing number of reporting systems thatcombine such measured data with other facility-level information. In general, models are used to estimate thoseemissions or removals that cannot be easily otherwise obtained, and to extend limited information to cover nationalemissions and removals, both spatially and temporally. Models use measured data for calibration and evaluation.

2.1

ModelsModelling is a way to increase the power of data. The 2006 IPCC Guidelines state:
Although models are frequently used to assess complex systems and can be used to generate data,
models are means of data transformation and do not remove the need for the data to drive them.
Chapter 2 “Approaches to Data Collection”, page 2.10, Volume 1, 2006 IPCC Guidelines
Every act of data interpretation has an underlying model. Even a simple calculation such as

is based on the assumption that units of activity individually or on the average, carry the same emissions burden. This
assumption is the underlying model. More complex models are called for where this simple calculation seems
inadequate e.g., the sigmoid growth of a stand of trees means that one cannot simply multiply the removal rate by thestand area to get a removal from the atmosphere; the age of the stand also matters. Linkages between processes canbe much more complicated than this. This situation can of course be captured by more complex models, but the greater
complexity can lead to reduced transparency. What follows is an attempt to set out experience and lessons learnt fromwhich one can achieve greater transparency in these situations.
There are a number of benefits in using complex models in national greenhouse gas inventories. These may include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Models may improve coverage and completeness as those can extend existing data to improve geographic
coverage/distribution and coverage of source/sink categories by filling in gaps in data.
Models may increase spatial and temporal resolution of estimates.
Generally, models may increase the accuracy of results and usually improve uncertainty assessment by
providing a system with an improved structure and more systematic treatment of data.
Models can provide an opportunity to test our understanding of cause-and-effect relationships, hence to assess
the impacts of mitigation efforts.
Models may provide comparability with other countries and systems.
Models may improve transparency through stratification by making differences between strata (subcategories)
explicit.
Models may improve time series consistency of inventory, for example, by providing annual estimates even
where only occasional measurements exist.
Models may be a cost effective and in many cases the only possible option to estimate emissions and removals
compared to extensive data collection.
Models can enable better projections by matching past estimates and future projections and treatment of
nationally specific circumstances, technologies and practices and mitigation efforts.
Models can represent non-linear and dynamic systems better compared to linear averaging done in Tiers 1 and
2.

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Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Models can be adapted to national circumstances.
Models can provide frameworks for uncertainty analyses and identification of research priorities to improvegreenhouse gas inventories as far as is practicable.
However, using models may have some adverse effects in such cases where:
•
•

•
•
•
•

2.2

The model is incorrectly used (e.g., applied outside the domain of application without appropriate adaptation).
The key assumptions are not correct.
There are errors in the model.
Inappropriate data are fed into the model.

Facility-level data

Facility-level data may be available through a number of routes. It may have been intended as a data collection
mechanism for national inventories and be supported by national legislation (e.g. the National Greenhouse andReporting Act in Australia) or the data may be collected for another purpose but still backed by legislation (e.g. theEuropean Union Emission Trading Scheme) or it may be collected under less formal arrangements. The utility and easeof access to the data will depend on the specific national arrangements such as: reporting requirements (including
whether or not facility-level data are reported to the agency responsible for inventory preparation or to a separate
regulatory authority), specification of methods to be used, QA/QC and confidentiality requirements.
Increasingly, facility-level data are becoming available to inventory compilers. They must choose whether or not to use
these data; choose how to use the data; explain these choices transparently as well as transparently reporting the data.
The availability of facility-level data may provide significant opportunity to reduce uncertainty in the national inventory;
better reflect mitigation activities; improve the spatial resolution of data; lead to further disaggregation of categories; andimprove the overall quality and accuracy of the inventory. The use of facility-level data in the national inventory should be
encouraged.

2.3

The 2006 IPCC Guidelines

As noted in the overview chapter of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines, the guidelines… provide advice on; i) ensuring data collection is representative and time series are consistent, ii)
estimation of uncertainties at the category level, and for the inventory as a whole, iii) guidance on
quality assurance and quality control procedures to provide cross-checks during inventory compilation,and iv) information to be documented, archived and reported to facilitate review and assessment of
inventory estimates.
Section 3, page 8, Overview Chapter, 2006 IPCC Guidelines
The 2006 IPCC Guidelines do provide guidance on how both data from models and facility-level data can comply withgood practice when used in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. For example Tables 1 and 2 indicate some of thespecific reference in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines related to the development and use of models and the use of facility-level
data, respectively.
The 2006 IPCC Guidelines also provide some information about making best use of facility-level EF data, for example
Comparison to plant-level emission factors: A supplementary step is to compare the country-specificfactors with site-specific or plant-level factors if these are available. For example, if there are emission
factors available for a few plants (but not enough to support a bottom-up approach) these plantspecific factors could be compared with the aggregated factor used in the inventory. This type ofcomparison provides an indication of both the reasonableness of the country-specific factor and its
representativeness.
Chapter 6 “Quality Assurance/Quality Control and Verification”, page 6.13, Volume 1, 2006 IPCC Guidelines
There are also decision trees in the Stationary Combustion chapters and the Industrial Processes and Product Use tohelp guide the use of facility-level data.
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Table 1 General Guidance related to models in Volumes 1 & 4 of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines
Section in 2006 IPCC Guidelines
Chapter 3, Volume 1: Uncertainties
3.2.1 Sources of data and information (p 3.14)
Chapter 5, Volume 1: Time Series Consistency
5.2.1 Recalculations due to methodological changes
and refinements (Box 5.1, p 5.6)

Guidance
Guidance on uncertainties associated with models…The calculation of emission factors and other parametersin AFOLU may require a combination of sampling andmodelling work. Time series consistency must apply to themodelling work as well. Models can be viewed as a way oftransforming input data to produce output results. In mostcases where changes are made to the data inputs ormathematical relationships in a model, the entire timeseries of estimates should be recalculated. In
circumstances where this is not feasible due to available
data, variations of the overlap method could be applied…

Chapter 6, Volume 1: Quality Assurance/Quality Control and Verification
6.7.1 Emissions factor QC (p 6.12)
Guidance on QC checks on models
Chapter 2, Volume 4: Generic Methodologies Applicable to Multiple Land-Use Categories
2.5.2 Model-based Tier 3 inventories (p 2.52)
Guidance on developing model based Tier 3
inventories for AFOLU sector

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Table 2 General Guidance related to facility (plant) 2 level data in Volume 1 of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines
Section in 2006 IPCC Guidelines
Chapter 2: Approaches to Data Collection
2.2.1 Gathering existing data, Box 2.1 (p 2.8)

2.2.2 Generating new data (p 2.8)
2.2.3 Adapting data for inventory use (p 2.10)
2.2.4 Emission factors and direct measurement ofemissions(p 2.15)

Chapter 5: Time Series Consistency
5.2.3 Tracking increases and decreases due totechnological change and other factors (p 5.7)

Guidance
Advice on filling gaps where applicable data may be
unavailable or have gaps (e.g., if survey and sampling
programmes may be infrequent). In these cases
surrogate data can help fill gaps and generate aconsistent time series or a country average. An
example is provided for estimating national emissions
from SF6 from electrical equipment when only partial
data are available.
Guidance for generating data by measurement
Guidance on how to incorporate improved data,
address incomplete coverage, combine data sets
numerically, etc.
Generic advice for the derivation or review of
emission factors or other estimation parameters –“When reviewing energy or industrial plant data, it isimportant to ensure that the measurements are
representative of the specific activity and do notinclude extraneous components. …”… For example, an aluminium plant manager who
introduces measures to reduce the frequency andintensity of anode effects may also collect plantspecific parameters that can be used to estimate a
new emission factor, This new factor might not beappropriate for estimating emissions for earlier years
in the time series, before the technological change
occurred. In these cases it is good practice to use theupdated emission factor or other estimation
parameters or data to reflect these changes. …
Chapter 6: Quality Assurance/Quality Control and Verification
6.7.1 Emissions factor QC (p 6.12)
Guidance on how to use plant-level data for QC on:
Use of IPCC default EFs
Use of country-specific EFs
Use of direct emission measurements
6.7.2 Activity data QC (p 6.14)
Guidance on site-specific activity data QC
6.10 Verification (6.10.1 Comparisons of national
Guidance on how to verify plant-specific data
estimates) (p 6.19)

2 In the 2006 IPCC Guidelines, “plant” is used rather than “facility”.

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Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse Gas Inventories

3 Use of Models in Good Practice National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
In the application of models in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, critical issues are suitability, parameterization,
calibration, evaluation, and uncertainty 3. It is crucial that they are all reported and documented transparently in order forthe model results to be understandable, assessable and credible. These issues are discussed in the 2006 IPCC
Guidelines and good practice inventories will follow the approach given there. The participants noted that the mostdetailed discussion of the use of models is given in the AFOLU volume (Volume 4), but that the approach given there is
relevant to all sectors.
There are no specific requirements for all the items needed to be reported to ensure transparency provided in the IPCC
good practice guidance. Lack of transparency and inconsistent documentation was identified as a major concern byparticipants at this meeting. It was highlighted that a specific effort to make model results assessable by users ofreported information is crucial. The participants believe that experience in the use of models in national greenhouse gas
inventories has increased and this provides a basis for transparent reporting and documenting of the use of models. The
participants considered that the inclusion of key elements of the model in a brief model description 4 would be one
component to improve transparency. These elements are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Basis and type of model (statistical, deterministic, process-based, empirical, top-down, bottom-up etc.);
Application and adaptation of the model (description of why and how the model was adapted for conditions
outside the originally intended domain of application: See Section 3.1 “Suitability”) ;Main equations/processes;
Key assumptions (important assumptions made in developing and applying the model);Domain of application (Description of the range of conditions for which the model has been developed toapply) 5;
How the model parameters were estimated;
Description of key inputs and outputs;
Details of calibration and evaluation with calibration data and independent data (showing intermediate outputs
at an adequately disaggregated level);
Description of the approach taken to the uncertainty analysis and to the sensitivity analysis, and the results ofthese analyses;
QA/QC procedures adopted;
References to peer-reviewed literature (where details of the research on the model can be found).

The remainder of this chapter considers specific issues in the development, calibration and evaluation of models and, inthe light of experience, indicates what should be reported in order for the model results to be transparent.

3.1

Suitability

Suitability is the applicability of model and its adaptation to the specific national situation in which the model is used forgreenhouse gas inventory purposes. Where an existing model is selected inventory compilers need to consider anddocument the following questions:•

Is the model designed for, or portable to, the current national circumstances?

3 For suitability, parameterization, calibration and evaluation, see Volume 1, Chapter 2 “Approaches to Data Collection” and Volume
4, Chapter 2 “Generic Methodologies Applicable to Multiple Land-Use Categories”. For uncertainty, see Volume 1, Chapter 3“Uncertainties”.
4 This could be described in approximately one page, and could be a hypertext document with appropriate references to data tables

and literature, if possible.

5 Model outputs should match the definitions and requirements of the IPCC Guidelines.

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Are the other conditions for which the model is applied different from those for which the model originally wasdeveloped (e.g. ecological or management)?

The documentation should include:
•
•

•

3.2

The reason for choosing or designing the model (applicability);
How the differences in local conditions compared to those for which the model was constructed were treated(e.g. ecological or management)? What are the effects these differences might have on the accuracy of model
estimates?
Is the model used outside the parameter space for which the model was developed? If yes, what might theconsequences be?

Model evaluation 6

The purpose of model evaluation is to determine its suitability for the intended use, taking into account for example theextent to which the model reproduces the variation in the data that were used to establish its parameter values. It is goodpractice to both calibrate and evaluate the model with independent data prior to its implementation, and to document theprocedures and findings in a complete and transparent fashion.
3.2.1 Calibration data 7
Following the establishment of the model and its calibration and parameterisation, it is good practice to compare model
outputs with calibration data (step 2 in Section 2.5.2 “Model-based Tier 3 inventories” in Chapter 2, Volume 4, 2006
IPCC Guidelines). While describing the use of models for AFOLU sector 2006 IPCC Guidelines identify this… is a critical step for inventory development in which model results are compared directly withmeasurements that were used for model calibration/parameterization (e.g., Falloon and Smith, 2002).
Comparisons can be made using statistical tests and/or graphically, with the goal of demonstratingthat the model effectively simulates measured trends for a variety of conditions in the source categoryof interest. It is good practice to ensure that the model responds appropriately to variations in activity
data and that the model is able to report results by land-use category as per the conventions laid out
in Chapter 3. Re-calibration of the model or modifications to the structure (i.e., algorithms) may benecessary if the model does not capture general trends or there are large systematic biases. In somecases, a new model may be selected or developed based on this evaluation. Evaluation results are
an important component of the reporting documentation, justifying the use of a particular model for
quantifying emissions in a source category.
Chapter 2 “Generic Methodologies Applicable to Multiple Land-Use Categories”, page 2.53, Volume 4,2006 IPCC Guidelines
The results of this evaluation should be documented and reported.
3.2.2 Independent data
The next step in model development (step 6 in Section 2.5.2 “Model-based Tier 3 inventories” in Chapter 2, Volume 4,2006 IPCC Guidelines) is to compare model results with independent measurements (field data). The results should be
documented and reported. This is an important step in the use of models and different from the evaluation withcalibration data mentioned above. The 2006 IPCC Guidelines state that:

6 The meeting participants decided not to use the commonly used terms, “validation” and “verification” for these steps as these aresometimes misunderstood by the inventory compilers and model developers due to their different connotations to different usergroups. Therefore these terms are not used in this chapter.

7 There was a different opinion which argues that “calibration data” should not be used for “evaluation”. Thus, there can be different

views on the use of calibration data for model evaluation depending on how to define “calibration”. Chapter 3 of this report is written
in a consistent manner with the guidance provided in Chapter 2 “Generic Methodologies Applicable to Multiple Land-Use Categories”,
Volume 4 of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines.

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Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse Gas Inventories…It is important to realise the difference between [the previous section and this section] involves
testing model output with field data that were used as a basis for calibration (i.e., parameterization). In
contrast, evaluation with independent data is done with a completely independent set of data frommodel calibration, providing a more rigorous assessment of model components and results. Optimally,
independent evaluation should be based on measurements from a monitoring network or fromresearch sites that were not used to calibrate model parameters. The network would be similar inprinciple to a series of sites that are used for a measurement-based inventory. However, the sampling
does not need to be as dense because the network is not forming the basis for estimating carbon
stock changes or non-CO2 greenhouse gas fluxes, as in a purely measurement-based inventory, but
is used to check model results…
…In some cases, independent evaluation may demonstrate that the model-based estimation system
is inappropriate due to large and unpredictable differences between model results and the measured
trends from the monitoring network. Problems may stem from one of three possibilities: errors in theimplementation step, poor input data, or an inappropriate model. Implementation problems typicallyarise from computer programming errors, while model inputs may generate erroneous results if thesedata are not representative of management activity or environmental conditions…
Chapter 2 “Generic Methodologies Applicable to Multiple Land-Use Categories”, page 2.53, Volume 4,2006 IPCC Guidelines
The results of this evaluation should be documented and reported.
The meeting participants emphasized the importance of following the good practice approach as outlined above by the2006 IPCC Guidelines. In particular they agreed that these steps should cover the following points:
•
•
•
•
•

Testing should cover different conditions, circumstances and spatial scales.
Partial or component tests for the measurable parts should be performed.
An analysis of fit of external data with model estimates is needed and should be reported.
Evaluation of model output through model inter-comparison, if possible. This will show which models best
represent local conditions.
Evaluation of model through comparison with Tier 1/2 results. Differences between a complex model and lower
tier approaches may be due to the model better representing the real world, being driven by factors that are notincluded in the lower tier. Therefore it is important to explain significant differences in terms of the physicalprocesses represented in the model.

It is also important to show that the evaluation of a model considers the whole range of values (outputs) encountered.
In addition it may be possible to produce some indicators that show the model is performing correctly. Reporting such
indicators and showing they are correctly conserved will demonstrate model robustness. Examples include:• AFOLU sector models should conserve mass and land area.
• Energy sector models should be consistent with the energy balance.
• In some industrial sectors a mass balance is possible (e.g. carbon in refineries and iron and steel plant).
In addition, some intermediate outputs of the model at an adequately disaggregated level may greatly help users ofreported information to assess the final outputs of the models.
3.2.3 Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis
Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis should also be performed as part of model evaluation and is important so that arigorous measure of model confidence, based on model inputs and structure, can be reported. The error distribution of
key parameters; results of either error propagation or Monte-Carlo analysis; the results of an evaluation of uncertainties
with regard to uncertainties in input data and model structure and assumptions as well as the results of a sensitivity
analysis or identification of key parameters/inputs to which the model outputs are more sensitive should all be reported.

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3.3

Interpretation of model results

In order to assist all stakeholders in the correct interpretation of the model results, experience suggests that it would be
useful to also supply, as part of the model and inventory documentation:•••

A comparison of implied emission factors with either country-specific factors or, if not available, IPCC default
values. This comparison should also provide an explanation for any significant differences.
An explanation of any unusual input values and results (i.e. outliers with respect to some reference data).
The distribution of input and output values.

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4 Use of Facility-Level Data in Good Practice National Greenhouse Gas
Inventories
National inventory compilers are increasingly including more facility-level data in the national inventory, particularly with
the introduction of national greenhouse gas emissions reporting systems. However, experience shows that, in using
facility-level data, it is critical that the national inventory compiler transparently document how their use of the facilitylevel data are consistent with the IPCC guidelines. One key consideration is how to transparently report the use of
facility-level data in the national inventory especially regarding the data, methods and processes followed by facilities
and inventory compilers and the consistency with IPCC good practice guidance.
Facility-level data may include both measured and statistical data (e.g. measured emissions and fuel consumption).
Measured data may be measured emissions but can also be other emission related parameters such as fuel carbon
contents, amount of CO2 captured or mass of feedstock used. Below we outline the two key activities associated withincorporating the data into the national inventory: (1) working with the facilities to get the information needed, and (2)documenting what is done in the inventory in a transparent fashion.

4.1

Gathering facility-level data

4.1.1 Gathering facility-level data and information
The inventory compilers need to gather the following facility-level information, in order to assess how to use the data,
wherever possible:
•
•
•
•
•

•

4.2

Calculation and measurement methods used by the facility.
Procedures for filling gaps in data from measurement systems to ensure that facility-level emissions are neither
over- nor under-estimates as far as can be judged.
QA/QC, verification, external audit activities undertaken at the facility.
Uncertainty data collected at the facility-level.
Determine which data are confidential, and why? Again, the regulatory program might determine what isconfidential. Where not, clear procedures need to be in place to ensure that the inventory agency and thefacility are in agreement as to what should be considered publicly available data and which data are confidential.
Where a national regulatory framework governs the collection of facility-level data it may be easier to collect thisinformation. Otherwise it may be necessary to approach facilities directly for some of this information.

Documenting facility-level information in the Inventory Report

In the previous section 4.1.1, the type of facility-level data and information to be gathered was introduced. However, it
may not be practical to document all of the facility-level information gathered in the inventory report. It is important toprovide sufficient data and documentation such that any external reviewer or user of the data can understand how thedata have been collected and make a determination whether the methods are consistent with IPCC guidelines. The
information to present can be incorporated into two places in the current inventory reports: (1) as part of a description of
the institutional arrangements, and (2) as part of source category specific discussions.
4.2.1 Institutional Arrangements for data collection
To ensure transparency the inventory compiler should document the approach taken for collecting facility-level data.
This should include:••

A summary discussion of any regulations governing facility-level data collection (e.g., EUETS Directives andtheir implementations in the Member States of the European Union, U.S. Clean Air Act, Australian National
Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act).
Major elements of the scheme, including coverage, methods and tiers, standards followed, general QA/QC(facility-level as defined by any regulations, as well as reporting system regulators QA/QC, including audits),
penalties for non-compliance, treatment of confidential data, consistency with definitions in IPCC guidelines, etc.

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•
•

•
•

Detailed information on regulations should be referenced but not fully reproduced to promote a concise buttransparent report.
Describe the general procedures in place to determine if, and if so, how, facility-level data are incorporated into
Inventory (e.g., key criteria, decision trees?). These procedures should be a general discussion about thecriteria, the source specific determination is discussed in the relevant source category.
As the inventory compiler, describe additional QA/QC activities done. Refer to 2006 IPCC Guidelines forchecks (e.g., implied emission factors, comparison with other Parties and external datasets, etc.)
Describe the general treatment of confidentiality. What are the limitations on reporting due to confidentiality?

4.2.2 Category specific reporting
In the discussion about the method used to estimate emissions in each category, it is good practice for inventory
compilers to provide detailed information about the source of the data. Experience has shown the following are important
items to include:
•
•

•

4.3

Which facility-level data did you use (AD, EF or emissions, or all of these)? What were the specific methods
followed? Where emissions were used directly, it is particularly important to document how these were derived.
What is the source specific coverage from facility-level data? If not complete, how did you estimate emissions
from non-reporting facilities? If you do have coverage in the sector from your reporting regulations, but you
chose not to use these data, describe why the data set used was determined to be more appropriate than thefacility-level data reported.
Source-specific data should include a commentary on: Uncertainty;
 QA/QC (e.g., comparison of implied EF); Treatment of time series consistency where facility-level data only available for part of the time-series
or methods changed over the time-series; Where emissions are aggregated to protect confidential data, identify what data could be published (i.e.
can you publish EFs for individual categories).

Methods of integrating facility-level data into an inventory

4.3.1 Choosing data and the criteria for selection
Based on experience to date, inventory compilers have found it is important to review facility-level data to determine if it
is appropriate to incorporate it into the national greenhouse gas inventory. This is necessary as the facility-level data
may cover a wide range of data qualities, may not match the inventory categories, may have an incomplete coverage,
etc. Incorporation of facility-level data may be guided by an assessment of inventory quality and gaps or by the potential
for facility-level data to improve the inventory. Regardless of the source of the facility-level data (e.g., whether fromvoluntary reporting or from an emissions trading scheme), inventory compilers should not automatically assume thatsuch data are more accurate than the data used in an inventory and they should conduct appropriate QC checks, which
may involve discussions with the operators of the facilities.
Before facility-level data can be used in the national greenhouse gas inventory, broad selection criteria should be applied
to the data sets to eliminate lower quality data.
In an analogous way to the decision trees used in IPCC guidance, a decision tree could be developed to guide thechoice of inventory compliers of EFs, AD and/or emissions. An example of such a decision tree is given in Figure 1.

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It is assumed that for each facility emissions and activity data
are reported together with information on how these numbers
were derived so that QA/QC checks can be appliedStart
All data meet quality
checksIn addition, the total of the activity data (e.g. total category
fuel consumption) is known from other sources.

Do data cover all
sources in the
category?

Representative implies
that the data are an
unbiased sample andthat their emissions
can be regarded as agood representative of
the entire category.
Note this does notmean that themeasured data arenormally distributed
and this needs to betaken into accountwhen data are used toprovide a countryspecific EF forunmeasured plant.

Does
total activity datacompare with known
AD for the
category?

YES

YES

NO

Can difference be
understood
And justified?

NO

YES

Use emissions data as
emissions from sector

NOAre
facility with data
representative of thecategory as awhole?

NO

Are the data
representative of somesub-categories?
YES
YES

Derive country-specificEF(s) for sub-strata

Can
data for subcategories be used for
all unmeasured
plant?

YES

NO

While data may not be
representative of the wholecategory they may be agood sample of a subcategory. Stratifying thecategory in this way may
enable the data to be used
for part of the category. For
example: The measured
data may be representativeof large plant or plant withspecific abatement or othertechnologies.

NO
Use facility-level data
and derived countryspecific EF(s) forremainder

Can the CEF be used
for the remainder?

NO

Data cannot be used.
Continue to use CEF andAD

YES

Use facility-level data
and CEF for remainder

Note:
Prior to using the facility-level data emissions from this category were estimated using acountry-Specific emission factor (CEF) and activity data for the whole category (AD) known
from other sources.

Figure 1 - Example of Decision Tree for Selecting Facility-Level Data
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The key considerations to apply where selecting facility-level data are:Completeness of category coverage;
Whether or not the use of facility-level data improves the inventory quality;
Whether the reported emission factors and activity data are based on defaults or measured;
Quality of measured data, sample size, representativeness;
Ability to estimate emissions from facilities not reporting their facility-level data in order to quantify nationalemissions;• The aggregation of the data (e.g. are combustion and process emission combined).
When a category is not completely covered by facility-level data an important decision is how to completely estimate theemissions from the category. Either the data cannot be used as the total category emissions cannot be estimatedaccurately or one of the options in Section 4.3.4 below is used.
•
•
•
•
•

4.3.2 Reviewing the data
Once the broad selection criteria have been applied to the facility-level data, the next step is a more detailed review ofthe facility-level data to enable a judgement to be made about whether they can be included in a greenhouse gas
inventory. This review usually includes:• Matching the definitions of facility categories to the IPCC source categories;• Matching the fuels reported to the standard set of IPCC fuels;• Where facility-level data incompletely cover a category, ensuring the ability to extrapolate to national emissions;• Ensuring the ability to deal with incomplete time series;• Examining the time series consistency of the data;• Ensuring that biogenic carbon can be separated from the totals;• Checking consistency with other sources of data (including national energy statistics).
After the review, the inventory agency can then make a judgement about whether and how the facility data can be usedin the inventory.
4.3.3 Matching the definitions of source categories to the IPCC source categories
It might be possible to directly map the facility-level emissions data to a specific IPCC source category. However, insome cases the facility-level data could be a combination of several source categories in one or more sectors, forexample combustion and process emissions. If these facility emissions data represent a combination of source sector
emissions, this raises the question of how to make best use of these data. The inventory compliers could:••

Reject the entire facility-level data set since it does not cover a whole category.
Use a proxy measure (e.g. facility-level energy consumption) to split the total emissions into combustion andprocesses emissions. If this approach is taken, clear documentation is required.

4.3.4 Treating categories with incomplete coverage by facility-level data
If the facility emissions data represent some but not all of the source category emissions, the inventory compilers need tochoose how to use the data. It is important to apply a consistent decision framework across sectors. The inventory
compliers could:••

Not use the facility-level data set in the estimation of emissions but the data could still be used for QA/QC.
Devise a method to combine facility-level data with other data, where the overall accuracy of the sectoral
emissions would be increased by integrating the facility-level data into the inventory (see also Section 2.2.1,
Volume 1, 2006 IPCC Guidelines). There are four general possibilities when the sectoral coverage isincomplete:• Assume the facility-level data are representative of the whole population so the average emission rateof the facility-level data applies to any missing data;

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Assume inventory Tier 2 approach (or Tier 1 in special circumstances) is typical of the plant without
specific data;• Find a relationship between the facility-level data and some features of each facility and use this tomodel the emissions for facilities without data (“Surrogate Data”);• Use inventory approach to estimate category emissions and disaggregate this by facility-level data.
The choices made by inventory compilers regarding the use of facility-level data require the use of expert judgement. In
some countries, steps are being taken to develop frameworks to make better use of available evidence to support thesejudgements and to encourage consistent decision making across sources. The IPCC plans to continue its efforts to
explore and support the development of such frameworks in its future work programme.
•

4.3.5 Time series consistency
In general, facility-level data are not available for all inventory years. In order to achieve a consistent time series it isnecessary to splice facility-level data with traditional category level estimates. The IPCC Guidelines give guidance on
how to do this. (See Chapter 5 “Time Series Consistency”, Volume 1, 2006 IPCC Guidelines for guidance on time seriesconsistency, noting especially Section 5.3.3.6 “Selecting the most appropriate technique”.)
The participants noted that an overlap of several years worth of data will improve the splicing of the two data sources. As
additional years data are collected this splicing should be reviewed. It is also possible that as experience in the
production of facility-level data improves the quality of the facility-level data may improve.
In order to recalculate earlier years data based on facility-level data, an issue to consider is the changes in technology
and practices that may have occurred.
It may be the case that facility-level data are not collected annually. This could pose particular problems for time seriesconsistency. Data collected less than annually should be reviewed carefully against the criteria outlined above and theinventory compiler should evaluate if, and if so how, the data could be incorporated into the inventory. If it is determinedthat it is not appropriate to use the data in the national inventory, the data may still be valuable for QA/QC.

4.4

Energy data

4.4.1 Aligning facility-level fuel and IPCC fuel types
The types of fuels reported in facility-level data may be clear, and the inventory compilers may be able to map the facility
fuel data to one of the standard IPCC fuel types. In some cases, the fuels in the facility-level data may be ambiguous,and may not match the standard set of IPCC fuel types. In this case:
•
•
•
4.4.2

Clarification could be sought from the operators of the facility about the nature of fuels being used to try andremove the ambiguity.
A decision will need to be taken about the appropriate mapping to use between the facility-level data fuel type
and the IPCC fuel type where ambiguity remains.
Or if the ambiguity is too great, then the inventory compilers may choose not to include the facility-level data in
the inventory at all.
Ensuring biogenic carbon can be separated

Biomass is now quite commonly used in combination with fossil fuels
or indeed as a primary fuel. In Energy Sector in a national
greenhouse gas inventory, CO2 emissions from biogenic carbon
should be reported as an information item separately from national
total emissions. Facility-level reporting of emissions may include
emissions from biogenic carbon, and so these data need careful
examination to ensure that emissions from fossil fuel and biomass
are correctly reported.
4.4.3 Consistency with energy statistics for the country
Estimates of emissions in the inventories often rely heavily on
national energy statistics. If energy data reported from facilities were
to be used in an inventory, it is important to understand the reasons
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Example for EU-ETS
Emissions reported under the EU ETS
should exclude emissions from bio-carbon.
However, inventory compilers should beaware that the raw emissions data takenfrom the more detailed ETS show instancesof companies reporting emissions from biocarbon use – either these are errors in thedata, or more probably they represent
emissions of fossil carbon from fuels thatare mixtures of bio-fuels and fossil fuels.
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for any differences between energy consumptions reported in the national energy statistics and reported via the detailed
facility-level returns. This comparison may indicate under or over-allocation of fuels to sub sectors, or in the total energybalance itself. Any discrepancies should be discussed with national energy statisticians.

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5 National Experience in Using Facility-Level Data
5.1

Australia: National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act

In Australia, a broad based mandatory reporting system has been established under the National Greenhouse andEnergy Reporting (NGER) Act. The coverage of the system includes the Energy (fuel combustion), Energy (fugitive),
Industrial Processes and Waste sectors and has required reporting on emissions and energy use at both company andfacility levels by every major company in Australia.
A key design feature of the system has been the integration of the methods for emissions estimation for facilities andthose of the national inventory ensuring consistency with IPCC guidelines and policy efficiency. As is the case with manyenvironmental reporting systems, the risk of imposition of unsustainable compliance costs is managed through theprovision of choice in the use of estimation methods by companies (apart from major components of electricity,
underground coal and aluminium emissions). Measurements are undertaken at facilities (e.g., of the carbon content offuel inputs) in accordance with Australian or international sampling and analysis standards. The system Regulator has
powers of audit and significant penalties may be imposed for non-compliance.
In the national inventory, activity data collected will be used for IPCC categories where complete coverage may beobtained (electricity and many industrial process and fugitive categories) or will supplement existing data sources inother cases (stationary combustion other than electricity).
Data collected on emission factors measured at facilities will enable a shift from Tier 2 methods to Tier 3 or Tier 2 / Tier 3
mixed approaches. In the case of mixed approaches, consistent application of expert judgements across categories andover time in relation to both the use of the facility-specific data available from the NGER system and in the assumptions
made for the emission factor for the uncovered portion of the category will be encouraged through the use of criteria forassessments of the representativeness of the sample of measured emission factor data, a standardised decision tree
and documentation procedures.

5.2

Facility data in the Netherlands Greenhouse Gas inventory

The greenhouse gas inventory of the Netherlands is based on the national Pollutant Release & Transfer Register(PRTR). In 2000, an improvement program was initiated to transform the general process of the greenhouse gas
inventory of the PRTR into a National System. Before the general process was transformed, emissions were estimatedbottom-up, using facility data (average 500 companies each year) as a basis for estimating total emissions for a sector.
But nowadays the emission calculations are based on energy statistics combined with company-specific emission factors(in 2008 for 20 selected companies).
Data from individual facilities are available in the form of annual environmental reports. A large number of companies
have a legal obligation to submit an environmental report. Some companies provide data voluntarily within the frameworkof environmental covenants. The data in most of these environmental reports are used for verifying the calculated CO2
emissions (from energy statistics) for industry, energy and refineries. Only environmental reports with high quality andtransparent data are used for calculating company-specific emission factors in the Netherlands. This primarily applies tocompanies with deviating fuels types (residual gases, various types of coal) and / or the energy intensive industry.
Company-specific emission factors are used for 20 companies in the Netherlands (mainly refineries, electricity
production and chemical industry). This means that for most sectors, only a part of the emission estimate can be basedon facility data. For the part of the emission estimate which is not covered by facility data, another methodology is used.
For example, if it is observed that a specific fuel type has the same composition for the entire sector, then the companyspecific emission factor could be used for the entire sector. But most often, the composition of a specific fuel type varies
within a sector, and in that case a country-specific emission factor (based on an average fuel composition) has beenused for the remaining part of the emission estimate.
5.2.1 Responsibilities (from the Netherlands QA/QC plan)
Data are from individual companies that submit annual environmental reports (legally required or submitted within theframework of covenants). Quality of the data is the responsibility of the companies.

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Competent authorities (usually those that are responsible for permits, in most cases regional authorities) are responsible
for validation of the data.
Where these individual company data hold information on activity data and emissions of sufficient quality andtransparency, these data are used in emission estimates.

5.3

UK facility-level emissions reporting, including Greenhouse Gas emissions

In the UK, there are a number of sources of facility-level emissions data that are used for greenhouse gas inventory
compilation. This includes data collected and reported as part of the UK implementation of the EU ETS, in addition to
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) emissions data from regulatory agencies, and other source-specificemission estimates obtained directly from plant operators.
5.3.1 Data reported under the EU ETSIn January 2005 the European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS) commenced operation as the largest multicountry, multi-sector Emission Trading System world-wide, initially setting up a “cap and trade” scheme for carbon
dioxide emissions from high-emitting industrial sectors. The scheme is based on Directive 2003/87/EC, which enteredinto force on 25 October 2003. The EU ETS covers around 10,500 installations across the 27 Member States of theEuropean Union, including the UK. Baseline data were gathered to allocate CO2 emission allowances to installations,and operators trade allowances to balance emissions above or below their annual allocations.
Installations covered by the EU ETS are those which carry out activities listed in Annex I of the EU ETS Directive. These
include energy activities, production and processing of ferrous metals, mineral industries and pulp and paper industries.
Phase I of the scheme ran from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2007. Phase II is currently ongoing, from 1 January
2008 to 31 December 2012, with a larger scope of installations covered than in Phase I, notably in the UK where a preexisting system of emissions trading (the UK Emissions Trading Scheme and sector-wide Climate Change Agreements)
had excluded several major installations (e.g. most cement kilns) from the Phase I EU ETS.
There are EU ETS permits for 740 Installations in England and Wales, and a UK wide registry for 1,050 installations.
These installations account for about 50% of UK CO2.
Reporting under the EU ETS is installation specific, whilst reporting under the IPCC is category specific. This
fundamental difference in approach between the two systems means that it has not so far been feasible to include all EU
ETS data directly in the UK greenhouse gas inventory, although the EU ETS data have been used for sectoral allocationand to improve emission factors related to fuel quality.
Under the EU ETS, emissions are reported from combustion where installations have a rated thermal input exceeding 20
MW (except hazardous or municipal waste installations) as listed in Annex I to Directive 2003/87/EC and to monitor
combustion emissions from other activities as listed in that Annex I to Directive 2003/87/EC where referred to in Annexes
III to XI to these guidelines. For relevant processes of the petrochemical industry — if covered by Annex I Directive
2003/87/EC — Annex III may also apply.
The UK inventory agency conducts extensive quality checking of the EU ETS data, and each year seeks to resolve
energy data inconsistencies between EU ETS returns and UK energy statistics by sector, and emission reporting
inconsistencies, e.g. between EU ETS and IPPC returns. The EU ETS has helped to improve the accuracy of fuel use
allocations across many sectors, including the mineral industries, refinery sector and iron and steel sector. The EU ETS
has also provided a new resource of fuel quality measurements including CO2 emission factors, which are now used in
the UK greenhouse gas inventory.
The regulatory system governing the EU ETS in the UK includes several elements designed to ensure data quality,
through a managed system of monitoring, reporting and data verification, including:•••

Clear reporting templates with operator guidance provided by regulators;
Simple permit, but detailed monitoring plans with agreed measurement and reporting tiers tailored to reflectsite-specific considerations and emission allocations;
Verification of annual operator emission returns, by independent accredited organisations.

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Electronic systems have been developed for permit application and issue, annual reporting, verification, annual
improvement reports, and inspections. Further details are available on the web sites of the UK Environment Agency andthe UK Department of Energy and Climate Change.
The regulation of the EU ETS within the UK is managed by several Government Departments and agencies. The
management of operator permits, guidance and collation of annual data submissions is regulated (on a geographicalbasis) by the Environment Agency of England and Wales, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Northern
Ireland Environment Agency and the Department of Energy & Climate Change Oil and Gas team (for offshore sites).
The central management of the UK Registry for the EU ETS and submission of UK reports to the European Union
Community Independent Transaction Log is governed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
ETS data are published on the Community Independent Transaction Log (CITL) website. Annual emissions of carbon
dioxide by installation are published, alongside their annual ETS allowances. No other greenhouse gases are currently
traded under EU ETS by UK installations, and the CITL data (emissions only, aggregated at site level) are of limited use
for greenhouse gas inventory compilation. However, the UK Inventory Agency has secured access to the detailed ETS
returns from the regulators of the ETS in the UK, and these returns provide a breakdown of emissions by fuel andprocess source together with supplementary information on the emission calculations. From these data, fuel carbon
contents, calorific values and oxidation factors can be derived, and these may then be used in the greenhouse gas
compilation, where the measurements meet quality requirements. Information on fuel carbon content is particularly
valuable where operators have implemented fuel quality analytical programmes to determine carbon contents with very
low uncertainties.
5.3.2 Other facility-level emissions data
There is a range of other facility-level data that are available to the UK inventory team.
Industrial plant operators submit annual emission estimates to the UK environmental agencies under the IPPC permitting
regime. These data are published in the Pollution Inventory (PI) of the Environment Agency for England and Wales, theScottish Pollutant Release Inventory (SPRI) of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and the Inventory of
Statutory Releases (ISR) of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. Emissions of greenhouse gases and air quality
pollutants are reported, where those emissions exceed reporting thresholds (determined by pollutant) but othersupporting data such as fuel use and carbon contents are not reported. Biogenic and fossil carbon emissions are notreported separately.
Other regulatory data sets include emissions reported for oil and gas producers operating on the UK Continental Shelf
under the Environmental Emissions Monitoring Scheme (EEMS). EEMS provides emissions of greenhouse gas and air
quality pollutants, by site and by source. Oil refinery emissions data are provided by the United Kingdom Petroleum
Industry Association (UKPIA), including a detailed breakdown of greenhouse gas and air quality pollutant emissions fromcombustion and process sources on each refinery site. In addition, source-specific emission estimates from iron andsteelworks are provided by Corus, enabling the inventory team to report emissions separately for blast furnaces, cokeovens, sinter plant, BOS plant, and other combustion and process sources.

5.4

United States Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program(GHGRP)

The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) requires reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and other related
data from certain large downstream emissions sources, as well as suppliers of fossil fuels and industrial gases in the
United States. Generally, facilities that emit equal to or greater than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent(mtCO2e) per year are required to submit their first annual greenhouse gas report by March 31, 2011, and annually
thereafter. For some industries (e.g., cement, aluminium and ammonia production), all facilities are required to reportunder the program, regardless of size.
The GHGRP includes specific methods that reporters must follow to calculate and report their emissions. EPA reviewed
the existing methodologies available for specific source categories, modified them as necessary to apply them at thefacility-level, and developed a program that relies on use of continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) for
facilities that meet certain criteria (e.g., have some of the basic infrastructure and quality assurance/quality control(QA/QC) procedures already in place). Facilities not required to use CEMS must follow the facility-specific methods inthe rule. In limited cases, default emission factors are also allowed.

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QA/QC is an integral part of the GHGRP. The program requires facilities to use standardized calibration, certification,
maintenance, and other QA/QC procedures when quantifying greenhouse gas emissions. They must document theseprocedures in a monitoring plan and, as appropriate, report the information to EPA or retain it as a record onsite. Once areporter submits the data to EPA, the reporter will attest, under penalty of law, that the emissions estimates are accurate
to the best of their knowledge. Data are submitted electronically. EPA will review the emissions and other supporting
data submitted by reporters using electronic checks and auditing tools.
The GHGRP and the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory program are managed by many of the same individuals. EPA isjust beginning to identify the opportunities and challenges associated with incorporating these facility-level data into thenational Inventory. The earliest that any GHGRP data could be incorporated into the greenhouse gas inventory would bewith the 2012 Inventory submission (containing 2010 data). EPA intends on undertaking a careful and thorough review toensure that incorporation of the facility-level data meets IPCC good practice guidance.

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6 Enhancing the use of Models and Facility-Level Data
There are a number of practical challenges in the adoption of complex models. For example, access to higher quality
and reliable data at suitable resolution is required due to their data intensity. Although requiring a lesser intensity of data
than measurement systems, data must still be of relevance and of a high quality. This is a significant challenge even indeveloped countries where resources are less of a limitation. Even if all the data requirements can be met, there are still
additional resource requirements. Sufficient institutional and human capabilities as well as enhanced resources are allneeded.
Access to model and computing hardware may be an issue, however, more significantly, if the use of a model in national
inventories is being considered this implies a long-term commitment in terms of collecting and updating data; developing,
improving and adapting models to changing circumstances; as well as using the model itself. Creating long-term
dedicated teams to work on modelling can be supported by improving coordination with research bodies and academic
institutions. This can be assisted by international networks of researchers and model users, collaborative projects, aforum for exchange of information, and the development of manuals, tutorials and training workshops, to help in thetransfer and portability of the model.
In addition, help could be provided to address specific issues such as access to models; documentation of the necessarychanges required to apply the models in different circumstances; data acquisition; and portability of models. One
suggestion was the development of more generic models applicable to a variety of conditions that could then be
disseminated widely. Views differed on whether access to model source code would enhance model adaptability andtransparency. Some felt that there were advantages to making source code open access, others noted that this could
give rise to quality control issues if results from modified versions of models became attributed to the originators.
The two main barriers to the use of facility-level data are the need to understand the source of the underlying facility data
and the completeness of the facility-level data. First, it is important to build up relationships, trust and understanding
between the facilities themselves, the data collectors and the inventory compilers so that the inventory compilers can beassured that the data are appropriate for use in a national greenhouse gas inventory. Issues of concern include how thedata will be used, confidentiality and QA/QC (by all parties). A second barrier to overcome is an assessment of thecompleteness of the facility-level data for use in a national greenhouse gas inventory. Even if facility-level data are notcomplete, it does not automatically mean they cannot be used in the inventory. However, in these instances, theinventory compiler will have to carefully assess whether alternative data are available to estimate emissions fromfacilities not covered by the facility-level data. It is important to remember that while in many cases facility-level data can
improve the national greenhouse gas inventory, it may also be the case that a country's current estimates are more
appropriate and the facility-level data are best used as a source of QA/QC.

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7 Conclusions
The expert meeting considered the use of models and measurements in inventories. In the light of experience to date themeeting compiled this report on experiences and the lessons learnt, particularly related to transparency so that inventory
compilers addressing these issues can benefit from this experience.
Measurements underlie both models (where these are for parameterisation, calibration and evaluation), and facility-level
data where emissions, fuel quality or other parameters may be measured. Measurements may be made at individual
plant. In general models extend information to cover national emissions and removals.
The use of both models and facility-level data in inventories can provide significant opportunity to reduce uncertainty inthe national inventory; better reflect mitigation activities; improve spatial and temporal resolution of data; enable further
disaggregation of categories; improve potential to correctly estimate impact of mitigation on national net emissions andimprove the overall quality and accuracy of the inventory. Their use in the national inventory should be encouraged.
The key issue identified in the use of this more detailed information is transparency. While lower tier approaches areclearly documented in the IPCC Guidelines and reflect consensus of many scientists, the use of models andmeasurements is generally higher tier and so clear descriptions of the approaches used to derive national net emissions
are needed to ensure the results are credible.
The 2006 IPCC Guidelines provide the fundamental approach to transparently documenting and reporting these types ofdata.
The meeting compiled lists of typical items that, when reported, may lead to improved transparency. These include:
Models• Basis and type of model• Application and adaptation of the model(1)• Main equations/processes• Key assumptions(2)• Domain of application(3)• How the model parameters were estimated• Description of key inputs and outputs• Details of Calibration & evaluation• Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis• QA/QC procedures adopted• References to peer-reviewed literature

Facility-Level Data
Institutional Arrangements• Legal basis• Elements covered• Criteria for data selection• QA/QC• Confidentiality(4)Category-specific• Category Emissions(5)• Implied Emission Factor• Uncertainty• How completeness and time seriesconsistency are ensured

Note: (1) Description of why and how the model was adapted for conditions outside the originally intended domain of application.
(2) Important assumptions made in developing and applying the model.
(3) Description of the range of conditions for which the model has been developed to apply.
(4) Description of which data are confidential, and why those were labelled as confidential.
(5) Including emissions, activity data, and emission factors, as appropriate as well as method used to generate category
emissions is also included.

The meeting also considered some of the factors inventory compilers need to consider when incorporating models andfacility-level data in greenhouse gas inventories.
•

For models, considerations include: reasons for model selection; interpretation of model results; calibrationand parameterisation; evaluation of model, processes and results; comparisons with lower tiers andmeasurements; uncertainty and sensitivity analysis.

•

For facility-level data, considerations include: do the facility-level data definitions match those of theinventory and how has this matching been achieved; does the dataset completely cover a reporting
category and if not how this gap has been filled; how has time series consistency between the facility-level

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data and estimates for earlier years has been achieved; and how might these data enhance the quality of
inventories.
The meeting also considered how the use of these methods can be encouraged. The main barriers to the adoption ofcomplex models are the need for enhanced resources, technical capacity, computing hardware, software models andalso access to high quality and reliable data at suitable resolution.

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Annex 1.
Example of check list for documenting the Tier 3 Model-Based Inventory developed
based on the Guidance from the 2006 IPCC Guidelines
The meeting also considered how the use of these methods can be encouraged. The main barriers to the adoption ofcomplex models are the need for enhanced resources, technical capacity, computing hardware, software models andalso access to high quality and reliable data at suitable resolution.
1. Model Selection and Developmenta. Selection and applicability of model and adaptation to the situation in which the model is used for GHG
inventory purposes
i. Document choice of model based on published studies using the model for the conditions inyour country and/or how the model has been adapted to represent the conditions in yourcountry.
ii. Supplemental documentation may be needed to describe the adaptation of the model to theconditions in a country if publications are not available with this information.
b. Basis and type of model (statistical, deterministic, process-based, empirical, top-down, bottom-up etc.)
i. Document the conceptual approach (e.g. model represents statistical relationships orprocesses), and the mathematical formulation in general terms, such as the model isprocess-based with a bottom-up approach to estimate emissions.
c. Identify main processes and equations
i. Document the main processes and describe the driving variables for those processes.
ii. List the main equations if feasible (may not be feasible with highly complex models or notnecessary with simple book-keeping models).
iii. Also cite publications that describe the model in detail if they exist. It may be necessary todevelop supplemental information documents if the model description has not been publishedor to provide regional parameter values that are too detailed to be publishable in a scientificjournal.
d. Key assumptions in modeli. Document key assumptions to the extent possible (it may not be possible to list all
assumptions for highly complex models).
ii. e.g., first order approximation was assumed to represent soil organic matter decomposition
for three kinetically-defined pools with a short, medium and long turnover time.
e. Domain of applicationi. Provide information about the extent of the model application to systems in the country, e.g.,
all agricultural lands with arable crops grown on upland soils.
2. Model Calibration and Evaluationa. Calibration of the model (i.e., parameterization) may include tuning individual algorithms or the modelin a single operation using informal (manual) adjustments to parameters or an automated optimizationthat attempts to derive a set of parameters based on minimizing the error in the predictions relative toa set of measurements.
b. Document the model evaluationi. Provide graphs or other summaries of the evaluation of calibrated model to measured
emissions data.
1. Evaluation data should be from sites that were not used in calibration.
2. Or data from the calibration sites that were collected at different time periods thanthe data used in the calibration step.
ii. Other key predictions from the model may also be evaluated such as net primary production
and respiration, litterfall, harvest transfers, or stock sizes which may be predicted in AFOLU
sector models.
iii. May also compare performance to other models if other models were evaluated.
c. Include references to published articles with more detail on the calibration and/or evaluation if
available. Supplemental documentation may be needed if this information is not published.

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3. Identify Model Inputs
a. Describe key inputs to the model.
i. e.g., weather data were based on analysis of long-term precipitation and temperature datafrom the national weather service.
ii. e.g., transportation data were based a national scale monitoring of miles travelled by vehicle
type, engine, condition and age.
b. Include references to publications of the input data or online publication of the data.
c. List any key assumptions that were necessary to use these data, such as representativeness ofmanagement data.
d. Are there special considerations with regards to the domain of the inventory application using themodel given input data.
i. e.g., were different input data sets used in different parts of the domain,ii. Or was the application of the model limited to specific parts of the country due to the domainof the input data.
4. Assess Uncertainties
a. Provide a description of any sensitivity analysis conducted and a summary of findings in terms of key
parameters influencing the model results.
b. Describe the derivation of uncertainties in the model inputs and model structure, as well as any otherkey uncertainties.
c. Provide references to articles that provide additional detail on sensitivity or uncertainty analysis fromyour application. Supplemental documentation may be needed if this information is not published.
5. Implement Modela. Briefly describe computing framework including the hardware, databases and programs that wereused to execute the inventory.
b. Description of key outputs variables from the model and any conversions or modifications made toderive the final emissions and removal estimates.
c. Summary of QA/QC procedures adopted to ensure the modelling systems performed appropriately,such as conservation of land area through the analysis, unit conversions are correct, and input fromexperts not involved with the inventory, but reviewed the procedures, inputs and/or outputs. List any
critical errors, their magnitude and implications, and corrective actions.
d. Optionally provide examples of simple model calculations, such as emissions and removals by forest
stands or landscapes in response to different forest management, natural disturbance, or mitigation
scenarios. Examples of model performance may be easier to understand than lengthy and complex
descriptions of intended model behaviour.
6. Evaluation of inventory resultsa. Evaluating inventory results which are determined by both the model and the input data.
i. Estimating implied emissions factors and comparing to lower tier emission factors and/or
expected ranges. Out of range values may require further explanation.
ii. Compare to lower tier methods if inventory also estimated with lower tiers.
iii. Compare to independent measurements that were not used in step 2 for calibration andevaluation of the model, such as data from a monitoring network in the country.
b. Evaluate the conservation of mass through the inventory analysis, e.g., carbon or nitrogen entering thesystem in combination with the existing storage, is accounted for through emissions and/or storage inthe system.
i. It will be necessary to account for mass input and output including those resulting in losses ofmass that are not related to greenhouse gas emissions (e.g., nitrate leaching from soils which
does not contribute to direct soil nitrous oxide emissions).
ii. Note that the system does not need to be at steady state, which occurs if inputs and outputs
are equal, but storage in the system must be increasing or decreasing to balance thedifference in inputs and outputs.

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Annex 2.

Background papers

Paper Title and Presenter

Page

Issues arising from the use of Tier 3 Models in AFOLU and inter-annual variability (GaryRichards, Australia)
Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS3)
Experiences in implementing a Tier 3 approach(Werner Kurz, Canada)
New Zealand's enteric methane/nitrous oxide inventory model and the New
Zealand emissions trading scheme (Andrea Pickering, New Zealand)

34
39
48

An inventory of CH4 emissions from rice paddies in China based on Tier 3 approaches(Yao Huang, China)

Note 1

Estimation of national GHG emissions from solid waste disposal site by using field
investigation results (Komsilp Wangyao, Thailand)

53

Comparison of the UK inventory and other EU inventories with the EUETS combustion CO2
data (John Watterson, UK)

68

Facility data in the Netherlands emission inventory(Rianne Dröge, Netherlands)

Note 2The use of facility-specific emission factor data in Australia's national inventory(Rob Sturgiss, Australia)

99

Facility and plant level data: Incorporating facility reported data into the U.S. GHG Inventory(Lisa Hanle, USA)109

Use of COPERT 4 for the compilation and submission of road transport greenhouse gas
inventories (Leonidas Ntziachristos, EEA/ETC)

120

Note 1: The following are the background papers for this presentation. They are not included in this report.
Huang, Y., Zhang, W., Zheng, X., Li, J. and Yu, Y. (2004). Modeling methane emission from rice paddies
with various agricultural practices. Journal of Geophysical Research, 109: D08113.
Huang, Y., Zhang, W., Zheng, X., Han, S. and Yu, Y. (2006). Estimates of methane emissions from
Chinese rice paddies by linking a model to GIS database. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 26(4): 980−988.

Note 2: This presentation is not based on any specific background papers. Therefore no background paper is
included in this report.

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Issues arising from the use of Tier 3 models in AFOLU
and inter-annual variability
Prof. Gary Richards

Invited Background Paper to the IPCC Experts Meeting,
Sydney, Australia, 9 – 11 August 2010

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What is inter-annual variability and what causes it?
Put simply, inter-annual variability is the year-to-year change in the estimates of emissions and removals above andbelow an underlying trend (see Figure 1 below).
Figure 1

As the inter-annual variability in AFOLU can be greater than the trend change in any one year, or even over a shortreporting period, the reported inter-annual variability can mask the underlying trend. Also, if the variability remains
consistently either above or below the trend change for two or more years, it can potentially infer a false change in trend.
The extended period over which data would need to be analysed to stabilise a trend depends on both the magnitude andtemporal characteristics of the variability. There may be circumstances where the variability is such that a trend cannot
be confidently identified. Exacerbating the problem of determining trends in variable emissions estimates is the impactof ‘extreme’ results, such as emissions from very infrequent but severe events. A good example of this is wildfire. The
inclusion of extreme events in emissions estimates makes it much more difficult to find an underlying trend in interannual variability. Figure 2 below highlights the impact that such events can have on time-series emissions data.
Figure 2

On cause of emissions, extreme events in AFOLU would typically relate to a source of emissions beyond human control,a natural disturbance such as heatwave, fire or cold-snap. Inter-annual variability could derive from either natural or
human causes. For example, climate influences the rate of growth and turn-over rates in biological process. Humancauses can be from changes in rates of activity driven by external factors, such as commodity prices. And of course,
both human activity and biological response are not independent and can interact to either ameliorate, or by
convergence, exacerbate inter-annual variability.
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Why is inter-annual variability included in estimates?
The 2006 IPCC Guidelines have an implicit goal that the methods used to create estimates provide for annual estimation.
The following section is on page 2.11 of Chapter 2, Volume 1 of the 2006 Guidelines, in section 2.2.3, Adapting data forinventory use.
Multi-year averaging: Countries should report annual inventory estimates that are based on best
estimates for actual emissions and removals in that year. Generally, single year estimates provide thebest approximation of real emissions/removals and a time series of single year estimates preparedaccording to good practice can be considered consistent. Countries should, where possible, avoid
using multi-year averaging of data that would result in over- or under-estimates of emissions overtime, increased uncertainty, or reduced transparency, comparability or time-series consistency of theestimates. However, in some specific cases that are described for specific sectors in Volume 2-5,
multi-year averaging may be the best or even the only way to estimate data for a single year. In thecase of high or uncertain annual variability – as in the growth of various tree species in a year – andwhere there is higher confidence in the average annual growth rate over a period of years then multiyear averaging can improve the quality of the overall estimate.
The methods considered as good practice may (1) derive averages of multi-year estimates, (2) reflect inter-annual
variability in only activity data, that is, for the human caused but not the biological variation, and (3) may fully reflect, on
an annual basis, inter-annual variability in both human activity rates and biological variations due to externalities such as
climate.
The way that estimates reflect inter-annual variability is therefore more to do with method chosen and measurement
frequency than to do with estimation Tier. That said, Tier 3 systems more typically reflect the conjoint inter-annual
variability effects of human activity and biological variations. Tier 3 models do not create inter-annual variability, they justtypically provide more of a reflection of the actual inter-annual variability than Tier 3 measurement methods that use
multi-year averaged inputs and reflect multi-year averaged emissions estimates.

Forms of multi-year averaging that mask inter-annual variability
Input data (activity and/or stock change/emissions estimates) can be subjected to multi-year averaging. This can bebrought about by either extended measurement periods (including observations/survey, etc.) or through averaging ofmultiple annual measurements. While IPCC methods provide for this multi-year averaging of input data, andrecommend it in some instances, there are no provisions for multi-year averaging of resultant emissions estimates.
While the reporting of actual annual estimates, and consequent inter-annual variability, is consistent with an overall goalof actual annual estimates, the multi-year averaging of input data would appear to detract from this goal.
For activity data, multi-year averaging could be brought about by:• statistical collections, surveys etc., being conducted or reported over multiple years;• observations, e.g., satellite data, being at a frequency exceeding a single year.
For stock changes/emissions estimates, multi-year averaging of input data can be achieved by:
the use of emissions factors that remain static year-by-year;•••

measurement programs with a return frequency of more than one year;
use of empirical models (not driven by climate) that average responses over time; anduse of models (driven by climate) but using long-term (greater than one year) averaged climate.

Is averaging input data the same as averaging resultant emissions estimates?
The answer to this is, probably not, but is dependent on how the input data is used. For the simplest of algorithms, theaveraging of inputs may not impact on total emissions reported, but will of course impact on the time trend of emissions.
This is not a concern if only the long-term total emissions are of interest. However, for reporting over short time periods
this could be problematic (see Figure 3 below).

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Figure 3

For any calculation method (e.g., the way forest growth data is converted to a stock or emissions estimate) that contains
non-linear functions, it is also likely that neither the temporal pattern nor total emissions reported using averaged inputs
will be the same as the averaged sum of actual annual emissions. Also, multi-year averaging removes the effects ofextremes. For example, a period of drought followed by waterlogging does not equate to an average growth period.
The figure above shows the consequence when there is a clear representation of a multi-year average of input data e.g.,when activity data is multiplied by an emissions factor more often than not various input data are averaged over different
time periods. The use of such mixed provenance data needs to be approached cautiously, and specifically in thecontext in which it is being used.
As noted in Chapter 2 of Volume I of the 2006 Guidelines there are instances where there is merit in applying a multiyear period. The example used in the IPCC Guidelines is forest growth, where the small annual increments of growthcannot be routinely measured with certainty.

Is inter-annual variability an estimation, reporting or accounting problem?
Annual estimation of actual emissions showing inter-annual variability is not an estimation problem per se. However, it is
not achievable using some methods, and in some instances it is less than prudent to attempt to measure small annualchanges given the achievable precision of the method.
In regard to reporting, reflecting inter-annual variability can mask a trends analysis, and can also make it difficult tounderstand whether an annual national inventory is showing a true change in national performance. That said, if aconsistent method is applied over the time-series of inventories, then the potential influence of inter-annual variability
should at least be transparent. These effects are much the same for inventories using multi-year averaged inputs, where
the averaging replaces the variability in masking actual annual performance.
In regard to both multi-year averaging of input data and reflecting inter-annual variability, each has problems when
accounting over short periods. Figure 3 shows the problems of multi-year averaging over short periods, while Figure 4
below shows the problems encountered in accounting using inventories reflecting inter-annual variability.
Figure 4

How best to treat the problem?
Except in instances where, for the chosen method, multi-year inputs are advisable it is generally both technically prudent
and transparent to treat inter-annual variability post hoc. This could be achieved by simple methods such as multi-year

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averaging as was previously applied in the 1996 IPCC Guidelines, or where appropriate models are available, provide acontrast model with the sources of variability excised, so as to determine the scale of variability.
The use of models to identify the scale of influence of externalities on emissions estimates has been consideredpreviously by an IPCC expert workshop as a method to factor out the non-anthropogenic effects on emissions. The
meeting ‘Revisiting the use of managed land as a proxy for estimating national anthropogenic emissions and removals’(Brazil, May 2009) considered the use of Tier 3 models to provide a comparison of two time-series of emissions
estimates, with and without human activities included.
In this way, there are many similarities between decisions on the treatment of non-anthropogenic emissions in natural
disturbances and extreme events, and the treatment of inter-annual variability, much of which may be non-anthropogenic.

Conclusions
The IPCC 2006 Guidelines provide strong guidance on the desirability of national inventories having the “...best
approximation of real emissions/removals, and a time series of single year estimates..... Countries should, where
possible, avoid using multi-year averaging of data.....” Though pointing to cases for exception, this clarifies thedesirability of both estimating and reporting actual emissions on an annual basis thereby including reflection of interannual variability as an estimation and reporting goal.
Though it is preferable to reflect year-to-year variability in making and reporting emissions estimates, this does create an
accounting problem. When accounting considers short periods, e.g., several years, the pattern of inter-annual variability
over that period could distort the outcome so as to mask a longer term trend. In this case the accounting creates a policy
problem as the pattern of inter-annual variability is a form of a non-exceptional force majeure, a routine but largely
unpredictable variability, mostly but not entirely beyond human control. Just as how to treat emissions from natural
disturbances on managed lands has raised accounting and policy questions, so does the consideration of nonanthropogenic components of inter-annual variability.

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Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS3)
Experiences in implementing a Tier 3 approach

Werner A. Kurz
Canadian Forest Service
Natural Resources Canada
506 West Burnside Road,
Victoria BC, V8Z 1M5, Canadae-mail: wkurz@nrcan.gc.ca

Invited Background Paper to the IPCC Experts Meeting,
Sydney, Australia, 9 – 11 August 2010

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Abstract
Advanced (Tier 3) computer simulation models are increasingly used to estimate greenhouse gas emissions andremovals in managed forests. Some of these model use country-specific data on forest inventory conditions, detailed
activity data and process modelling approaches to link dead organic matter and soil carbon pool dynamics to those of
biomass carbon pools. These Tier 3 models are expected to provide emissions and removals estimates of greatercertainty than lower Tier methods. Here we briefly discuss the benefits of using Tier 3 models over simpler Tier 1 or 2
approaches, summarise approaches to evaluating such models, and propose an activity that could contribute toincreasing the transparency of Tier 3 models. Increased transparency is required to facilitate the review of greenhousegas inventories by expert review teams. In addition to improved documentation and the reporting of more detailed
results using agreed-upon templates and indicators, we outline an approach that would involve a series of standardised
tests and scenario analyses advancing from single stands to landscapes of increasing complexity. Indicators andperformance criteria are proposed for consideration in these comparative tests. A future workshop involving model
developers, model users, inventory compilers, and UNFCCC expert reviewers could focus on possible approaches todeveloping and implementing such testing protocols and the reporting of their results.

Background
The purpose of this paper is to advance discussion on a few issues explored in recent expert meetings of the IPCC and
UNFCCC. Although not the focus of those meetings, questions arose about the benefits of using Tier 3 models, insteadof Tier 1 or 2 approaches, to estimate greenhouse gas emissions and removals in managed forests. Discussions also
addressed how these more complex models can be validated and made more transparent to expert reviewers.
The paper explores three questions:
1) What are the benefits of using Tier 3 models for the estimation of greenhouse gas emissions and removals inmanaged forests?
2) How can such Tier 3 models be evaluated?
3) How can such Tier 3 models be made more transparent to reviewers?
This paper is neither a comprehensive review nor an in-depth exploration of the issues. Instead, it is an attempt to shareexperiences and knowledge gained during the development and implementation of a Tier 3 model of forest carbon
dynamics and greenhouse gas budgets. It also advances a proposal for a possible approach to increasing thetransparency of Tier 3 models of forest carbon dynamics. The paper does not discuss Tier 3 measurement approaches.
The development of a forest carbon dynamics model for Canada commenced in late 1989 (Kurz et al. 1992), long before
the UNFCCC was signed in 1992. The purpose of the research tool was to quantify the contribution of Canada’s forests
to the global carbon cycle. Over the past 20 years, the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBMCFS3) has evolved to the third version (Kurz et al. 2009, Kull et al. 2006). It is the core model of Canada’s National
Forest Carbon Monitoring, Accounting and Reporting System (Kurz and Apps 2006). The model is used in Canada atvarious spatial scales (e.g., Dymond et al. 2010; Hagemann et al. 2010; Neilson et al. 2007; Taylor et al. 2008) and inseveral countries around the world (e.g., Zamolodchikov et al. 2008).
CBM-CFS3 is a comprehensive book-keeping tool that relies heavily on forest inventory data and combines these withinformation on processes that affect forest dynamics (activity data on natural disturbances, forest management and landuse change) to estimate annual greenhouse gas emissions and removals. Process simulations are used where
inventory data are limited, for example to represent the dynamics of dead organic matter and soil carbon pools. The
model can be used to monitor past changes in carbon stocks (e.g. Trofymow et al. 2008, Bernier et al. 2010), using
activity data of past events, or to simulate future changes (Kurz et al. 2008 a,b; Metsaranta et al. 2010), using scenario
projections of future events such as natural disturbances, forest management or land-use changes.

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Benefits of using Tier 3 models of forest carbon dynamics
IPCC Good Practice Guidance for Land use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (IPCC 2003) and the 2006 IPCC
Guidelines National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC 2006) provide countries with the option to use Tier 3 models
and approaches to estimating greenhouse gas emissions and removals in their managed forests. The use of Tier 3
models is encouraged for inventories in which forest land remaining forest land is considered a key category and where
advanced methods and detailed country-specific data exist.
Tier 3 models are expected to provide estimates of emissions and removals with greater certainty relative to those
calculated using Tiers 1 or 2. Tier 3 models can process more detailed, country-specific data and use morecomprehensive stratifications of forest conditions by geographic regions, species, stand age, disturbance history, andmanagement interventions.
Tier 3 models enable countries to use the best available data on processes that affect forest carbon dynamics. For
example, IPCC guidelines suggest that the calculation of biomass increments consider average growth rates of different
forest types. In many countries an extensive body of knowledge on growth rates has been developed through growthand yield programs that involve measurements in temporary and permanent sample plots and the development of yield
tables or models from this information. Where such advanced information exists, it can replace Tier 2 type information
on average growth rates by forest biomes for relevant regions or the entire country. Moreover, yield tables recognise
age-dependent variations in forest growth rates as well as the impacts of species, site and forest management on forest
growth. Models such as the CBM-CFS3 can accommodate libraries containing thousands of yield curves thatcharacterise a wide range of forest conditions. While the basic approach to calculating biomass stock changes as afunction of growth and losses is identical to the approach suggested by the IPCC, the number of computations and thesophistication with which forest types are stratified far exceeds what could be implemented in a Tier 2 approach that
does not make use of a comprehensive book-keeping framework.
Tier 3 models enable sophisticated representation of the impacts of disturbances. Both natural and anthropogenic
disturbances affect carbon stocks at the time of disturbance and in the years following disturbance. The IPCC Guidelines
suggest that the differences in the impacts of disturbances on carbon stocks and their subsequent dynamics be reflected
in greenhouse gas inventories. In the CBM-CFS3 we use “disturbance matrices” (Kurz et al. 1992, Kurz et al. 2009)calibrated by region, type and intensity of disturbance to summarise existing information on the immediate impacts ofdifferent disturbances on forest carbon stocks. The model also calculates delayed emissions from decomposition of
biomass killed by disturbances, management activities or deforestation events.
Tier 3 models use process simulation to fill in data gaps in forest inventories. Traditional forest inventories collect little orno information on dead organic matter (DOM) and soil C pools. Knowledge of their size and dynamics is typically much
more limited than knowledge of live tree biomass or volume. IPCC guidelines recommend that the dynamics of DOM
and soil C pools be linked to the dynamic of the biomass pools. The rationale for this recommendation was that thechanges in the DOM and soil pools are affected by the net balance of inputs and losses. Inputs originate from biomass
pools through litterfall, mortality (e.g. self-thinning and stand break up), and transfers from live biomass pools associatedwith disturbance-caused mortality. Losses of C from DOM and soil C pools result from decomposition and disturbances(e.g., consumption of organic matter during fires, or salvage logging of dead standing trees). Processes and changes inprocesses that alter either input or loss rates can be represented by Tier 3 models, contributing to more accurate
estimates of emissions and removals.
Tier 3 approaches use either empirical statistical relationships between stand conditions (species, age, ecological region)and DOM and soil C pool sizes (Smith and Heath 2002) or simulation of the main processes that affect pool dynamics(Kurz et al. 2009, Smyth et al. 2010, Liski et al. 2005) to account for those factors that influence greenhouse gas
emissions and removals. Simulation approaches to estimating soil C stock sizes have large uncertainties because of thehigh variability in soil C density observed in nature. Estimates of stock changes obtained through simulation are,however, expected to have lower uncertainty because models represent the main processes that affect stock changes.
Moreover, while DOM pools can change rapidly, especially during disturbances and in the years following disturbances,soil C pools are fairly stable in forest ecosystems that are not subject to land-use changes (Nave et al. 2010).
Depending on the modelling approach implemented, Tier 3 models can account for interannual variability in greenhousegas emissions and removals in forest ecosystems. For example, models that simulate net primary production as afunction of climatic conditions can estimate interannual variability in carbon removals (Richards and Brack 2004). The
CBM-CFS3 uses empirical yield functions describing average growth rates, and these are not sensitive to interannual
variation in growing conditions. Heterotrophic respiration (Rh) is strongly affected by variation in mean annual (and
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seasonal) temperature and precipitation. Tier 3 models representing these relationships can use climate data withannual variability to represent interannual variability in emissions from Rh. Tier 3 models can also account forinterannual variability in human and natural disturbances. In boreal countries with extensive natural disturbances,annual area burned by wildfire can vary greatly between years and this creates large interannual variability in GHG
emissions and removals (Kurz and Apps, 1999; Environment Canada 2009, Bond-Lamberty et al. 2007).
In summary, Tier 3 models are expected to yield more accurate estimates of greenhouse gas emissions and removals inmanaged forests than Tier 1 or 2 approaches because they use detailed country-specific data and incorporate a morecomprehensive account of the main processes that govern emissions and removals.
The estimates of greenhouse gas emissions and removals are sensitive to the methods used in their derivation (e.g.,
Greenough et al. 1997). Quantifying how strongly such estimates are affected by the choice of methods (Tiers) would beof interest, and may further support the IPCC’s recommendation that it is Good Practice to use Tier 3 methods for key
categories.

Evaluation of Tier 3 models of forest carbon dynamics
Approaches to evaluation of biophysical models are discussed in the scientific literature (e.g. Bellochi et al. 2009).
These usually involve comparisons of observed data and model predictions using statistical tests that assess various
indicators of model performance. The challenge for models that estimate carbon and non-CO2 greenhouse gas
emissions and removals for forested landscapes is that these fluxes are not readily measured over large landscapes.
There are, however, a number of options to evaluate components of such models.

1

Plot or stand-level evaluation

Tier 3 model predictions can be compared with measurements of carbon stocks and stock changes at the plot or standlevel (e.g. Hagemann et al. 2010, Moroni et al. in press, Taylor et al. 2008). Where repeated measurements of C stocks
in the same plot have been conducted, these can be used to assess model estimates of stock changes. In forestry,
many measurements of changes in stand biomass (or volume) exist but measurements of C stock changes in deadorganic matter and soil C pools are less abundant because of the high expense of such measurements when made withthe appropriate precision.
Ecological studies often measure plot-level component fluxes, such as foliage and needle litter fall or the turnover ofbiomass components such as branches or fine roots. Where such processes are represented in Tier 3 models, fieldmeasurements can be used to compare model estimates of component fluxes. Similarly, studies of biomass removals
during forest harvest, or fuel consumption during wildfires, can be used to compare model estimates of component fluxes.
Long-term ecological studies of decay rates are sometimes available to parameterise decomposition algorithms in Tier 3
models (e.g. Trofymow et al. 2002; Smyth et al. 2010). Rarely, however, will there be data from a second independent
long-term study that could be used in a validation exercise. Instead, models can be applied at the plot level with theparameterisation developed from long-term studies to predict the dead organic matter pool sizes. Comparing, for a wide
range of plot conditions, the model predictions against field measurements is one way to evaluate components of Tier 3
models. Obtaining long-term experimental data for slowly decomposing pools, such as coarse woody debris, or difficult
to study components such as coarse roots, remains a major challenge for model evaluation.

2

Evaluation at scale of small landscapesComparisons against other stand- or landscape-level models also offer opportunities to assess Tier 3 model estimates ofcomponent fluxes or ecological indicators such as Net Primary Production (NPP) and Net Ecosystem Production (NEP).
Validation can be conducted at the scale of small landscapes, where inventory data are compiled at two or more points
in time (e.g. Trofymow et al. 2008, Bernier et al. 2010). Such intensive studies of landscape-level carbon stock changes
cannot effectively be conducted for large landscapes but demonstrating at smaller scales that the Tier 3 models
adequately describe temporal dynamics of carbon stocks is a very useful evaluation exercise.
Direct measurement of CO2 fluxes using eddy-covariance towers is another approach to validating Tier 3 models.
However, care must be taken to adequately describe the tower footprint from which flux estimates are measured andensure that the models simulate the same area (Chen et al. 2009). Tier 3 models used to estimate and report forest
greenhouse gas balances typically operate on monthly or annual time scales that are less well suited for comparison
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against flux tower estimates obtained at much higher frequency. But if uncertainties about cumulative annual NEP
estimates derived from tower measurements and those estimated using the models are quantified, such comparisons
can be highly instructive. Under some circumstances, data collected by tree-ring based reconstruction (Metsaranta andLieffers 2009) can also be used as an independent data set for comparing both Tier 3 models and flux measurements
made at eddy-covariance towers.

3

Regional or national-scale evaluation

Currently it is not possible to evaluate estimates of emissions and removals at the scale of large regions or at thenational scale for several reasons:First, emission and removal estimates for UNFCCC reporting are intended to focus on anthropogenic causes andtherefore exclude fluxes from unmanaged lands. Even if it were possible to measure regional fluxes, the contributions of
unreported sources and sinks to regional fluxes would have to be determined before comparing reported flux estimatesfrom Tier 3 models against regional flux measurements.
Second, models used for GHG inventory reporting often operate on time scales much longer (e.g. monthly or annual
time steps) than observations of regional fluxes.
Third, independent estimates of regional sources and sinks, e.g. from inverse modelling are increasingly uncertain withdecreasing size of the region for which fluxes are estimated. With present scientific knowledge (and the sparse networkof atmospheric CO2 observations available for use by inversion models) the estimates of regional GHG fluxes frominversion models serve to constrain estimates from regional forest C dynamics models, but results from inversion models
are still too uncertain to evaluate forest carbon dynamics models.
In summary, while evaluation of Tier 3 models may at times be difficult, it is important to emphasise that evaluation of
estimates obtained from Tier 1 or Tier 2 approaches is even more difficult because these typically lack the detailed
information that would enable comparison of component fluxes. Moreover, Tier 1 and 2 approaches lack the detailed
stratification of forests into region, species, stand types, age-classes and other characteristics that enable comparisons
against field measurements of forest attributes within these strata.

Increasing transparency of Tier 3 models of forest carbon
dynamics
Expert review teams in the UNFCCC process face the challenge of having to review Tier 3 models used to estimate
emissions and removal in managed forests. Tier 3 approaches are typically more complex and more data intensive thanTier 1 or 2 approaches. Because complex models are often perceived as “black boxes” there have been calls forincreased transparency and efforts that facilitate the understanding and review of Tier 3 models.
Scientific acceptance of Tier 3 models relies on peer-reviewed publications and other reports that describe in detail theprocesses, equations and algorithms incorporated in the models. While such publications are essential, they are notsufficient to increase the transparency of models for reviewers with limited time to conduct reviews of country
submissions. Moreover, methods used in models cannot be fully described in the space alloted for method descriptions
in most academic journals: this can preclude detailed examination of parameters at the spatial or temporal scales
relevant to GHG inventories.
There is a need to improve the documentation of Tier 3 models to facilitate their review by expert review teams. It may
be possible to develop, in consultation with reviewers, templates or tables (fact sheets) summarising the type of
information that reviewers would like to see reported. Common Reporting Format (CRF) tables developed primarily for
Tier 1 and Tier 2 approaches are one step in that direction: additional information reported in a standardised form for Tier
3 models would, however, be helpful. For example, summary statistics on yield table assumptions, graphs on net
ecosystem production as a function of stand age and past disturbances, estimates of NPP and NEP by forest type andage, GHG emissions associated with different disturbance types, and other indicators could be compiled and reported inways that allow for easier comparison between Tier 3 models. Examples that document how Tier 3 models represent
the stand-level impacts of human activities on emissions and removals could also be provided to document which
mitigation options can, and cannot be simulated in Tier 3 models of various types. And lastly, even simple fact sheetsthat summarise the type of modelling approaches, the types of input data used and model limitations may help toincrease reviewer comfort with Tier 3 models.
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It has been suggested that, in addition to supplying adequate documentation of the model scope, algorithms, and data
used, providing the computer source code of models would increase transparency for reviewers. Tier 3 models and theiruser interfaces are often built using many thousands of lines of computer code, and it is highly unlikely that reviewers ofgreenhouse gas inventories would be able to invest the time required to understand the inner workings of a computermodel based on the review of source code.
What alternatives are available to increase the transparency of Tier 3 models of forest carbon and non-CO2 emissions
and removals?

A proposal to increase transparency of Tier 3 forest carbon
dynamics models
One approach to increasing the transparency of Tier 3 forest carbon dynamics models could be to document theirestimates of C stocks, and more importantly stock changes, using a set of standard data sets and scenarios that eachmodel has to analyse. Analytical laboratories routinely use standard reference samples to test the calibration ofequipment and the sample processing procedures and to compare estimates obtained from different laboratories for thesame standard samples. Similarly, it should be possible to test the behaviour of Tier 3 model against standardised data
sets and model scenarios. The rationale for this proposal is that in addition to improved documentation of the innerworkings of Tier 3 models, the concern about “black boxes” can be alleviated by clearly documenting model behaviour
and performance. Documenting model results for standard tests using agreed-upon indicators and performance
evaluation criteria is expected to increase reviewers’ confidence in Tier 3 models.
Implementation of this proposal would require the compilation of data sets and scenario assumptions for somehypothetical stands and forest landscapes for selected biomes (boreal, temperate), forest types, and management
intensity (natural forests, plantations). Standard tests could range from simple, stand-level simulations to progressively
more complex scenarios of forest dynamics and land-use changes at the landscape scale. The development of a seriesof stand- and landscape-level scenarios could start with simple stand-level simulations of basic forestry operations suchas clear cut logging and subsequent recovery. More complex simulations could involve tens of stands with simple forest
management activities and natural disturbances such as wildfire. Even more complex simulations could represent landuse changes from forest to non-forest land uses, with reporting of emissions and removals by land category. And finallylarge data sets involving hundreds or thousands of stands could be provided for standardised tests.
Implementation of this proposal would also require the identification of a series of indicators that would be used toevaluate model performance. These could include:
Annual per hectare and total C amounts in each of the five ecosystem carbon pools identified by the IPCC guidelines(and possibly more pools if this would enhance the ability to compare models);••••

information on area and area changes in each of the six UNFCCC land categories;
estimates of Net Primary Production, Net Ecosystem Production and Net Biome Production;
emissions and removals of CO2 and non-CO2 greenhouse gases by land category and year, andother relevant indicators related to activities such as annual transfers of harvested carbon from ecosystems to
the forest product sector.

A number of technical issues would have to be resolved, such as how to provide data in formats that they can be readily
imported by a number of Tier 3 models. Auxilliary data such as climate and other environmental parameters for the
hypothetical landscapes would also need to be developed and provided to those models that use such information.
Tier 3 model results can then be compared against “known” estimates derived from the hypothetical examples. Criteria
for the evaluation of model performances would also be required. For example, these could include (seemingly) simple
rules such as:1) Conservation of area: during a landscape-simulation the area included in the project must not change (i.e. thesum of the area in all land categories is “constant”).
2) Conservation of mass: the sum of the reported fluxes of carbon must be consistent with the combineddifferences in carbon stocks. Models must neither loose nor gain carbon without accounting for the underlying
fluxes and transfers.
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3) No transitions in and out of land-use categories must occur unless these are specified by the activity data on
land-use changes or by other rules of the IPCC guidelines (i.e. time-dependent transitions between land
categories: cropland converted to forest land becomes forest land remaining forest land after 20 years).
A number of more complex rules can be developed that can become part of the standardised testing procedure.
Finally, criteria for pass or fail of standardised tests would be useful to summarise the overall test results.
Comparison of results from several Tier 3 models will also be of scientific interest as it may allow model developers to
identify discrepancies between models, which in some cases can be indications of errors in algorithms orparameterization, or of unintended model behaviour (Smith et al 1997). This may motivate the participation in such a
process by model developers.
The administration of such tests and the reporting of results to the UNFCCC community of expert reviewers could beundertaken collaboratively between model developers and independent experts. Input data files, the executable model,
as well as results should be archived and made available to the testers and expert reviewers.
The development of standardised testing protocols and the required data sets is likely to be an iterative process that
could involve more than one round of exploration and feedback from both the modelling and the reviewer communities.
This is not a short-term solution to increasing Tier 3 model transparency because it will require considerable effort toimplement and test. A future workshop of IPCC experts, model developers, model users, inventory compilers, and
UNFCCC expert reviewers could focus on possible approaches to implementing such testing protocols. Coordinators
will be required who manage the development and implementation process.
Comparing Tier 3 models of forest carbon dynamics using standardised tests, scenarios and performance criteria may
be one effective way to increase the transparency of Tier 3 models. Such tests can augment peer-reviewed scientificpublications, model documentation, and detailed reporting of model results in agreed-upon templates.

Acknowledgements
I thank Juha Metsaranta, Graham Stinson and Dominique Blain for helpful comments on a draft of this manuscript.

References
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review, Agron. Sustain. Dev. DOI: 10.1051/agro/2009001
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Canadian boreal landscape: a test of the CBM-CFS3 carbon accounting model. Can. J. For. Res. 40: 109-118
Bond-Lamberty, B, Peckham SD, Ahl DE, Gower ST, 2007. Fire as the dominant driver of central Canadian boreal forest
carbon balance. Nature 450: 89-92.
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Greenough JA, Apps, MJ, Kurz WA, 1997. Influence of Methodology and Assumptions on Reported National Carbon
Flux Inventories: An Illustration from the Canadian Forest Sector. Mitigation & Adaptation Strategies for Global
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Hagemann U, Moroni MT, Shaw CH, Kurz WA, Makeschin F 2010 Comparing measured and modelled forest carbon
stocks in high-boreal forests of harvest and natural-disturbance origin in Labrador, Canada. Ecol. Modelling
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Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Hayama.
Kull SJ, Kurz WA, Rampley G, Banfield GE, Schivatcheva RK, Apps MJ, 2006. Operational-Scale Carbon Budget Modelof the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS3) Version 1.0: User’s Guide. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian
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Kurz WA, Apps MJ, Webb TM, McNamee PJ, 1992. The carbon budget of the Canadian forest sector: phase I. Forestry
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Kurz WA, Apps MJ, 2006. Developing Canada’s National Forest Carbon Monitoring, Accounting and Reporting System
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Kurz WA, Dymond CC, White TM, Stinson G, Shaw CH, Rampley GJ, Smyth C, Simpson BN, Neilson ET, Trofymow JA,
Metsaranta J, Apps MJ, 2009, CBM-CFS3: a model of carbon-dynamics in forestry and land-use change
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Kurz WA, Dymond CC, Stinson G, Rampley GJ, Neilson ET, Carroll AL, Ebata T, Safranyik L, 2008a, Mountain pine
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Kurz WA, Stinson G, Rampley GJ, Dymond CC, Neilson ET, 2008b, Risk of natural disturbances makes futurecontribution of Canada’s forests to the global carbon cycle highly uncertain. Proceedings of the National
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Metsaranta JM, Kurz WA, Neilson ET, Stinson G, 2010 Implications of future disturbance regimes on the carbon balanceof Canada’s managed forest (2010-2100). Tellus B (early online version).
Metsaranta, JM and Lieffers VJ 2009. Using dendrochronology to obtain annual data for modelling stand development: a
supplement to permanent sample plots. Forestry 82:163-173
Moroni, MT, Shaw CH, Kurz WA, Rampley GJ, in press, Forest Carbon Stocks in Newfoundland Boreal forests ofharvest and natural disturbance origin II: Model Evaluation, Can. J. For. Res. In press.
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Taylor AR, Wang JR, Kurz WA 2008. Effects of harvesting intensity on carbon stocks in eastern Canadian red spruce(Picea rubens) forests: An exploratory analysis using the CBM-CFS3 simulation model. For Ecol Man
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Duschene, L, Kozak, L, Kranabetter, M, Visser, S, 2002. Rates of litter decomposition over 6 years in Canadian
forests: Influence of litter quality and climate. Can. J. For. Res. 32:789-804.
Trofymow JA, Stinson G, Kurz WA, 2008. Derivation of a spatially explicit 86-year retrospective carbon budget for alandscape undergoing conversion from old-growth to managed forests on Vancouver Island, BC, Forest
Ecology and Management 256: 1677–1691, doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2008.02.056.
Zamolodchikov DG, Grabovsky VI, Korovin GN, Kurz WA, 2008. Assessment and forecast of carbon budget in forests of
Vologda Region using the Canadian Model CBM-CFS, Lesovedenie (Forest Science) 6: 3-14 (in Russian).

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New Zealand’s enteric methane/nitrous oxide inventory model andthe New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme

Dr. Andrea Pickering
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
New ZealandInvited Background Paper to the IPCC Experts Meeting,
Sydney, Australia, 9 – 11 August 2010

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Introduction
Under the Kyoto protocol New Zealand has an obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions during the firstcommitment period (2008 – 2012) to 1990 levels. As part of the New Zealand Governments strategy to reach this goalan Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has been introduced. New Zealand agriculture is the largest single sector
contributing to total emissions in New Zealand, and in 2008 the sector accounted for 46.6% of New Zealand emissions(Ministry for the Environment, 2010). Therefore developing a transparent ETS methodology which is in line with
Inventory report is vital for the agricultural sector.
This paper describes the tier 3 Inventory model used by New Zealand to estimate the emissions from the agricultural
sector; the benefits of this model over a tier 2 approach; validation, documentation and transparency of the model; andhow the model was used to develop ETS emission factors for the agricultural sector.

The New Zealand inventory model
New Zealand currently uses a model to estimate emissions from the key livestock categories in the agricultural sector.
These categories are dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep and deer and they made up 93% of all of New Zealand’s agriculturalemissions in 2008. Nitrogenous fertiliser, crop residue, savannah and crop burning, and minor species (poultry, swine,
horses, goats and alpaca and llamas) use a tier 1 methodology that employs country specific emission factors for nitrous
oxide estimations.

Relationship to inventory guideline methods
The algorithms used in the New Zealand Inventory model to determine energy requirements of different livestockcategories are similar in concept to that suggested in the IPCC good practice guidelines Tier 2 methodology. However,as nearly all of New Zealand’s livestock are pasture fed, their emissions per unit of feed intake will differ compared tolivestock which are grain fed. Also, manure is generally deposited directly onto pasture while grazing, reducing theamount of manure management carried out in New Zealand. Therefore the Inventory model uses algorithms andmethods developed specifically for animals which are pasture fed to account for these differences. On going research
into methane emissions from New Zealand livestock, using calorimeters and precise feed intake estimates continue tobe fed into the Inventory model to verify and improve the emissions estimations for New Zealand Agriculture.
As recommended in the IPCC good practice guidelines, livestock are divided into relatively homogenous groups.
Livestock population categories are determined by population models for each species. The models use livestock
population data collected through agricultural production surveys collected by Statistics New Zealand on an annual basis.
This population data is a snap shot of the livestock population in New Zealand for various categories at one point in time.
The model uses this population data and predicts livestock age, sex and physiological stage on a monthly basis. New
Zealand farming practices including birth dates, time of slaughter, death rates, movement between age groups etc are allused in the population model.
The Inventory model then uses the monthly populations and statistical data on production (weight, milk and wool
production etc) to “grow” an animal in each category and determine monthly dry matter intake. Dry matter intake isbased on estimated monthly energy requirements (for weight gain, gestation, milk, wool etc), and monthly feed energy
concentration, digestibility and N concentration. From these feed intake estimations monthly methane emissions andnitrogen excretion are determined. Emissions are then added together to obtain annual emissions for an animal ineach livestock category.

Benefit of model over tier 2 approach
Accuracy
By modelling populations on a monthly basis the variations in livestock categories throughout a year and the change inproduction at an individual animal level can be accounted for. Animals weight and production levels do not stayconsistent over a year and by assuming this there is a risk of either over or under estimating subsequent emissions. By
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modelling monthly growth and production through out the year, and then determining the energy requirements over thissmaller time interval, a more accurate picture of the emissions produced from livestock can be obtained.
Changes in the natural environment throughout the year can be incorporated into the calculations. This is more
important in pasture feed situations where the quality of feed changes through out the year. For example, currently
monthly estimates of feed energy concentration, digestibility and nitrogen content are factored into the calculations.
These values are based on historic pasture samples taken through out the year, but there is currently limited information
on how this may change from year to year. Research is continuing in this area and in the future it will be possible toinclude actual real time measurements of these three variables from satellite imagery. This will allow measurements offeed quality on a monthly basis, at a regional level and can incorporate changes from year to year. Development of thisimprovement has been more problematic than it may be in other countries due to the large amount of cloud cover over
New Zealand at certain times. This has restricted the speed at which verification of a relationship between the imagery
and actual pasture measurements has been able to occur.
In the latest Inventory the model was further developed to estimate dairy emissions on a regional basis using regional
productivity data. Therefore the differences in dairy productivity among regions can now be used to improve theaccuracy of the model. This was achievable through very concise dairy productivity data dating back to 1990. The
population model for dairy can now be improved so that regional differences can be incorporated. For example calving
date, milk production curves etc. The differences in feed quality among regions will also be able to be incorporated once
available, further improving the calculations.
Comparability
Using a model to calculate emissions from New Zealand agriculture means that emissions can be determined for acalendar year. Population data fed into the model is a snap shot of the population at one point in time in the year. This
point in time is the end of June, which the end of the financial year for many farming business’s but is the middle of thecalendar year. By using this information and estimating populations on a monthly basis, the months can then be
aggregated into a calendar year. This results in an Inventory which is comparable with other countries.

Validation, documentation and transparency.
It is important that the models used in the calculation of emissions from livestock are transparent so that they are easily
validated and reviewable. With further disaggregation of data and categories and changes to methodologies that require
increasing amounts of activity data, producing consistent time series may become more difficult as the methodology
moves away from the current pool of existing data dating back to 1990. Methods of extrapolating data in the IPCC
guidelines will need to be implemented, including expert judgment and predicting data from existing information.
Validation
As agriculture is such a large component of the New Zealand Inventory, research in this area is ongoing and extensive.
Results are continually fed into the model in order to improve model outputs. This includes further research incalorimeters to improve the estimation of methane emission from different livestock categories. The original
development of the model was based on extensive livestock emission research which is peer reviewed and published inscientific journals. The incorporation of new research into the model also requires international peer reviews. Suggestedchanges are presented to an expert advisory panel which assesses the robustness of the science and any reviewers
concerns before any decision for inclusion is made. The extensive scientific research required and international peer
reviews required aid in the validation of the model outputs. Because the inventory model is based along the same lines
as the tier 2 equations suggested in the IPCC guidelines, implied emission factors derived from the model outputs areeasily comparable with other counties.
Documentation
All the equations and methodologies used within the Inventory model are documented so that calculations can be carriedout external to the model if required. The document can be validated against the equations and code within the model
itself, and the comparison of outputs from the external calculations and model calculations can also aid in the validationof results. Continual improvements in this area will aid in the ease of this validation.
Transparency
Although the calculations within the model can be complex due to the monthly time step, all equations, coding used,
input and output worksheets can be accessed. For example the population model produces excel worksheets with
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monthly animal populations. These monthly populations are viewable for every year that the Inventory is calculated.
Although predicted animal monthly populations can not be validated against actual statistical data, due to thetransparency of these populations they can be easily reviewed to determine if they match expert opinion in this area.
Recently such a review was carried out not only to check current model assumptions but to determine any changes in
the industry since the model was developed. Although there has been some small movement within the industries forsuch things as birth date and slaughter dates, because the model uses actual activity data for the start and end
populations in a year, these movements have had little over all affect on the monthly populations, highlighting therobustness of the current assumptions within the model.
As new research and improvements are incorporated into the model data management, transparency anddocumentation are improved. Initially inventory model input and output data was contained within excel spreadsheets.
But as further years of emission are calculated, the move to regionalisation of dairy and improvements in the science,
the amount of data needing to be managed is increasing. Therefore recently there has been substantial effort invested
into developing an automated data management system which can easily and transparently store all required data. Theease of recalling data and checking data will be improved, and quality control checks will be automatically documented.
This model will continue to use existing input and output data spreadsheets but these will automatically be populated
from the data base. Outputs from the model will automatically be stored in the database. By keeping the spreadsheet
and allowing them to be manually viewable the transparency of the calculations will not be compromised.

Integration with IPCC guideline methods
Both methane and nitrous oxide for the four main livestock species are derived from the tier 3 Inventory model. Implied
methane emissions factors and nitrogen excretion rates for these species are calculated from these model results so thatthey can be integrated into IPCC default equations for comparison purposes. This information, along with tier 1
equations for other categories and minor livestock species are contained within tables in one final workbook for the final
agricultural inventory compilation.
Along with improvements to data management for the inventory model, improvements to the final compilation process
are also planned. Currently the compilation work book is a mixture of manual data input and automatic data input fromthe inventory model output worksheets. Once the data management system is finalised model outputs and data required
for tier 1 calculations will automatically be retrieved from the database. Again access to tables and workbooks whichcarry out final calculations will still be achievable to ensure transparency of the process.

New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme
In September 2008, New Zealand introduced an emissions trading scheme (ETS). The aim of the ETS is to spread thecost of emissions to New Zealand under its Kyoto Obligations to the polluter, The agricultural sector will be able tovoluntarily report their emissions from 1 January 2011 and will be required to report from 1 January 2012. Because the
ETS has been implemented to help New Zealand meeting its Kyoto obligations, it is important that the methodology used
to estimate the cost to the industry aligns with the methodology used to calculate the National Inventory. The
methodology for the ETS emission factor development is still currently in progress. However, a broad overview of thecurrent draft methodology is detailed below.

Using the Inventory model
Inventory model outputs for livestock categories are annual emissions. These annual emissions for each livestockcategory were used to estimate lifetime emissions for animals captured by the ETS. For example the life time emissions
for a slaughter bull of 2 years old were made up of the annual emissions from a slaughter bull 0 – 1 year, and emissions
from a slaughter bull 1 – 2 yrs. Because of the extensive range of livestock categories modelled by the Inventory model,
developing lifetime emission factors for all production animals was achievable. By changing the various production
inputs into the Inventory model, lifetime emissions for animals with different production levels could also be determined.
In order to develop factors that could easily be used by the industry in the ETS, emission factors were developed basedon information currently collected by the industry. For example, the industry already collects data on slaughter weightand slaughter animal number by stock class such as lamb. Therefore, a relationship between the slaughter weight andthe lifetime emissions of slaughter animals was determined, a best fit linear trend line fitted and as this passed through
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the origin the slope was used to develop a per kg emission factor. As this best fit trend was determined using various
production levels, it will not need to change as productivity levels change.
Because it is difficult to determine the age of a breeding animal at slaughter, their annual emissions of maintenance,
gestation and lactation for each breeding year were allocated to the offspring as a per head emission factor. This issimply the annual emissions from a breeding cow, ewe or hind. Because it is difficult to relate this emission factor to theoffspring itself, it is a weighted average of various “mother” weights for each species. This emission factor may thereforechange if the “mother” average weight change. Each animal will therefore have a per kg and a per head emission factor
associated with it at slaughter. The extra energy required each year by a milking cow is not incorporated into the perhead emissions factor; rather it is allocated to the milk solid production of that year instead.

Comparing the Inventory with the ETS
Comparison of the emissions calculated using just the inventory model and the emissions calculated using the ETS
emissions factors will not be identical. This is due to the differences in what each is measuring. The inventory calculates
the emissions for a single year from all livestock alive during that year, while the ETS will measure the lifetime emissionsof animals which are slaughtered in that year, and the annual emissions for milk production. Therefore in years were
there may be above average slaughter of animals due to circumstances such as drought, the emissions estimated by the
ETS will be higher than those estimated by the inventory.
Only national average emission factors for the ETS have currently been developed. However, because of themethodology already used in the inventory model and with the planned improvements, it may be possible to develop
regional emission factors which take into account factors such as birth date, feed quality etc. Also, unique emission
factors for circumstances different to the national average can be determined. This is achievable only because theinventory emissions are modelled. Various scenarios can be used as inputs into the inventory and population models
and emission factors for the ETS can be determined for each scenario.

Verification
The ETS point of obligation for the agricultural sector is generally with the processor, with the exception of live animal
exporters and egg producers who are also captured. This is mainly due to the requirement of verification of data. As
already mentioned, processors in the agricultural industry already report slaughter weights and numbers of animals
slaughtered. The dairy industry already reports milk solids processed. Therefore, verification of this data is simplified
compared to individual farmers reporting their emissions. If the point of obligation was to move to the farmer level,systems would need to be developed so that verification of activity data could be achieved.
Over time, the ETS should create incentives for low emission research and technology. This could enable the ETS to be
used as a source of verification and improvement of some activity data for the Inventory model inputs. For example,slaughter weights of various breeds and various animal categories. It can not used to validate the science behind theinventory model since the ETS uses the same science, but an increase in the collection of data motivated by the ETS
may aid in other areas.

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Estimation of national GHG emission from solid waste disposalsites by using field investigation results
Komsilp Wangyao1, *, Sirintornthep Towprayoon1, Chart Chiemchaisri 2,
Shabbir H. Gheewala1, Annop Nopharatana3Invited Background Paper to the IPCC Experts Meeting,
Sydney, Australia, 9 – 11 August 2010

1
The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi,
Bangkok, Thailand 10140 E-mail: komsilp@jgsee.kmutt.ac.th, sirin@jgsee.kmutt.ac.th and Shabbir_g@jgsee.kmutt.ac.th

Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand
10900 E-mail: fengccc@ku.ac.th
2

Pilot Plant Development and Training Institute, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok,
Thailand 10150 E-mail: annop@pdti.kmutt.ac.th
3*

Corresponding author: komsilp@jgsee.kmutt.ac.th

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ABSTRACT
Measurements of landfill methane emission were performed at 9 solid waste disposal sites in Thailand including 5
managed sanitary landfills (4 deep and 1 shallow landfills), and 4 unmanaged landfill (3 deep and 1 shallow dumpsites).
It was found that methane emissions during the rainy season were about 5 - 6 times higher than that during the winterand summer seasons in the case of managed landfill and 2-5 times higher in the case of unmanaged landfill.
Comparison of methane emission estimate using the IPCC Waste Model to the actual field measurement from thestudied disposal sites with methane correction factors and methane oxidation factors that obtained by error function
analysis with default values of half-life parameters. The methane emissions from the first order decay model from the
IPCC Waste Model yielded fair results compared to field measurements. The best fitting values of methane correction
factor were 0.65, 0.20, 0.15 and 0.1 for deep landfill, shallow landfill, deep dumpsite and shallow dumpsite, respectively.
Using these key parameters in case of Thailand, it was estimated that 89.22 Gg of methane were released from solid
waste disposal sites into the atmosphere in 2006.
Keywords: landfill gas, methane emission, flux chamber, IPCC Waste Model, methane correction factor

INTRODUCTION
When municipal solid waste (MSW) is buried in a landfill, the biodegradable fractions that decompose via a complex
series of microbial and abiotic reactions in anaerobic condition produce landfill gas (LFG) and leachate which amount tosignificant environmental emissions (Spokas et al., 2006). Most of the organic materials will be degraded over a longer
or shorter period of time, ranging in a wide span from less than one year to 100 years or more. The majority of thisprocess will be bio-degradation. Strongly depending on the conditions at the site where the waste is disposed, thisbiodegradation will be aerobic or anaerobic. The main degradation products are carbon dioxide (CO2), water and heat for
the aerobic process and methane (CH4) and CO2 for the anaerobic process. The CH4 produced and released into theatmosphere contributes to global warming (Frøiland et al., 2002). Moreover, methane is a fairly potent greenhouse gas,with a global warming potential 21 times that of CO2 (Foster et al., 2007). Landfills account for about 10-19% of annual
global CH4 emissions (Kumar et al., 2004). In 2005, worldwide solid waste disposal sites emitted 747.4 MtCO2eq(USEPA, 2006).
Recently, some models have been introduced to estimate the LFG generation rate of landfills. Among them, the firstorder decay (FOD) model is generally recognized as being the most widely used approach as it is recommended by theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2006) in the IPCC Waste Model and by the US Environmental
Protection Agency (USEPA, 1998) in Landfill Gas Emission Model (LandGEM) for calculating methane emissions fromlandfills. Moreover, FOD model had been applied to other developed models such as Palos Verdes Model, SheldonArleta Model, Scholl Canyon Model, First order model Netherlands (TNO), GasSim, European Pollutant Emission
Register (EPER) model France (ADEME), EPER model Germany (Umwelt Bundesamt) (Cossu et al., 1996; Scharff andJacobs, 2006). In the LandGEM, the model rests on two basic parameters, Lo, the methane generation potential (m3CH4/Mg of MSW) and k, the methane generation rate constant (yr-1), while the IPCC version rests on decomposable
degradable organic carbon, DDOCm, instead of Lo (Sandro et al., 2009).
Thailand, one of the developing countries in Asia, experiences increasing urbanization, economic development and rapid
growth of population. Problems arising from this development are municipal solid waste (MSW) management anddisposal handling (Thailand Environment Monitor, 2003). Many cities and towns face serious environmental hazards andhealth risks. The country’s MSW generation showed an increasing trend parallel to the development (Visvanathan et al.,2004). The increasing MSW generation along with the high fraction of organic waste and disposal by open dumping is
the current scenario in many areas, which lack any precautionary environmental and health measures (Chiemchaisri etal., 2007). As response to this problem, recently, the country’s Pollution Control Department (PCD) aims to replace open
dumping with sanitary landfill, which reduces negative environmental impacts. However, the methane gas generation
potential due to biological degradation of the organic waste fraction within anaerobic condition in sanitary landfills ishigher than in open dumpsites because the former is more anaerobic due to the presence of a top barrier cover thatprovides favorable conditions for methane production (Chiemchaisri et al., 2007; IPCC, 2006). The design of all landfillsin Thailand is based on the anaerobic landfill concept; thus, the main emissions in terms of gas will be of CH4 and CO2.
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The total methane emissions from solid waste sector in Thailand were estimated at 76.51 Gg for the year 1990 by usingmass balance method (TEI, 1996). In the year 1994, the total methane emissions were estimated at 19.57 Gg by the
Office of Environmental Policy and Planning (OEPP) (OEPP, 2000). The estimation was obtained using a single phasemodel with theoretical first-order kinetics that takes into consideration the long period of release rather than the
instantaneous emissions of methane. By using Landfill Air Emissions Estimation Model (LAEEM), the methane
emissions were estimated at 24.77 Gg in 1994 and 92.26 Gg in 2000 (Towprayoon and Masniyon, 1999). This
calculation was based on the single phase model and used country default values. Chiemchaisri et al. (2007) estimatedmethane emissions at 115.4 Gg in 2004 by using LandGEM which is based on the first-order decay reaction. By
assuming that upgrading of open dumpsites to landfills will be complete in 15 years from 2005, it is estimated that thenational methane emissions from those waste disposal sites will gradually increase to 339 Gg in 2020.
Presently, the IPCC Waste Model has been used in many countries as a standard tool for methane emission inventory
from waste sector. However, the uncertainty of this model as well as the difference between estimates and realemissions from landfills have rarely been investigated or verified in Asian countries where most Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) projects are focused on. Measurements of methane emission from solid waste disposal sites are,therefore, important to reduce uncertainties in the inventory estimates from this source. The main objective of this study
is to achieve an accurate estimation with IPCC Waste Model by optimizing methane correction factor and oxidation
factor as well as also develop the country’s default parameters for the emission inventory that can be applied to mostdeveloping countries-where the waste degrade under tropical condition.

METHODOLOGY
Site description

Figure 1 Location of study sites
Methane emission measurements were performed at 4 managed deep (MD) landfills (waste height ≥ 5m), 1 managed
shallow (MS) landfill (waste height < 5m), 3 unmanaged deep (UD) landfills (deep dumpsites) (waste height ≥ 5m) and 1
unmanaged shallow(US) landfill (shallow dumpsite) (waste height < 5m), located in central Thailand. Landfill sites
comprise of those at Pattaya (MD1), Mabtapud (MD2), Laemchabang (MD3), Hua-Hin (MD4) and Cha-Am (MS1). Deep
dumpsites (waste height ≥ 5m) include those at Samut Prakan (UD1), Nakhon Pathom (UD2) and Nonthaburi (UD3) anda shallow dumpsite (waste height < 5m) locate at Rayong (US1). The location of study sites is shown in Figure 1. The
characteristics of study sites are summarized in Table 1. The methane emission measurements were conducted from
September to October 2005 for rainy season data, from December 2005 to February 2006 for winter season data andfrom April to May 2006 for summer season data. The characteristics of waste in these study sites that had been
investigated by Pollution Control Department (PCD) of Thailand showed that food waste was the main component at all
disposal sites ranging between 60% and 80%, followed by plastic, paper, glass, textile and wood (PCD, 2004). These
composition can predict that significant of methane will generate at landfill site in the short time period because most of
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them are rapidly degradable waste combine with the appropriate moisture content and temperature under tropicalcondition in this region.

Methane emission rates and gas analysis
Methane emission rates from the landfill surface in this study were measured using the chamber technique which
consists of trapping the gas as it leaves the soil surface, either by allowing the gas to build up in a closed enclosure(closed or static chamber technique) (Perera et al., 1999). Static chambers are the most frequently used technique forthe measurement of gas fluxes from soils. The chamber technique is low cost, and simple to operate, but extremely laborand time intensive (Bogner et al., 1997). The chambers used in this study were constructed with φ 0.40 m PVC pipe
(covering an area of 0.126 m2), 0.25 m. in height and with a PVC cap at the top of the chamber. To protect against air
intrusion, the chambers were sealed to the ground by placing wet soil around the outside. Methane samples werecollected in 10-mL vacuum tubes from a chamber after 1, 2, 3, and 4 minutes using 60-mL plastic syringes fitted withplastic valves. The samples were analyzed using a gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization detector (GCFID). The methane flux was determined from concentration data (C in ppmv) plotted versus elapsed time (t in minutes).
The data generally fit a linear relationship, in which case dC / dt is the slope of the fitted line. The methane flux, F(g/m2/d), was then calculated as follows in Equation 1 (Rolston, 1986; Hegde et al., 2003):

F=

V dC
( )
A dt

(1)

Where V is chamber volume and A is the area covered by the chamber. The slope of the line, dC / dt , wasdetermined by the differential result between CH4 concentration and elapsed time.
In order to conduct the flux chamber measurements, numerous samples were collected across the landfill or dumpsite
surfaces on a regular grid pattern at 30 – 40m intervals. Precipitation was absent and barometric pressure and ambient
wind speed, factors which known to affect emissions, were relatively constant during investigations.

Geospatial distribution
Due to the large areal extent of landfill surfaces and the heterogeneous nature of landfill gas fluxes, a large number ofchamber samples must be collected (Mosher et al., 1999). However, proper interpolation methodology must be applied
for geospatial analysis of field data. This technique offers the potential of calculating whole site emission estimates frompoint measurements, which could lead to improving the estimation of landfill methane emission (Spokas et al., 2003).
Geospatial distributions of the methane emissions in this study were estimated by Kriging method. Kriging refers to theprocess of using the spatial dependency to predict the value of a property at unknown locations from the relationshipobserved at the sampling location. The weight for the Kriging analysis was decided by semivariogram (Spokas et al.,2003). The Surfer software (Golden Software, Inc.) was used to analyze the geospatial distribution in this study. The
Kriging model was applied to map the results, and the volumetric value of the contour map was estimated by volume andarea integration algorithms in Surfer.
Table 1 Characteristics of study sites
Site

Site Age
Area
Landfill Openfrom 2006
(m2)
Year
(yrs)

Pattaya (MD1)2002
Mabtapud (MD2)2001
Cha-Am (MS1)2000
Laemchabang (MD3) 1999
Hua-Hin (MD4)1996
Samut Prakan (UD1) 1999
Nakhon Pathom (UD2) 1997
Nonthaburi (UD3)1982
Rayong (US1)2001

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4
5
6
7
10
7
9
24
5

53,61829,28047,68071,20044,16025,60048,781
67,36735,20056

Disposal method

Average tipping(tonnes per day)Deep landfill
Deep landfill
Shallow landfill
Deep landfill
Deep landfill
Deep dumpsite
Deep dumpsite
Deep dumpsite
Shallow dumpsite

240
58
26
152
46
80
180
800
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Methane emission inventory
In order to compare methane emissions between field investigations and model estimation, the IPCC Waste Model wasused in this study. In the model, CH4 emissions from landfills for a single year are estimated using the following equation;
CH 4 Emissions = ∑ CH 4 generated x ,T − RT  × (1 − OX T ) (2) xWhere CH4 Emissions = CH4 emitted in year T, Gg, T = inventory year, x = waste category or type/material, RT =recovered CH4 in year T, Gg, and OXT = oxidation factor in year T, (fraction). The OX reflects the amount of CH4 fromsolid waste disposal site (SWDS) that is oxidized in the soil or other material covering the waste. The amount CH4generated from decomposable material in year T (=CH4 generatedT) is estimated using the first order decay (FOD) of themass of decomposable organic carbon (= DDOCm, Gg) in each waste category or type/material as follows;

CH 4 generated T = DDOCm decompT × F × 16 / 12 (3)Where DDOCm decompT = DDOCm decomposed in year T, Gg, F = fraction of CH4 by volume in generated landfill gas(fraction) and 16/12 = molecular weight ratio between methane and carbon (ratio).

(

DDOCm decompT = DDOCmaT −1 × 1 − e − k)(

DDOCmaT = DDOCmd T + DDOCmaT −1 × e − k

(4)

)

(5)

Where DDOCmaT = DDOCm accumulated in the solid waste disposal site at the end of year T, Gg, DDOCmaT-1 =DDOCm accumulated in the SWDS at the end of year T-1, Gg, DDOCmdT = DDOCm deposited into the SWDS in year T,
Gg, k = reaction constant (k = ln(2)/t1/2), yr-1, and t1/2 = half-life time, yr.

DDOCm = W × DOC × DOC f × MCF(6)

Where W = mass of waste deposited, Gg, DOC = degradable organic carbon in the year of deposition, (fraction, GgC/Gg-waste), DOCf = fraction of DOC that can decompose, (fraction), and MCF = CH4 correction factor for aerobic
decomposition in the year of deposition, (fraction).

Parameter evaluation
The emission results that were obtained from field investigations have been modeled with the FOD model (IPCC Waste
Model). To find the optimal set of gas generation parameters, the approach by Oonk et al. (1994) was used. This entails
the minimization of the difference between the calculated gas generation rates and the actual rates to determine theoptimal set of gas generation parameters using error function for statistical analysis. The error equation used is shownas Equation 7.

E=n∑ (Qc − Qob)

2

(7)

i =1

Where E is error function, Qc is calculated generation, Qob is observed generation and n = number of waste disposalsites.
By following this approach, MCF, the main parameter, was first optimized. The MCF is the fraction of waste which
degrades anaerobically in landfills. The value of this parameter depends on the landfill operation, shape or the specificsurface of landfills, the existence and the air permeability of the top cover, the water content or the level of leachate inlandfills. In the IPCC Guidelines, default value for the MCF is classified in four categories for simplification. In this study,
MCF was evaluated by using error function analysis with IPCC Waste Model and information of study sites including
waste composition, waste in place history, and operation practice. In order to optimize MCF, other parameters were fixedwith IPCC default values for tropical climate region except oxidation factor (OX). The default half-life values for foodwaste, paper, wood and textiles were 2, 10, 20 and 10 years, respectively. The default delay time was 6 months. The

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value of oxidation factor for landfill was fixed at 0.15 following Chomsurin (1997). However, OX of dumpsite had been
evaluated by error function analysis.

RESULTS
Methane emissions from field investigation
In this experiment, concerning the fluctuation of weather in tropical country during year round, we measured methane
emissions from 9 disposal sites in Thailand during wet and dry seasons. There are three seasons in Thailand according
to weather data and amount of rainfall namely, rainy, winter and summer seasons. Weather data from Thai
Meteorological Department showed that the average atmospheric temperature during emission measurement in therainy, winter and summer seasons were 28.5, 26.5 and 29.2 oC, respectively. However, the monthly precipitation rate
had significant differences that were 258.4, 30.5 and 134.6 mm./month in the rainy, winter and summer seasons,respectively. The surface methane emission results are summarized in Table 2. These results indicated that high spatial
heterogeneity of methane emission (high standard deviation) can be found in all study sites especially in wet season.
The phasing of waste tipping was the main reason of the high spatial heterogeneity at all disposal sites that waste wasdegraded under different degradation stage. In this study, most of high methane emissions were found at the younger
phase compared to older phase that gave low CH4 emissions. From Figure 2, It can be seen that manage landfill showed
high methane emission than unmanaged landfill for the whole season. In addition, methane emissions of manage landfill
during the wet season (rainy season) were about 5 - 6 times higher than dry season (winter and summer seasons)
whereas it was only 2 - 5 times in unmanaged landfills. Although methane emission during winter and summer were low,theirs values were in close proximity in the managed landfill and were two times different in the unmanaged landfill.
Moisture content in the waste body might be the most important parameter in the waste degradation. In the wet season,moisture content in the waste body will be increased by intrusion of rain passing through daily cover. The additional
moisture stimulates microbial activity by providing better contact between insoluble substrates, soluble nutrients andmicroorganisms. These phenomena enhance decomposition and generate more LFG (Barlaz et al., 1990).

Figure 2 Emission of methane per ton of waste in place per day from the different landfill sites during rainy, winter andsummer season
As anticipated, the average spatial methane emissions from unmanaged landfill were substantially lower than frommanaged landfills in all seasons. Moreover, the average spatial methane emissions in shallow landfill were lower thandeep landfills. This may have resulted from the intrusion of air into the landfill which might decrease anaerobic waste
degradation. The waste is stabilized rapidly through aerobic condition that has an additional benefit of reducing landfill
emissions of methane (Peck et al., 2007). The waste degradation phenomenon in shallow landfill seems as if it was
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degraded under semi-aerobic condition. However, the total methane emissions per unit waste in place (WIP) or emission
factor for managed shallow landfills was significantly lower than that for managed deep landfills as shown in Table 2.

Methane estimation from IPCC Waste Model
The results from error function analysis showed that the best fitting values of MCF which gave low error function value
were 0.65, 0.20, 0.15 and 0.10 for deep landfill, shallow landfill, deep dumpsite and shallow dumpsite, respectively when
OX values were justified to 0.15 and 0.70 for managed landfill and unmanaged landfill, respectively as shown in Figure
3 and 4.

Figure 3 Error function analysis of MCF for managed landfill

Figure 4 Error function analysis of MCF for unmanaged landfill

The MCF values obtained are thus lower than the IPCC default values. In contrast, OX values are higher than the IPCC
default values. As the air permeability of the cover soil in landfills and dumpsites corresponds with poor daily cover
operation in case of landfill that some parts of waste degraded under aerobic condition, the MCF and OX were different
from IPCC default values.
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Comparison of model parameters with field investigations
The parameters that were obtained from error function analysis and information from each study site based on
information at each site including waste composition, waste in place, history and operation practice were used to
calculate methane emissions in the IPCC Waste Model again. Total methane emissions were calculated by summarizing
seasonal emissions that was calculated by multiplying daily methane emission in each season with the period of theseason. The calculation results and field measurements of methane emissions at all sites are summarized in Table 3.
The comparison results show that the methane emissions from the IPCC Waste Model gave fair results compared tofield measurements in both cases of managed and unmanaged landfills as seen in Figure 5 with the R2 of 0.65. The
differences between calculations and field measurements at the MD1, MD2, MD4 and MS1 were -2.53%, 16.50%, 11.08% and -7.11%, respectively. At MD3, the calculated value was about 65.51% lower than field measurement. This
big difference may be caused by the uncertainty of waste loaded to the site dealing with MSW and other non-hazardous
waste from industry while the input parameter used in IPCC Waste Model was only MSW composition because of thelack of non-hazardous waste compositions data.
However, the calculations of methane emission from dumpsite were close to field investigations in the cases of US andUD2 revealed by a very low error. At UD3 and UD1, errors of estimation amount to about 50%. These errors may becaused by incorrect data of waste quantity because some parts of waste were moved to other landfills in the case of
UD3. At UD1, the quantity of waste was estimated by base on waste delivery vehicle capacity, uncertainty is higher andmay effects to emission inventory.
Table 3 Comparison of methane emissions in 2006 (Mg) from FOD model and field measurements
Site
MD1
MD2
MD3
MD4
MS1
UD1
UD2
UD3
US1

Operationpractice
Managed – deep
(Active)
Managed - deep
(Active)
Managed - deep
(Active)
Managed - deep
(Active)
Managed –shallow (Active)
unmanaged deep (Active)
unmanaged deep (Active)
unmanaged deep (Inactive)
unmanaged shallow (Active)

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Default
MCF

Selected
MCF

Default
OX

Selected
OX

IPCC
Waste
Model

Field
measurement

Diff.

1.00

0.65

0.10

0.15

1,523.30

1,485.75-2.53%

1.00

0.65

0.10

0.15

127.76153.0116.50%

1.00

0.65

0.10

0.15

715.62

2,074.87

65.51%

1.00

0.65

0.10

0.15

420.11378.21-11.08%

1.00

0.2

0.10

0.15

60.07

56.08

-7.11%

0.80

0.15

0.10

0.70

42.45

73.89

42.55%

0.80

0.15

0.10

0.70

106.12106.52

0.37%

0.80

0.15

0.10

0.70

97.67

63.26

-54.39%

0.40

0.1

0.10

0.70

20.60

20.65

0.25%

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ratio of estimate form waste model/field measurement

Figure 5 Relation of estimate methane emission and field measurement (Mg)
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Landfill age (years)

Figure 6 Ratio of methane emission from waste model versus field measurement
The ratio of estimate emission from IPCC Waste Model to field measurement is showed in Figure 6. In general, most of
the ratios are between 0.8-1.1. There are three points that are departing from the others, MD3, UD3 and UD1. Ratio of
MD3 is 0.3 which may due to the reason explained above. UD3 (ratio 1.5) is a 24 years old unmanaged deep which poor
operation system that lead to difficultly during measurement. The site at UD1 with the fair ratio of 0.6 is also unmanaged
deep landfill. Despite the site at MD3, calculation of methane emission using IPCC Waste Model with the local value of
MCF, OX and site specific waste composition has shown the good relationship. The MCF, half-life time, OX and delay
time that were obtained from this study can be used as country-specific parameters in the FOD model that will be used
for landfill methane emission inventory in the subsequent section following the Tier 2 methodology of the IPCC.
Figure 7 illustrated the application of waste model in managed landfills and unmanaged landfills in relation to landfill age
and the quantity of waste in place. It is observed that emissions from managed landfill either by IPCC Waste Model andfield measure show lower emission in different age at the close proximity value and corresponded to their waste in place
except MD3 where specific composition of waste in place per day is uncertain. The results from unmanaged landfill sites
follow the same pattern of managed landfill except for UD3 where low emission is observed despite the large amount ofwaste in place per day. This may be due to the long life time of this landfill and the improper operation of this specific site.
However, it is note that the MCF used in managed landfill sites here is 0.65 which is lower than that recommendationfrom IPCC 2000 Good Practice Guidance and that OX of 0.15 is applied due to local experiment and conditions

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Figure 7 Relation of methane emission from waste model and field measure to landfill age and waste in place (data inyear 2006)

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Table 2 Summary of methane emission from study sites
rainy season

Site

MD1

349,856

0.38 - 719.35

MD2

89,134

not measured

MS1

49,442

N.D. - 58.34

MD3

279,887

not measured

MD4

166,101

N.D. - 295.82

50.20
and
71.89

51.76

13.76

N.D. 117.00

UD1

204,400

N.D. - 60.00

14.59 and
18.77

12.21

1.53

0.93 14.28

UD2

591,300

N.D. - 825.79

43.16 and
154.36

7.89

0.65

N.D. 38.09

UD3

1,700,000

N.D. - 69.11

6.14
and 15.80

3.94

0.16

N.D. 19.94

US1

113,960

N.D. - 22.79

2.59
and
5.30

2.44

0.75

0.06 2.89

IPCC Expert Meeting Report

range(g/m2/d)mean andS.D.
(g/m2/d)avg.
spatialCH4emissions(g/m2/d)total CH4
emissions/
WIP (g-CH4/
tonwaste/d)

135.33and 191.65

129.7919.89

winter season

waste inplace, WIP(Until theend of2005)

range(g/m2/d)N.D. 686.93
N.D. 677.77

7.43
and 15.83

5.45

5.26

N.D. 8.45
N.D. 638.61

63

mean
and S.D.
(g/m2/d)24.51
and106.8054.00
and126.79
1.26
and
2.24
44.95
And
112.67
10.18
and
19.91
5.07
and
4.63
4.89
and
9.38
1.81
and
4.33
0.99
and
0.85

summer season

avg.
spatialCH4emissions(g/m2/d)total CH4
emissions/
WIP (gCH4/ tonwaste/d)

23.40

3.59

0.21 167.00

54.06

17.76

0.63 318.81

1.00

0.96

0.01 10.70

22.99

5.85

0.10 428.51

10.31

2.74

0.07 211.36

4.82

0.60

0.58 9.06

4.17

0.34

0.14 28.95

1.64

0.06

0.04 3.64

1.00

0.31

0.06 1.51

TFI

range
(g/m2/d)

mean
and
S.D.
(g/m2/d)
17.90
and
30.24
40.64
and
68.26
1.25
and
2.33
26.00
and
73.39
10.14
and
32.50
3.22
and
2.95
4.05
and
7.01
0.71
and
0.82
0.53
and
0.52

avg.
spatialCH4emissions(g/m2/d)total CH4
emissions/
WIP (gCH4/ tonwaste/d)

20.69

3.17

38.71

12.72

0.99

0.95

24.90

6.33

10.18

2.71

2.39

0.30

3.98

0.33

0.77

0.03

0.55

0.17

Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse Gas Inventories.Methane emission inventory from solid waste sector in Thailand using IPCC Waste Model
During the past decade, the waste generation in Thailand increased from 12.6 million tons in 1995 to 14.6 million tons in2004 (PCD, 2005). However, most of the wastes were disposed via open dumping and open burning. Only 91 out of
1,145 city districts had sanitized disposal management. In 2004, it has been estimated that 36% of waste generated was
disposed in landfills. In this study, the assessment of methane emissions in the solid waste sector of Thailand from 1981
- 2006 has been carried out by using IPCC Waste Model with available waste historical and waste composition data at
each landfill site as well as MCF and OX that obtained from error function analysis. The parameters of DOC, DOCf, andfraction to methane used the IPCC default values. The DOC of food waste, papers, wood and textiles were 0.15, 0.4,
0.43 and 0.24, respectively, DOCf was 0.5. The k value for each type of waste that was compiled by half-life values anddelay time was obtained results from field investigations and model calibration as described previously. The k values forfood waste, papers, wood and textiles were 0.347, 0.069, 0.035 and 0.069 yr-1, respectively. The delay time was 6
months. The CH4 fraction of generated LFG, F, was taken to be 0.5. Information including site characteristics, waste
receiving rate and waste characteristics obtained from the PCD that were studied from 1993 to 2005 were used in IPCC
Waste Model. The methane emission calculation in each site was separately evaluated.
Methane emission from SWDS in Thailand (Gg/yr)
100.00

3

90.00

_

80.00

2

a

70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00

1

20.00
10.00
0.00
1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

Year

Figure 8 The trend of methane emissions from solid waste disposal sites in Thailand
Notes:

1 1994 emission estimated by Towprayoon and Masniyom using the Landfill Air Emissions Estimation Model (LAEEM).
2 2000 emission estimated by Towprayoon and Masniyom using LAEEM.
3 2004 emission estimated by Chiemchaisri et al. using Land GEM.

The results of calculations of methane emissions from 1981-2006 are presented in Figure 8. From 1981 to 1992, themethane emission increased at the rate of about 1.6 Gg/year. Landfill practices were implemented only in big cities. After
1993, PCD promoted landfill as a good practice for waste disposal technique for the country. The methane emission
increased by about 5 Gg/year. The results of the methane emission inventory show that 89.22 Gg/year of methane werereleased from solid waste disposal sites into the atmosphere in 2006. The majority of these emissions were from foodwaste, which contributed about 50 percent of the total waste emissions.

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CONCLUSION
This paper presents field data of methane emission from different type of solid waste disposal sites in central Thailand
and compared their emissions to IPCC waste model estimation. Results from field measurement illustrated that rainyseason showed influential effect to methane emission in both managed landfill (5-6 times higher than other seasons) andunmanaged landfill (2-5 times higher). Application of IPCC Waste Model to the studied sites showed that, by using error
function analysis, the best fitting values of MCF were 0.65, 0.20, 0.15 and 0.10 for deep landfill, shallow landfill, deep
dumpsite and shallow dumpsite, respectively. OX values used in this study were 0.15 and 0.70 for landfill and open
dumpsite, respectively. The half-life values for food waste, paper, wood and textiles that were obtained from this study
were 2, 10, 20 and 10 yr-1, respectively. The delay time was 6 months. Estimation of methane emissions from the IPCC
Waste Model with the above parameter gave fair results compared to field measurement in many different cases
including type of landfill, age and waste in place. However, sites with specific operation and uncertain operation resulted
in departed value from the field measurement.
The key parameters including the MCF, OX, half-life and delay time that were obtained from this study can be used ascountry-specific parameters for Thailand and other countries in South East Asian region with similar circumstances in
the application of IPCC Waste Model. Using these country-specific values, as the Tier 2 methodology, also helps toreduce uncertainties as well as improve the quality of estimation. On the other words, the obtained MCF values alsomean to the improper landfill operation in developing countries that will reduce the methane generation potential
compare to the well operated landfill in developed countries. In order to estimate the size (capacity) of landfill gas
recovery plant or evaluate the emission reduction in the CDM for tropical developing countries, the methane generation
potential should be reduced with the obtained MCF as the reduction factor.

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Bogner, J., Meadows, M. & Czepiel, P. (1997) Fluxes of methane between landfills and the atmosphere: natural andengineered controls. Soil Use and Management, 13, 268-277.
Chiemchaisri, C., Juanga, J.P., Visvanathan, C. (2007) Municipal solid waste management in Thailand and disposal
emission inventory. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 135, 13-20.
Chomsurin, C. (1997) Evaluation of Gas Migration and Methane Oxidation in Domestic Solid Waste Landfill, Master's
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Cossu, R., Andreottola, G., Muntoni, A. (1996) Modelling landfilling gas production. In: T.H. Christensen, R. Cossu and R.
Stegmann, Editors, Landfilling of Waste: Biogas, E&FN Spon Publisher, 237–268.
Forster, P., V. Ramaswamy, P. Artaxo, T. Berntsen, R. Betts, D.W. Fahey, J. Haywood, J. Lean, D.C. Lowe, G. Myhre, J.
Nganga, R. Prinn, G. Raga, M. Schulz, R. Van Dorland (2007) Changes in Atmospheric Constituents and in Radiative
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Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M.
Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M.Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and
New York, NY, USA.
Frøiland Jensen, J. E., Pipatti, R. (2002) CH4 Emissions from Solid Waste Disposal. In: IPCC, 2002. Background Papers.
IPCC Expert Meetings on Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas
Inventories, IPCC-NGGIP, IGES, Hayama, Japan, 419-465.
Hegde, U., Chang, T.C., Yang, S.S. (2003) Methane and carbon dioxide emissions from Shan-Chu-Ku landfill site innorthern Taiwan, Chemosphere, 52, 1275-1285.
IPCC (2006) IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Prepared by the National Greenhouse Gas
Inventories Programme, Eggleston H.S., Buendia L., Miwa K., Ngara T. and Tanabe K. (eds). Published: IGES, Japan.
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Kumar, S., Gaikwad, S.A., Shekdar, A.V., Kshirsagar, P.S., Singh, R.N. (2004) Estimation method for national methane
emission from solid waste landfills, Atmosphere Environment, 38, 3481-3487.
Mosher, B. W., Czepiel, P. M., Harriss, R. C., Shorter, J. H., Kolb, C. E., McManus, J. B., Allwine, E., Lamb, B. K. (1999)
Methane Emissions at Nine Landfill Sites in the Northeastern United States, Environmental Science & Technology, 33,
2088 -2094.
Office of Environmental Policy and Planning (OEPP). (2000) Thailand’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1994.
Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment. Bangkok, Thailand. 118 p.
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Peck, J., Bentley, H., Hudgins, M. (2007) Basic to support the development of a new methodology to determine a voided
greenhouse gas emissions from in situ aerobic stabilization of landfills. Proceedings Sardinia 2007, EleventhInternational Waste Management and Landfill Symposium, S. Margherita di Pula, Cagliari, Italy; 1-5 October 2007.
Perera, M.D.N., Hettiaratchi, J.P.A., Achari, G. (1999) A mathematical model to improve the accuracy of gas emission
measurements from landfills. Proceedings Sardinia 99, Seventh International Waste Management and Landfill
Symposium S. Margherita di Pula, Cagliari, Italy; 4-8 October 1999.
Pollution Control Department (PCD) (2004) Surveying and Evaluation of Physical Compositions of MSW. Ministry of
Natural Resources and Environment, Bangkok (in Thai).
Pollution Control Department (PCD) (2005) Report on Thailand State of Pollution. Ministry of Natural Resources andEnvironment, Bangkok
Rolston, D.E. (1986) Gas flux. In: Klute, A. (Ed.), Methods of soil analysis, second ed. American Society Agronomy andSoil Science Society, American Monograph No. 9, Wisconsin, USA, 1103-1119.
Sandro L. Machado, Miriam F. Carvalho, Jean-Pierre Gourc, Orencio M. Vilar, Julio C.F. do Nascimento (2009) Methane
generation in tropical landfills: Simplified methods and field results, Waste Management, 29, 153-161.
Scharff, H., Jacobs, J. (2006) Applying guidance for methane emission estimation for landfills, Waste Management, 26,
417-429.
Spokas, K., Graff, C., Morcet, M., Aran, C. (2003) Implications of the spatial variability of landfill emission rates on
geospatial analyses. Waste Management, 23, 599–607.
Spokas, K., Bogner, J., Chanton, J.P., Morcet, M., Aran, C., Graff, C., Golvan, Y.M., Hebe, I. (2006) Methane massbalance at three landfill sites: What is the efficiency of capture by gas collection system? Waste Management, 26, 516525.
Thailand Environment Institute (TEI) (1996) Annual Conference “Linking Local Solution to Global Needs: Thailand’s
Environment Agenda in the 21 Century” Climate Change-Local Solution for global Problems.
Thailand Environment Monitor (2003) A joint publication of the Pollution Control Department (PCD) of Thailand’s Ministryof Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), the World Bank, the United States-Asia Environmental Partnership(USAEP), and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). Retrieved June 30, 2006
from http://www.worldbank.or.th/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/EASTASIAPACIFICEXT/THAILANDEXTN/0,,contentMDK:20206649~menuPK:333323~pagePK:141137~piPK:217854~t
heSitePK:333296,00.html.
Towprayoon, S., Masniyon, M. (1999) Calculation of Methane Emission from Landfill Using Country Default Value.
Proceeding of Inter-Regional Symposium on Sustainable Development (ISSD) 18-20 May, Kanchanaburi, Thailand.
USEPA (1998) Landfill Air Emissions Estimation Model (Version 2.01), EPA-68-D10117, EPA 68-D3-0033, US
Environmental Protection Agency.
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Visvanathan, C., Trankler, J., Joseph, K., Chiemchaisri, C., Basnayake, B.F.A., Gongming, Z. (2004) Municipal solid
waste management in Asia. Asian Regional Research Program on Environmental Technology (ARRPET). Asian Instituteof Technology publications. ISBN: 974-417-258-1.

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Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse Gas Inventories

Comparison of the UK inventory and other EU inventories with the
EU Emission Trading System combustion CO2 data
Neil Passant, Glen Thistlethwaite, Joanna MacCarthy, and John Watterson
With contributions from Sarah Choudrie
AEA Technology, UK

Invited Background Paper to the IPCC Experts Meeting,
Sydney, Australia, 9 – 11 August 2010

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1

Introduction

This report is the background paper to accompany the presentation on the comparison of the UK inventory and other EU
inventories with the EUETS combustion CO2 data.
The paper is split into 2 parts: an analysis of the EUETS data used in the UK inventory and the limitations ands lessons
learned from this, and then followed by general comments on the use of ETS data in the EU inventory, including a moredetailed analysis of ETS data use in selected countries in the EU inventory. It presents some questions for discussion
about the ways to make best use of ETS data in GHG inventories.

1.1

The EUETS

The EU 2010 National Inventory Report (NIR) 8 provides a good summary of the implementation and operation of the
EUETS. The text below is taken from that report.
1.1.1 Description
In January 2005 the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading System (EUETS) commenced operation as thelargest multi-country, multi-sector Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading System world-wide. The scheme is based on
Directive 2003/87/EC, which entered into force on 25 October 2003. The European emissions trading system (ETS)
covers around 10,500 installations across the 27 Member States of the European Union.
The EUETS operates by the allocation and trading of greenhouse gas emissions allowances throughout the EU; one
allowance represents one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent. An overall limit, or 'cap', is set by Member State's
Governments on the total amount of emissions allowed from all the installations covered by the scheme. The
allowances are then distributed to the installations in the scheme. At the end of each year, operators are required toensure they have enough allowances to cover their installation's emissions. They have the flexibility to buy additional
allowances (on top of their free allocation), or to sell any surplus allowances generated from reducing their emissions.
These options create a flexible compliance regime for operators and also ensures emissions are effectively capped
across the EU.
Installations covered by the EU ETS are those which carry out activities listed in Annex I of the EU ETS Directive. These
include energy activities, production and processing of ferrous metals, mineral industries and pulp and paper industries.
The scheme currently has two operating phases:••

Phase 1 from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2007
Phase 2 from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2012

1.1.2 Monitoring, Reporting and Verification
Article 14 of the Emission Trading (ET) Directive requires Member States to ensure that emissions are monitored inaccordance with specific monitoring and reporting guidelines (MRG) 9, which are legally binding. Since 1 January 2005,
all installations covered by the ETS have been required to estimate and report their emissions. Data for the installations
covered by the ETS are reported by plant operators to competent authorities since 2005 based on a monitoring planelaborated by the company and agreed by the competent authority in accordance with the methodologies established in
the monitoring and reporting guidelines. The monitoring plan covers the following elements:
a)
b)
c)
d)

the description of the installation and activities carried out by the installation to be monitored;
information on responsibilities for monitoring and reporting within the installation;a list of emissions sources and source streams to be monitored for each activity carried out within the installation;a description of the calculation based methodology or measurement based methodology to be used;8

http://unfccc.int/national_reports/annex_i_ghg_inventories/national_inventories_submissions/items/5270.php

9Commission Decision 2007/589/EC of 18 July 2007 establishing guidelines for the monitoring and reporting of greenhousegas emissions pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. OJ L 229, 31.8.2007, p.1ff

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Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse Gas Inventoriese) a list and description of the tiers for activity data, emission factors, oxidation and conversion factors for each of thesource streams to be monitored;f) a description of the measurement systems, and the specification and exact location of the measurement instruments
to be used for each of the source streams to be monitored;g) evidence demonstrating compliance with the uncertainty thresholds for activity data and other parameters (whereapplicable) for the applied tiers for each source stream;h) if applicable, a description of the approach to be used for the sampling of fuel and materials for the determination of
net calorific value, carbon content, emission factors, oxidation and conversion factor and biomass content for eachof the source streams;i) a description of the intended sources or analytical approaches for the determination of the net calorific values,
carbon content, emission factor, oxidation factor, conversion factor or biomass fraction for each of the source
streams;j) if applicable, a list and description of non-accredited laboratories and relevant analytical procedures including a listof all relevant quality assurance measures, e.g. inter-laboratory comparisons;k) if applicable, a description of continuous emission measurement systems to be used for the monitoring of anemission source, i.e. the points of measurement, frequency of measurements, equipment used, calibration
procedures, data collection and storage procedures and the approach for corroborating calculation and the reportingof activity data, emission factors and alike;l) if applicable, a comprehensive description of the approach and the uncertainty analysis, if not already covered byitems (a) to (k) of this list;m) a description of the procedures for data acquisition, handling activities and control activities as well as a descriptionof the activities;n) where applicable, information on relevant links with activities undertaken under the EU ecomanagement and audit
scheme (EMAS) and other environmental management systems (e.g. ISO14001:2004), in particular on procedures
and controls with relevance to greenhouse gas emissions monitoring and reporting.
Similar to the IPCC Good Practice Guidance, the ETS monitoring and reporting guidance is based on a tier system
which defines a hierarchy of different ambition levels for activity data, emission factors and oxidation or conversion
factors. The operator must, in principle, apply the highest tier level, unless he can demonstrate to the competentauthority that this is technically not feasible or would lead to unreasonably high costs. The reported emissions of each
installation are verified by independent verifiers for each plant in each reporting year.
1.1.3 EUETS in the United Kingdom
There are EUETS permits for 740 Installations in England and Wales, and a UK wide registry for 1,050 installations.
These installations account for about 50% of UK CO2. But is it unlikely this level of direct substitution of EUETS
installation data will ever be possible in the inventory, and considerable work remains to understand the differences
between the data returned under the ETS, energy balance in UK energy statistics and emissions reported from otherenvironmental regulators.
Currently the main approach to EUETS data verification is via:
• Good quality reporting templates• Simple permit, but detailed monitoring plans• Independent, accredited verification of annual emissions.
Electronic systems are in place for permit application and issue, annual reporting, verification, annual improvement
reports, and inspections. Further details are available on the UK web sites of the Environment Agency and theDepartment of Energy and Climate Change.
1.1.4 The ETS UK specific emissions factor list
EUETS data offers the potential to provide information to improve the UK GHG inventory. The GHG inventory also
provides data to the ETS to help operators make estimates of their emissions.
The UK provides tables of emission factors and calorific values for use in annual emissions reporting for the EUETS.
The national factors are Tier 2 and Tier 2a emission factors and net calorific values for specific fuels used by particularindustries. The data have largely been taken from the UK greenhouse gas inventory.
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The factors in these tables should only be used in accordance with the requirements in an installation's approved
monitoring plan, which is part of the Greenhouse Gas permit.
1.1.5 What do the 2006 GLs say about using ETS data in GHG inventories?
The 2006 GLs say little about using emissions trading data in the GHG inventories. In Section 2.3.3.2 of the stationary
combustion guidelines, the GLs note that:“Tier 3 estimates incorporate data at the level of individual facilities, and this type of information isincreasingly available, because of the requirements of emissions trading schemes. It is often thecase, that coverage of facility level data does not correspond exactly to coverage ofclassifications within the national energy statistics, and this can give rise to difficulties incombining the various sources of information. Methods for combining data are discussed in
Chapter 2 of Volume 1 on General Guidance and Reporting.”
In Section 6.5 of the chapter on quality assurance / quality control and verification, the GLs note that:“Also, there are guidelines for corporate and entity level QA/QC and verification techniques, which
may be reflected in the overall inventory QA/QC process for categories whose estimates rely on dataprepared under those guidelines. Examples of such guidelines include the Greenhouse Gas Protocol
developed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the World Resources
Institute (The greenhouse gas protocol – A corporate accounting and reporting standard. ISBN
156973-568-9), the Guidelines for the monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions
pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC, as well as a variety of other regional and national guidelines foremissions trading and reporting systems.”
Directive 2003/87/EC is the original EUETS directive.

1.2

Sources of energy data used to compile the UK GHG inventory

The UK greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory uses a wide range of energy related data. This includes energy commodity
balance data (published in the UK as national statistics), data reported directly from industries and via trade associations
and recently, starting in 2007, data reported under the EUETS. The energy statisticians also use ETS data in certain
sectors to help improve the accuracy of statistics they estimate and report. Energy statistics are reported annually in the
UK in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES).
The Inventory Agency (AEA Technology), working under contract to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change(DECC), the Single National Entity, conducts a programme of data quality control and assurance which include
comparison of emissions data reported under different mechanisms.
There are many different data reporting mechanisms within the UK that report annual atmospheric emission estimatesfrom industrial and other sources, some of which also include estimates of energy use. These different reporting
systems frequently quote similar, but numerically different estimates, and occasionally conflicting estimates of emissions.
These reasons for the differences in these emissions need to be understood before ETS data can be used in the GHG
inventory. Mainly because of this, currently in the UK, emission estimates for greenhouse gases are, to a large extent,
independent of EUETS data. However these data are beginning to be used for some key sectors such as the electricity
generation sector. The range and extent of emissions and energy data that the GHG inventory compilers use includes:
EUETS data, and sources that use some EUETS data•••

CITL - Community Independent Transaction Log data, covering installations operating within the EU Emissions
Trading Scheme (EUETS) (carbon dioxide only, aggregated by site);
Detailed EU ETS data (fuel consumption data by site and fuel type);
Energy statistics from the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (“DUKES”), published annually by DECC (fuelconsumption data by sector and fuel type).

Other energy use data•

Emissions reporting to the UK environmental agencies under the Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) and
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) regimes [i.e. the Pollution Inventory (PI) of the Environment
Agency for England and Wales, the Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory (SPRI) of the Scottish Environment

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Protection Agency, and the Inventory of Statutory Releases (ISR) of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency](GHG and AQ pollutants, aggregated by site);
EEMS - Environmental Emissions Monitoring Scheme data for oil and gas producers operating on the UK
Continental Shelf (GHG and AQ pollutants, by site and by source);
UKPIA data - Emissions data from the United Kingdom Petroleum Industry Association (UKPIA), covering‘complex’ crude oil refineries (GHG and AQ pollutants, split by combustion and process sources, by site);
Corus data - Emissions data from Corus UK Ltd, covering the UK’s three integrated steelworks (GHG and AQ
pollutants, by source and by site).

Examples of the type of data that are available via the CITL (publically accessible), from detailed ETS returns by theoperators (commercially confidential), and from the database of emissions compiled by the UK Environment Agency(commercially confidential) are given in Annex 1, Annex 2 and Annex 3. The usability of these data in the GHG
inventory is discussed in Section 1.3.1 of this paper.
The following sections of this paper summarise a comparison of the UK GHG inventory estimates of CO2 emissions withdata reported under the EU ETS. The papers concentrates on CO2 emissions from combustion and the analysis isbased on the 2007 GHG inventory, reported in the 2009 National Inventory Report (NIR).

1.3

General barriers to using ETS data

There are several general barriers that make the job of using the ETS datasets complicated, including:••••

Data reporting format: by source, by fuel, by site, by sector.
Coverage of installations within a given economic sector: comprehensive or limited.
Reporting protocol for carbon dioxide: thermal, chemical and biological carbon.
Allocation of installations to emission categories.

The points in the list above are considered in more detail in the following sections below.
1.3.1 Data reporting format
There is a fundamental difference in the requirements of emissions reporting within a GHG inventory reported to the
UNFCCC, and the data sets gathered for UK regulatory purposes, for example the EUETS. The format for the GHG
inventory is internationally agreed to ensure comparability of data across counties. The reporting is at source-specificlevel using source categories defined by the IPCC and adopted by the UNFCCC; in contrast, the EUETS reporting
contains installation specific data.
The issues around the data reporting format are highlighted below, using examples of the chemical industry and the ironand steel industry.
Figure 1-1 below shows the differences in the boundaries of the reporting regimes of a hypothetical set of chemical sites,
and the differences in reported emissions that will be caused by these boundaries.
Figure 1-1
industry

Data reporting comparison of IPPC compared to GHG inventory for part of the chemical
National Energy Statistics(chemicals: gas)

National Energy Statistics(chemicals: oil)

National Energy Statistics(chemicals: biomass)

National Activity
Data (flaring)

EUETS (1): Large chemical site

gas combustion

oil combustion

biomass combustion

flaring

EUETS (2): Large chemical site

gas combustion

oil combustion

biomass combustion

flaring

NON-EUETS: Small chemical site

gas combustion

oil combustion

biomass combustion

flaring

The GHG inventory should report all emissions from the chemical sites. In Figure 1-1, this would include the sum ofemissions all the sites (large chemical sites and small chemical sites) within an industry sector.
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The required scope for data reporting under ETS is defined by the blue boxes in the top part of the figure, and includes
fuel use and estimates of emissions from each site included in the ETS. In the figure, the fuel uses (gas, oil and biomass
combustion) from the two ETS sites (at the top of the figure) are reported in the UK national energy statistics (DUKES),
and via the ETS returns. Fuel use from flaring in chemical industry is not explicitly reported in DUKES, and historicallyhas been estimated by the GHG inventory team from data supplied directly by industry. This estimation is necessary
because refinery off-gases (OPG and other gases) are not well tracked in UK energy statistics. A key benefit of the ETS
reporting in the UK is that fuel uses and emissions from flaring are now directly available to the UK GHG inventory, andcan be used to improve the accuracy of the estimates of the emissions from this sector.
At the bottom of the figure, with a boundary demoted by a blue dotted line, is a small chemical site which is not covered
under the ETS. Some of the fuel use from this site would be included in the UK national energy statistics, but the flaring
would not. The omission of this site from the ETS highlights the point that the whole sector must report to the ETS
before it is possible to consider replacing emissions in the UK GHG with ETS data.
Emission estimates in the GHG inventory cover UK-wide sources such as the total emissions from coal combustion
across all of the UK power stations, or emissions from all of the calcination of limestone in the UK’s cement kilns. The
example of reporting by the iron and steel industry under the ETS and the problems of the using the ETS data in the
GHG inventory are shown in Figure 1-2.
Figure 1-2
industry

Data reporting comparison of IPPC compared to GHG inventory for part of the iron and steel
IPCC estimate 1A1c
(coke oven)

IPCC estimate 1A2a(site power plant)

IPCC estimate 2C1(process emission)

EUETS estimate (1) Iron & Steel Site 1 coke oven energy conversion

fuel combustion

Process source: decarbonisation

EUETS estimate (2) Iron & Steel Site 2 coke oven energy conversion

fuel combustion

Process source: decarbonisation

EUETS estimate (3) Iron & Steel Site 3 coke oven energy conversion

fuel combustion

Process source: decarbonisation

Data in the CITL are given by site or installation, and it may be difficult to identify emissions according to the activity
responsible, for example from combustion related emissions, or from process related emissions. In the example above,
it would be difficult to separate the emissions from the fuel combustion in the coke ovens and site power plant (reported
under 1A) from the process emissions reported under 2C1 in the ETS returns.
In summary, the emissions data in the GHG inventory groups together multiple sites (in this case all iron and steel
plants), while the data in the CITL group together multiple emission sources (in this case combustion and process
emissions).
Some other UK datasets are a hybrid of these two extremes, where some level of detail is available for site-specificemissions by source type. Examples include:•••

EEMS. The UK's Environmental Emissions Monitoring System; EEMS is the environmental database of the UK
Oil and Gas industry. Oil and gas installations report to DECC, providing site-specific annual estimates that arebroken down into sources such as: gas combustion, oil combustion, process sources, fugitives, flaring, venting,well testing;
UK Petroleum Industry Association (UKPIA). Refinery data are provided to present emissions by installation,with separate figures for the combustion and process sources of the oil refining processes.
Corus. Iron and steel integrated steelworks data are provided that present a breakdown of IPPC emissions
data across the different process units on site including: coke ovens, sinter plant, BOS plant, stockpiles.

Examples of the type of data that are available via the CITL (publically accessible), from detailed ETS returns by theoperators (commercially confidential), and from the database of all emissions compiled by the UK Environment Agency,
the UK ETS regulator, (commercially confidential) are given in Annex 1, Annex 2 and Annex 3.

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Annex 1 shows CITL data; this contains verified emissions from each installation. The CITL data alone will not provide
enough data for the GHG inventory compilers. Annex 2 has an example of the detailed returns that a refinery,
participating in the UK ETS, makes to the UK Environment Agency. These detailed returns provide a much richer sourceof data for inventory compilers, and include information about the complexity (Tier) of the method used to estimate theemissions, the fuel consumptions, their carbon contents, calorific values and oxidation factors. Information about carbon
contents is particularly valuable as in many cases operators have detailed fuel quality analytical programmes in placeand hence the carbon contents are known very accurately. There is also some information about the processes at thereporting site; for example “flare1”, which presumably would mean a flare at the refinery, and “RFG” which means aprocess using refinery fuel gas 10.
Annex 3 has an example of the detailed ETS data that the UK GHG inventory team is now able to access which issupplied from a database that the UK Environment Agency maintains in its role as the ETS regulator. Using thisexample, below is a commentary on the information that the data can provide to the UK GHG inventory:
•

•

•
•

FuelType
Some of the fuel nomenclature is clear, and identifying some of the fuels is easy, for example
RFG (OPG). The identities of other fuels need be guessed, for example GO - maybe gas oil? The compositionof some fuels is unclear, for example F13.
ActivityTier / ActivityData
No Tier information is provided for some records, but in most cases thisaffects only the smaller levels of activities (fuel consumption). The GHG inventory team can analyse the Tier
information reported to provide an indication of the accuracy of the estimate.
NCVData
Net Calorific data. This field has provided a secondary means to identify fuel type as the
GHG inventory compilers can make an assumption of the type of fuel from its NCV.
EFData / EFTier Emission Factor data. Emissions factors are mostly Tier 3, and this implies high accuracy.

The UK GHG inventory now uses some carbon emission factor data from the ETS to improve the accuracy of the GHG
emissions. For example, the carbon emission factors from coal use in power stations are now taken from the ETS
returns, as all the UK coal burning power stations report their carbon contents of coal using a Tier 3 methodology, andthese data are updated annually.
For sources such as power stations, official energy statistics are likely to be good, and so ETS data can mainly help toimprove emission factors. In the case of carbon from catalytic crackers, official energy statistics are likely to be based on
estimates. For ETS reporting, carbon emissions are directly measured from crackers. Using ETS data for this source inthe UK GHG inventory reduces the uncertainty both from the activity data and the emission factors used in the inventory.
The examples above show that for many sectors GHG inventory emission estimates can only be compared with othersource data at an aggregated level, combining both multiple sites and multiple emission sources. The individual
installation data given in most of the data sets must always be aggregated up before comparison with GHG inventorydata. In some cases, multiple source categories in the GHG inventory must also be aggregated to make a comparison
possible. For example, in the cement sector, GHG inventory estimates of CO2 emissions from fuel combustion must be
summed with estimates of GHG inventory estimates of CO2 emissions from the decarbonisation of limestone before they
can be compared against the sum of emissions reported for the entire cement sector.
The publically available ETS data, accessible via the CITL, is of very limited use to the compilers of GHG inventories.
Inventory compilers need to gain access to the more detailed data that is available to the in-country regulators of the
ETS. This detailed data will contain information that will help in the compilation of the GHG inventory, and will include
estimates of emissions, fuel use, and carbon emission factors. It is important to consider the Tier that has been used;
the higher Tier data is the most valuable. Just because data is reported in the ETS does not imply that it is immediately
suitable for use in a national GHG inventory.
1.3.2 Reporting coverage of installations across an economic sector
The analysis Section 1.3.1 has shown that it is necessary to aggregate up the installation-level data in many data sets
before they can be used in the GHG inventory, or in an analysis of the differences between estimates of emissions in the
RFG is derived from the crude oil distillation process and is used to fuel boilers, heaters, turbines, etc. RFG is also used
as a chemical feedstock (hydrogen source) in some refinery hydrogen plants. Refinery fuel gas composition may vary significantly on
relatively short time scales; thus measurements of calorific values and carbon contents must be made at appropriate sampling
locations and at sufficiently short time intervals to accurately determine GHG emissions from the combustion.

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GHG inventory and the EUETS. Many of the source categories reported in the GHG inventory relate to an economic
sector such as cement clinker production or electricity generation. In order to use and compare UK GHG inventory datawith other data sets, it is necessary for those data sets to cover all or practically all of the installations in those economic
sectors.
This condition is met for those economic sectors that are characterised by a small number of large installations e.g.
electricity generation, cement and lime manufacture, crude oil refineries, coke ovens, steelmaking etc. They all includedin the EUETS, although there were temporary opt-outs in the UK for some installations during Phase I (2005 to 2007)
when those installations that were included in UK Climate Change Agreements (CCAs) were excluded from reporting
emissions data under EUETS. The exclusions due to CCAs covered many sites within the cement and lime sectors,
limiting the usefulness of the Phase I EUETS data for comparisons against other estimates for those sectors.
A number of very small electricity generation plant on islands off the UK mainland are too small to be included under the
EUETS and so no data are available for those sites. The fuels consumed at these sites will be trivial compared with thefuel consumption of the electricity generating sector as a whole so their absence from some data sets is not significant.
Other IPCC source sectors include many small- and medium-sized enterprises that are not subject to IPPC or EUETS.
This means that it is not possible to aggregate data in the EUETS to cover all of those source sectors as defined in the
UK inventory. For example, the GHG inventory source category ‘other industrial combustion’, IPCC sector 1A2f, covers
the emissions from fuel use across all types of combustion equipment from the largest boilers and furnaces down tospace heating systems similar to those used in the domestic sector. It also covers a wide range of industry sectors
including: non-ferrous metals, chemicals, engineering, papermaking, food and drink. The GHG inventory estimates forthis source category therefore cover a very large number of installations reporting to the CITL, but also cover an evenlarger number of additional installations that are too small to be included the EUETS. It is not possible to make a
judgement about what proportion of sectoral emissions might be missing from EUETS data sets. Any comparisons ofreported emissions are therefore limited to a quality-checking of de-minimis emissions for the source sector, due to theincompleteness of the sector coverage under the EUETS.
In the UK, the definition used for combustion installations for ETS purposes currently excludes devices such as furnaces,
driers etc where the heat from the combustion is used in the device to perform some process such as melting, drying etc.
A more detailed description of the sources included by the UK is given in a regulatory impact assessment report
produced by DECC (EU emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) phase II (2008-2012), potential expansion of the scheme.
Full regulatory impact assessment, February 2007)11.
1.3.3 Reporting protocol for carbon emissions
Both the GHG inventory and the EUETS contain detailed information on the sources of carbon emissions, allowing a
distinction to be made between carbon emissions from combustion of fossil fuels and carbon emissions from ‘processes’.
EUETS data includes information on the use of biofuels, but no emissions data are included in the CITL data set.
However, comparison of the EUETS and the Environment Agency’s Pollution Inventory (PI) data for the same installation
can help to identify where carbon emissions reported in the PI might include biocarbon.
Emissions reported under the ETS should exclude emissions from biocarbon. If verified final emissions were useddirectly from the CITL there should be no risk of including emissions from biocarbon. However, the raw emissions datataken from the more detailed ETS show instances of companies reporting emissions from biocarbon use – either theseare errors in the data, or more probably they represent emissions of fossil carbon from fuels that are mixtures of biofuels
and fossil fuels. More clarity in the reporting of fuels would help to resolve this issue.

In Phase I, a range of interpretations of the definition of “combustion installation”, and therefore the combustion processes
included within the Scheme, were taken by Member States. These were termed narrow, medium and broad referring to the level ofinclusion of activities. In its decisions on Phase I NAPs, the Commission rejected the use of the narrow definition but accepted boththe medium and broader definitions. The UK followed a “medium” approach, defining a combustion installation as a stationary
technical unit that burns fuel for the production of an energy product (which could be electricity, heat or mechanical power). Aroundhalf of all Member States interpreted the term more broadly (e.g. the Dutch and Danish NAPs), including all combustion units,
whether designed specifically for energy production or not. These inconsistent interpretations have led to competitive distortions incertain sectors. Member States and the Commission have therefore recognised the need for more consistency in Phase II.
http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/what%20we%20do/global%20climate%20change%20and%20energy/tackling%20climate%20ch
ange/emissions%20trading/eu_ets/publications/ria-expansion.pdf
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1.3.4

Allocation of installations to emission categories

Important considerations

The comparison of GHG inventory data with the other data sets requires information or knowledge of the emission
sources present within each installation reporting in the EU ETS, so that data for those installations can be comparedagainst the correct part of the UK inventory. For most key emission sources, the UK GHG inventory team have a fullunderstanding of where that source occurs in the UK, and can therefore identify all of these sites in the regulators’ and
EU ETS data sets (but this is not always a straightforward task however – see sections below). Power stations,refineries, steelworks, cement works, and lime works all fall within this category. In the case of other industrial sites,
particularly those associated with chemicals manufacture, it is more difficult to identify what sources are present, without
detailed research. The reporting of carbon dioxide emissions is usually a good indication that an installation includes a
combustion plant, especially if NOX emissions are also reported. But other processes can give rise to carbon dioxide,
including chemical processes, and waste treatment such as incineration, flaring and effluent treatment. Fermentation
processes will also lead to carbon dioxide emissions. As described in Section 1.3.3, PI data include bio-carbon and soemissions from some processes such as breweries may be largely from fermentation.
The following paragraphs provides examples of the approaches taken by the UK GHG inventory compilers to maintainand develop their understanding of the UK industry and to ensure that emissions are correctly allocated to the correct
IPCC source sector.
Over the past ten years, the UK inventory team has built up a good understanding of the emitting processes present atmany industrial sites. One very useful source of data on installations reporting in the PI was the authorisation
documents for processes regulated under IPC in England and Wales by the Environment Agency.
The move from the Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) regime to Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC)
meant re-permitting of installations by the regulators. In the case of processes regulated by the Environment Agency,
this has led to some problems since the relationship of IPC to IPPC permits are not fully understood. We have madesome progress towards defining these relationships using data supplied by the EA, as well as additional information suchas shared operator names, addresses, postcodes or similarities between revocation dates for IPC permits and startdates for IPPC permits. The mapping of IPC to IPPC permits is not always straightforward: there are many cases where
the operator name or address or postcode information that we have for IPC and IPPC installations are different but it
appears likely that the permits refer to the same site. While we are confident that our mapping of IPC and IPPC permits
is generally accurate, it is very likely that there are some errors or omissions. This highlights the need for the inventory
team to maintain close relationships with the industry and to maintain a detailed understanding of the operations at thesites emitting significant quantities of GHGs.
In a few cases, emissions have been reported in the PI for both the revoked, IPC, permit and the IPPC permit thatsupersedes it. The mapping of IPC to IPPC permits allows these rare cases to be identified and filtered out. This point
highlights the need to carefully review data before it is included in the GHG inventory, even after QA/QC measures havebeen applied by the environmental regulators.
The relationship between IPC/IPPC permits and EUETS installations also needs to be understood, as does therelationship between EUETS installations and sites reporting to EEMS. As with the mapping of IPC and IPPC permits,
the UK GHG inventory team have had to build up a mapping to cover all of these. For some sectors, such as theelectricity supply industry and cement works, this is relatively straightforward with a single IPC permit, single IPPC permitand (generally) a single EUETS installation.
A complicating factor is that new permits are sometimes issued for sites covered by EUETS, presumably if theorganisation responsible for the installation changes. In such cases we have had to use address or postcode data toidentify these links. Steelworks are covered by a single EUETS permit and a single IPPC permit so links are easy to
make. However, the scope of these permits is different since the EUETS installation does not include rolling mill andheat-treatment furnaces, whereas IPPC permit does.
Industry-specific research

The description below provides a detailed assessment of the complexities of using the ETS data in the UK inventory, and,as an example, refers in detail to the research the GHG inventory team have done to understand the reporting in the oiland gas terminal sectors. One important message from this research was the need to consider relationships of thereporting of emissions in all the emission reporting systems, and not just under the ETS.

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The refinery sector provides several examples of complex reporting scope relationships between IPPC and EUETS.
Another recent study by AEA has focussed on analysis of emissions data within the refinery and oil and gas terminal
sectors 12.
One UK refinery has a single IPPC permit but the processes are split into two parts for the purposes of EUETS, whilst
several UK refineries include chemical manufacturing processes within the scope of their IPPC permits, but emission
estimates from these activities are outside of the scope of the EUETS and the UKPIA-reported data. The detailed
analysis of IPPC permits and emissions data has enabled all site emission allocations to be fully resolved within the
GHG inventory and point source database that AEA uses to underpin spatially disaggregated emissions data.
Within the same study, the AEA inventory team has conducted a detailed analysis of the carbon dioxide emissions datareported by oil and gas terminals via three different reporting systems:•••

IPPC permits, via the Pollution Inventory and Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory;
EU Emissions Trading Scheme; andThe Environmental Emissions Monitoring Scheme (EEMS).

Each of the onshore terminal sites reports voluntarily to EEMS, and the data format in EEMS provides a limited insight
into the split of emissions by source for these installations. There are no defined permits under EEMS, although theregulator (DECC Oil and Gas) provides guidance on emissions reporting, which ensures some degree of reporting
consistency between sites. The recent research has enabled a detailed review of IPPC permits for the sites, as well as
direct consultation across the regulators of EUETS, EEMS and IPPC, to help analyse in details site-specific datareporting inconsistencies and try to resolve them. In most cases, the reasons for data discrepancies have been
identified and the allocation of emissions within the GHG inventory resolved.
Further to this research aimed at the onshore oil and gas terminals, a limited review of the emissions reported via EEMS
and EUETS has been initiated for the offshore oil and gas installations. An initial comparison of CITL data against
EEMS data has identified a series of inconsistencies for carbon dioxide emissions, including several sites that areevident in one system but not the other. The DECC Oil and Gas team in Aberdeen regulates both EEMS and EUETS forthe offshore sites, and hence these findings have been passed on to DECC and are currently being considered.
Currently the data for EUETS emissions under Phase II are only available for 2008. The scope of emissions reporting by
oil and gas sites was expanded from Phase I, to now include emissions from flaring (as well as combustion sources,
which were included in Phase I). Hence there is a limited dataset for the oil and gas sector, and it is not possible at thisstage to take forward any revisions to the GHG inventory data for offshore sites.
In previous years, similar research focus and direct consultation with industry experts has enabled a thoroughunderstanding of the reporting scope under IPPC and EUETS for integrated steelworks. To enable the AEA team tocorrectly interpret the range of data from Corus plant, a bespoke template for emissions reporting has been developed inconjunction with Corus, which clarifies the relationships and scope of reporting across IPPC and EUETS.
Extending this detailed research and consultation approach to resolve data reporting inconsistencies across othereconomic sectors is a very resource-intensive process. Within the annual GHG inventory development work programme,
the GHG inventory team prioritises areas of data uncertainty and pursues clarifications through a programme ofstakeholder consultation. Through a phased improvement in knowledge of IPPC and EUETS permit scopes andconsultation with regulators and representatives of major industry sectors, these scope uncertainties are gradually being
resolved, but only for the highest-emitting source sectors. The lesson from this is that countries who are aiming to makefull use of ETS data need to allocate resources to the analysis of the ETS data, and should not assume it is a trivial task.

12 http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/reports/cat07/1005251107_DA_Improvement_Report_Industry_Task_May2010_Issue_1.pdf

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2 Comparing UK GHG inventory with ETS combustion
CO2 data
The previous section has outlined the barriers of using ETS data in the UK GHG inventory. This Chapter shows how theUK has been able to use selected data in the GHG inventory. It also presents comparisons of the ETS emissions fromselected sectors with GHG inventory data.

2.1

Approach to using ETS data in the UK GHG inventory

When the UK GHG inventory team have assessed whether to use EUETS data in the GHG inventory, we have asked
some simple but important questions:
1) How do emission estimates for the UK, given in the GHG inventory, compare with emissions data given in the
EUETS, and elsewhere?
2) How consistent are the emissions data reported elsewhere, for example how consistent are data in the UK
Pollution Inventory and the CITL?
3) How consistent are the energy statistics reported in the UK Digest of energy Statistics (DUKES), by site
operators under EUETS and in the GHG inventory?
In order to answer the first and third questions, groups of installations are first identified that are comparable in scope tosingle emission sources or groups of sources in the GHG inventory. Ideally, one would want to be able to compare at afairly disaggregated level but due to the ‘barriers’ described in the sections above, this is not always possible. Once agroup of installations has been identified, then emissions from these installations can be summed to compare withemission estimates from the GHG inventory.
To answer the second question, data at individual site level can be compared. As well as all of the non-GHG inventory
data sets, this comparison can also include GHG inventory point source data. The UK inventory programme includes
the production of emission maps and other geographically-resolved emissions data for Local Authorities, Devolved
Administrations and to underpin air quality dispersion modelling studies.
In the full analysis, the GHG inventory team used a wide range of data:
Regulators’ inventories (PI, SPRI, ISR)CITL (EUETS)
Corus (where applicable)
UKPIA (where applicable)
EEMS
GHG inventory i.e. UK level emission estimates
GHG inventory CO2 emissions for Type 1 points – site specific data consistent with the UK total
GHG inventory CO2 emissions for Type 0 points – site specific data based on detailed analysis of data reported
in the non-GHGI data sets and therefore not consistent with the UK total.
The analysis in this paper concentrates on just the emissions from the UK GHG inventory and the CITL (highlighted inbold in the list above).
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

The detailed analysis for greenhouse gases relate to the 2007 reporting year, presented in the 2009 National Inventory
Report.
2.1.1 How has validation and QA/QC been dealt with?
The EUETS data is carefully reviewed by the GHG inventory team before any data from the detailed ETS returns areincluded in the GHG inventory. This review includes a comparison with other sources of data from the regulatory
agencies; for example, see the example of the analysis of the data reported by refineries towards the end of
Section 1.3.4. Further comment about the process of the detailed review of the EUETS data is made in the sections
below.
Once the GHG inventory is prepared, it is subject to a formal review by the UK national GHG inventory steeringcommittee before the UK inventory is formally submitted to the UNFCCC.
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2.1.2 Comparison of emissions from combustion in the ETS with three sources in the UK GHG inventory
The next sections provide a detailed comparison and interpretation of the differences between the 2007 UK GHG
inventory estimates from four important sources, and the corresponding data from the EUETS returns. The comparison
includes sources where there is very good agreement between the UK GHG inventory and the EUETS, and sources
where there are important differences. Sources less that about 2% of the UK CO2 emissions are not considered.
In the sections below, in comparisons between CO2emissions and the national total CO2emissions, the national total CO2
emissions include net LULUCF.
2.1.3 Power stations
Carbon coal-fired and oil-fired power stations
According to the 2007 UK GHG inventory, coal-fired and oil-fired power stations emitted 20% of UK CO2 in 2007.
Coal-fired and oil-fired power stations are considered together because oils are used as start-up fuels for coal-fired
stations and therefore a significant proportion of oil burnt in power stations is burnt at those stations which burn coal as
the primary fuel. The GHG inventory emissions data for coal burnt in power stations is therefore not strictly comparablewith the non-GHG inventory data for coal-fired stations, because the latter also includes emissions from the burning of oil
during start-up. Similarly, the GHG inventory emissions data for oil burnt at power stations is not comparable with the
non-GHG inventory data for oil-fired power stations. Considering coal and oil-fired power stations together minimises
differences in scope between GHG inventory and non GHG inventory data. Note that natural gas is also used as a startup fuel at coal-fired power stations, but the quantities are very small in comparison to the quantities of gas burnt in gasfired power stations, and so gas use and gas-fired power stations are compared separately.
Table 2-1 shows the total emissions from coal-fired and oil-fired power stations in the various data sets.
Table 2-1

Emissions from coal/oil-fired power stations (ktonnes CO2)

Coal/oil fired power stations
IPPC regulatory
inventories

CITL(EUETS)GHG
inventory

119,625

118,664

117,836

The scope of reporting of power station activities is broadly consistent across all reporting mechanisms, and the GHG
inventory estimates are derived from emission factors from EUETS data, and hence good agreement across all reporting
mechanisms is achieved. There are some small differences in emissions reported from the data sets, which are, due to:
IPPC regulatory inventories include emissions of bio-carbon, at sites where co-firing of biofuels occurs. As a result, the
IPPC data are slightly higher than the emissions reported under EUETS.
The GHG inventory figure is based on (i) emission factors from EUETS data, and (ii) fuel consumption data from theDigest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES). Analysis has shown that the activity data in DUKES is not fully consistent withthe fuel use data reported within EUETS, which underpins the emission estimates reported in the CITL, and hence there
is a small inconsistency in emissions data. The IPPC data may also include emissions from the burning of natural gas asa start-up fuel.
Taking into account these factors, then the small differences in the figures from the different sources are at least partially
explicable. Although there would still be a residual difference between the GHG inventory and the non-GHG inventory
data if corrections could be applied for these factors, it seems likely that this residual difference would be small and that
the GHG inventory and non-GHG inventory data sets are in close agreement.
Gas fired power stations
According to the 2007 UK GHG inventory, gas-fired power stations emitted 10% of UK carbon in 2007.
The group of gas-fired power stations includes Peterhead, which burns a small amount of ‘acid’ gas (gas with a higher
than normal content of acidic gases including H2S and CO2), and also includes some conventional dual-fuel steam
stations as well as gas turbine stations. Many of the stations burn small quantities of petroleum-based fuels including
gas oil and LPG, and one station burns colliery methane, which is absent from the GHG inventory figures (all colliery

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methane is allocated to industrial sites). Table 2-2 shows the total emissions from gas-fired power stations in the fivedata sets.
Table 2-2

Emissions for gas-fired power stations (ktonnes CO2)

Gas-fired power stations
IPPC
regulatory
inventories

CITL

GHG
inventory

59,25059,15458,564

As with coal/oil-fired power stations, there are relatively small differences between the data. The CITL figure is slightly
lower than the figure given in the regulators’ inventories, although a number of very small power stations do not report inthese inventories, so one might expect the CITL figure to be the higher of the two. The reason why this is not so is notclear but it is most likely due to small differences in scope at some installations, or due to inconsistent reporting.
A detailed analysis has been made (but not reported here) of site-specific data for those gas-fired power stations where
there was least good agreement between the various data sets. The analysis suggests that the CITL data is morereliable that the data taken from regulators’ inventories.
2.1.4 Integrated steelworks
According to the 2007 UK GHG inventory, integrated steelworks and coke ovens emitted 4% of UK carbon in 2007.
The UK has three integrated steelworks which incorporate coking, sintering, blast furnaces and steel production using
the basic oxygen process. These steelworks are owned by Corus. It is necessary to add the UK’s only remaining
standalone coke ovens (operated by Monckton Coke & Chemical) to this group in order to ensure a more consistentscope in the various data sets. Table 2-3 shows the total emissions from steelworks and coke ovens reported in thevarious data sets.
Table 2-3

Emissions for integrated steelworks (ktonnes CO2)

Integrated steelworks
IPPC
regulatory
inventories

CITL

Corus

GHG
inventory

21,776

20,486

21,677

21,355The agreement between the total emissions from the CITL and the GHG inventory is reasonable. There areconsiderable differences between the emissions totals from different sub-sources; however there are some factors that
help to explain at least some of these differences. Generally, these are to do with the scope of the estimates.
The figures from the regulator’s inventory and from Corus are believed to cover all or at least the most significant
sources of carbon emissions at each site. The main difference between the two is then the inclusion of Monckton’s cokeoven in the Pollution Inventory data but not included in the Corus data. The site-specific data are actually somewhat
different in the case of two Corus sites but these largely cancel out in the totals. These differences are thought to be due
to changes in methodology between reporting to the Pollution Inventory and the later compilation of the Corus data set.
The CITL data do not include emissions from rolling mill furnaces and reheat furnaces, whereas the Pollution Inventory
and Corus data do, therefore the CITL figure is lower.
The GHG inventory estimate is based on national activity data and emission factors and will not necessarily beconsistent with the non-GHG inventory data sets. But the level of agreement with the Corus and regulator’s inventory is
good. There is one area where the scope of the estimates may be slightly different – the GHG inventory groups all iron& steel industry use of fuels in boilers and furnaces together and this fuel use will include fuel used at Corus’ integrated
steelworks, Corus’ other works, and fuel used by numerous other process operators, most of them running small
foundries. In this analysis we have included all emissions from use of coke oven gas and blast furnace gas in the figure
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shown in Table 2-3, but excluded all emissions from coke, fuel oil, natural gas, and other, minor, fuels on the basis thatthe majority of usage is likely to be at other sites. Some natural gas and fuel oil may actually be used at the integrated
works, so the GHG inventory figure would then underestimate actual emissions.
Table 2-4 compares data from Corus and from the GHG inventory, broken down by emission source. The
difference in the figures for basic oxygen furnaces stands out as the most significant discrepancy between
the two sets of data. The difference is at least partly explained by inconsistencies in the scope. The GHG
inventory figure only covers carbon dioxide derived from dolomite added to the oxygen furnace, andelectrode emissions in ladle arc furnaces. The Corus figure also includes emissions from casters, ladleheating and, perhaps most importantly, emissions from oxygen blowing. In the GHG inventory these aretreated as part of the overall carbon balance and so the carbon contained in the basic oxygen furnace-off
gas is treated as entering the steelworks fuel gas supply and then emitted from the coke ovens, blast
furnaces and combustion plant (with some possibly being included in the flaring/losses figures). A moredetailed breakdown from Corus would help to determine whether the discrepancy noted is solely due todifferences in scope or whether there is a serious problem with one or other set of data.
Table 2-4

Emissions for integrated steelworks, broken down by source type (ktonnes CO2)

Data by source
SourceCorus

GHG
inventory

Coke ovens

1,206

1,320

Sintering

2,988

2,977

Blast furnaces

4,495

4,631

Basic oxygen furnaces

1,547

136

Flaring/losses

1,613

2,127

Combustion

9,827

10,168Given the issues outlined above for the basic oxygen furnace numbers, it is not possible to draw any conclusion from themuch smaller differences between the GHG inventory and Corus figures for the other sources, although the GHG
inventory figure for coke ovens does contain emissions for Monckton and therefore should be larger than the Corus
figure.
An important question to answer is is it possible to use the detailed ETS data to identify the emissions from combustion
alone in this sector? For the UK it is not possible to isolate combustion emissions from the whole iron and steel sector; itis possible to identify combustion emissions from coke ovens and sintering processes, but not from blast furnaces 13.
Table 2-5 shows total emissions data for individual installations.
Table 2-5

Emissions for integrated steelworks & cokeovens (ktonnes CO2)

Data by site
Installation

Regulators’
inventories

CITL

Corus

Corus Port Talbot

7,348

7,058

7,557

Corus Scunthorpe

8,081

7,172

7,828

Corus Teesside

6,299

6,211

6,296

13 In Table 2-4, based on the way we report emissions in the UK GHG inventory, the coke ovens line will mainly be 1A1c, but withpossibly some emissions from 1B1b, the blast furnace line will cover 1A2a but also 2C1, but the combustion lines will be solely 1A2a.
The remaining lines are not combustion.

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Data by site
Installation

Regulators’
inventories

CITL

Corus

Monckton Coke & Chemical

51

44

-

The data for individual sites show the same features which have already been discussed above – a small discrepancy inreported emissions for two Corus sites, and lower emissions in the CITL due to the exclusion of furnace emissions fromthese data.
2.1.5

Refineries

According to the 2007 UK GHG inventory, refineries emitted 3% of UK carbon in 2007.

The refineries group includes both the nine ‘complex’ UK refineries, but also three smaller, specialised, refineries. Table
2-6 shows the total emissions from refineries reported in the various data sets.
Table 2-6

Emissions for refineries (ktonnes CO2)

Refineries
IPPC
regulatory
inventories

CITL

GHG
inventory

18,31917,81315,004

There are some differences in scope between the IPPC installations and those covered by EUETS, with some chemical
manufacturing processes included in the IPPC installation for Stanlow. A further known issue is that carbon emissions
data for North Tees were revised subsequent to reporting to the PI and so the PI figure can be considered less reliable.
Both factors help to explain the fact that the figure from the regulators’ inventories is higher than the one from the CITL.
One small refinery (Eastham) has not reported carbon dioxide emissions in the PI and this cancels out the impact of theother two issues to a small extent. The data from UKPIA does not cover the three small refineries, so the fact that thefigure from UKPIA is lower than the figures from the CITL and the regulators’ inventories is not surprising.
The GHG inventory figure is significantly lower than any of the non-GHG inventory data. Detailed analysis of the EUETS
dataset (Thistlethwaite & Passant, 2009) have identified a number of areas of difference between EUETS and GHG
inventory figures.
Most importantly, EUETS emissions data for catalyst regeneration are significantly higher than those given in the GHG
inventory. The GHG inventory methodology was modified for the latest (2007) version, in order to reduce this difference,
but was constrained by the energy data in DUKES (i.e. the GHG inventory emission estimate assumes that all of the‘petroleum coke’ given in DUKES is 100% carbon and 100% emitted). Full use of EUETS data in the GHG inventory
would require the GHG inventory to diverge from the UK energy statistics e.g. by assuming that some of the non-energy
use of petroleum coke listed in DUKES is actually burnt off during catalyst regeneration. There are precedents fordivergences such as this e.g. lubricants, coal tars and benzoles etc. but one unique issue in this case is that the DUKES
fuel ‘petroleum coke’ actually covers three quite different products:
Green (uncalcined) petroleum coke, imported into the UK, and used as a fuel (solid smokeless fuel, cement kilns, power
stations);
Anode grade (calcined) petroleum coke, produced at South Killingholme and perhaps also imported, and used to
manufacture products such as anodes for the aluminium industry;
Carbon deposits on catalysts e.g. in catalytic crackers which must be burnt off periodically to ‘regenerate’ the catalyst.
While the first two are linked in that they are both products of a refinery process called a coker, with anode grade coke
undergoing a further treatment stage, the third product is unrelated. Currently DUKES seems to include the first two in
the non-energy part of the commodity balance table, with only the final product appearing as an energy use. Increasing
the GHG inventory activity data beyond that given in DUKES by transferring petroleum coke from non-energy usage to
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energy usage would, in effect, mean changing one product into another, and not just changing the assumptions about
how a given product is used in the UK.
A decision was taken for the 2008 inventory to make the GHG inventory consistent with the EUETS data, therefore
diverging from the DUKES total.
A second issue is that consumption of fuel oil and OPG given in DUKES do not agree with the figures that can bederived from the EUETS data (although there are some slight problems with allocating fuels listed in EUETS data to thefuel categories used in DUKES). There are also significant differences between carbon factors used in EUETS for OPG
and the emission factor used in the GHG inventory. The overall impact of these differences is that the GHG inventory
has a significantly higher estimate for carbon from fuel oil, and a significantly lower estimate for carbon from OPG,
although these almost cancel each other out.
2.1.6 Other combustion plant
According to the 2007 UK GHG inventory, other combustion plant emitted 15% of UK carbon in 2007.
This group includes other combustion plant across the UK and on the UK continental shelf, as well as other emissions
from oil & gas installations. In the case of this group, emissions data are not complete for any of the data sets except the
GHG inventory, and the scope of some of the data sets are sometimes very different e.g. EEMS covers offshore
installations and terminals only, whereas the regulators’ inventories cover numerous onshore combustion processes,
some terminal emissions and no offshore emissions. Emissions are summarised in Table 2-7.
Table 2-7

Emissions for other combustion plant & offshore installations (ktonnes CO2)

Other combustion plant and offshore
installations
IPPC
regulatory
inventories

CITL

GHG
inventories

EEMS

35,82031,277

93,797

19,936

As would be expected, emissions in the GHG inventory exceed emissions in the other inventories by a considerable
extent. This can be explained by the fact that the GHG inventory figure includes emissions from all sources including
both onshore and offshore sites, and all plant including those which would be too small to be included in the regulator’s
inventories or the CITL. The scope of EEMS, the CITL and the regulator’s inventories are sufficiently different that theemission totals should not be expected to be similar. The GHG inventory point source data include emissions data takenfrom EEMS, CITL and the regulator’s inventories and so the total emission is larger than for any of those three data sets,
but is still much lower than the GHG inventory. This is because the point source data only covers the largest combustion
plant.
2.1.7 Summary
For refineries and power stations, the UK is able to use detailed ETS data to identify CO2 emissions associated withcombustion. The ETS reporting in the iron and steel sector does not allow emissions from combustion to be fully
separated from other emissions.
2.1.8 Specific examples of problems and issues
This section provides a summary of the problems that have been encountered as the UK inventory team now tries to use
the EUETS data in the UK GHG inventory. These points have been covered in more detail in the previous sections.
The EUETS has provided a rich source of data to the GHG inventory compilers, but problems still remain at technicaland administrative levels, for example:••

Access to data. EUETS raw data on energy use and emissions by source is not always freely available at fulldetail to the Inventory Agency. Publically available data from the CITL is of very limited use to inventory
compilers.
Formats and aggregation of sources. EUETS emissions data is reported at an installation-level, which may
aggregate many different process and combustion sources. This limits the detail of reporting aligned to IPCC
format. It may be possible to identify combustion related emissions from process related emissions at some,

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•

•

•

•

•

•
•

but not all sites. This leads to complexities when it comes to analysis of “traded” and “non-traded” emissions
within GHG inventories, which is an increasing requirement across the EU, as all Member States are signing up
to fixed contributions to emission reductions in the “non-traded” source sectors (under the EU Effort Sharing
Decision).
Coverage of sources. The scope of EUETS does not cover all sites within a given industrial sector e.g. in the
UK the EUETS covers 100% of power stations and refineries, but does not cover all lime kilns, all chemicalsites etc.
UK implementation of the ETS. In Phase I EUETS (2005-2007) the UK took a narrower definition of“combustion” than other Member States. It excluded furnaces and driers (e.g. metals industry, food & drink,chemical. It included boiler plant on industrial sites, raising steam for a reactor vessel. This definition does
hinder incorporating ETS data in the GHG inventory, and makes comparison with ETS data from othercountries more problematic. In Phase II (2008-2012) the scope of EUETS has expanded, and now includes
sources such as flaring at oil and gas sites.
Nomenclature. Fuel naming nomenclature in the EUETS is not rigidly defined, and there is no mandatory
requirement for agreement with the IPCC nomenclature. Operators may use fuel names that are useful to them,but which may be unclear or unrecognisable to GHG inventory compilers.
Commercial confidentiality. A problem in several Member States and also where local / regional emissions
data are to be derived. Where one or two plant in a given economic sector are reported in isolation, this isproblematic. In the UK, the Inventory Agency can get full access to the fuel-specific data, but the data cannot
be released to a wider audience. Some data will commercially confidential; formal data supply agreements
specifying the protocols for dealing with commercially confidential data may help secure access to data for theinventory compliers.
Variable data quality. EUETS data (fuel use, emission factors and calorific values, and methodologicalapproach) are estimated using a Tiered approach, in an analogous way to the IPCC approach. Data aresubject to verification and possible external audit. GHG inventory compliers should not assume that EUETS
data are necessarily more accurate that the data used in GHG inventories; attention should be paid to the Tier
used to generate the data. There are some example of variable application of EUETS data verification byaccredited organisations – for example, unlikely outliers in natural gas carbon content in UK.
Coverage of GHGs. Only CO2 is reported in the UK, although there is the provision for other GHGs to be
included currently in the regulations.
Extent of time series. Good quality data is available from 2005 onwards only and this creates time-seriesconsistency concerns. How best to back-calculate data for earlier years in the time-series?

2.1.9 Specific examples of good practice
It is good practice to carefully review the ETS data and to understand its limitations and then consider what ETS data
could be used in the inventory. It is not good practice to just replace GHG inventory data with ETS data without any
review of the ETS data. The UK GHG inventory does now use some ETS data (for example, carbon emission factors forcoal use in the energy sector and for some fuels in the refinery sector). The inventory compilers are considering using
more ETS data but only after completing a thorough analysis and interpretation of recent ETS data against the GHG
inventory. This analysis involves comparing data from the detailed ETS returns against the 2007 GHG inventory itself,
and data reported by other environmental regulators. Only the highest Tier ETS data are being considered for inclusionin the GHG inventory.
The UK has a fully functional national inventory steering committee (NISC). This helps facilitate close cooperation and agood working relationship between the regulators of the ETS in the UK (the Environment Agency), the GHG inventory
compilers and other environmental regulators. The NISC allows a formal review of the inventory before it is submitted to
the UNFCCC.
2.1.10 Benefits of EUETS to GHG inventories
There are some clear benefits to using ETS data in GHG inventories. The list below provides some specific UK
examples:•Use as an energy statistics quality-check against the national energy data allocations of fuels to sectors. ETS
data may reveal new sources / new fuels. Examples:

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Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse Gas Inventories••• refinery RFG, OPG, flaring;• flaring data from several sectors (chemicals, oil and gas);• use of clays and coke in brick-making and other mineral processes;• solvents used as fuels.
The ETS may provide new activity data and new fuel quality data (from higher Tier reporting). Examples:• UK refinery coke use (the UK GHG inventory now deviates from UK energy statistics, as we haveidentified that the UK energy balance is wrong for the refinery sector for 2006 and 2007. The UK
inventory agency has worked with the UK energy statistics team and the UK refinery trade association,
to research and resolve the data reporting inconsistencies that were evident.);• Use of Tier 3 CO2 emission factors, GCV data etc for all power station fuels, refinery fuels;• New data on fossil fuels and bio-derived fuels, to enable more detailed analysis and clarify emission
sources (e.g. to compare against IPPC-reported emissions data);• Fuel quality data for Coke Oven Gas and Blast Furnace Gas.
The EUETS can be used to inform region-specific emission factors and fuel quality data, to inform more local
and regional emission inventories, providing more opportunities and data to inform local and regional GHG
mitigation opportunities. For example, within the UK, the EUETS data are used to inform the development ofemission inventories for each local authority (CO2 inventories only) and for the devolved Governments of Wales,
Scotland and Northern Ireland (full GHG inventories, to meet reporting requirements and policy tracking needs
for regional climate change action plans / strategies); see Chapter 3.

3

Use of EUETS data in sub national inventories

3.1

Creating UK sub national inventories

In the UK, GHG inventories for the constituent countries, or Devolved Administrations (DAs) - England, Northern Ireland,
Scotland and Wales - are created annually, and rely on data from the UK GHG inventory. It would be possible to use
ETS data to help improve the accuracy of these inventories. Figure 3-1 outlines the approach used to estimate
emissions for the GHG inventories of the constituent countries of the UK, and shows the specific areas in which ETS
data could be used to help improve these inventories.

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Figure 3-1

Using ETS data in sub national (regional) GHG inventories

EU ETS data are used to inform the development of detailed official energy statistics (DUKES) in that they provide aminimum value (de-minimus) for the fuel used in certain sectors of industry, and the statisticians check that this isconsistent with their independently derived energy consumption data.
The next sections provide two examples to show how detailed EUETS data could be used to help improve the accuracyof sub national inventories in the UK. There is a discussion about the reasons for differences between the different data
sources in each section.

3.2

Coal fired power stations

Emissions of CO2 from coal fired power stations make a large contribution to the total emissions in the constituent
countries of the UK. CITL data could be used to improve the accuracy of these estimates. Table 3-1 provides anexample of site-specific data that could be used for a selection of power stations. The table shows data whereemissions data are most variable across different reporting mechanisms which then allows a discussion about thereasons for this variability.

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Table 3-1

Emissions data for selected coal-fired power stations (ktonnes CO2)

Data for selected coal fired power stations
Site

IPPC regulatory
inventories

CITL

Ferrybridge C

8,822

8,287

Fiddlers Ferry

5,859

5,636

Tilbury B

4,008

4,723

Aberthaw B

4,077

4,187

Drax

22,64922,161

Kingsnorth

9,090

8,914

Fifoots Point

631

649

West Burton

9,434

9,324

All of the data sets include emissions from Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) systems as well as the combustion of fuels.
In the case of Ferrybridge C, Fiddlers Ferry, Drax, Kingsnorth, and West Burton, the data from the IPPC regulatory
inventories and the CITL follow a similar pattern to that noted in the data for the group as a whole, with higher emissions
reported under IPPC. The differences are in part due to biocarbon from co-fired biomass being included in the IPPCdata.
In theory it is possible to identify emissions from the FGD plants in the detailed ETS returns, but this may reveal data thatcommercially confidential.
In the case of Tilbury B, Aberthaw B, and Fifoots Point, the CITL figure is higher than that given by the regulator’s
inventory and although the difference is relatively small in the latter two cases, it is a very significant difference in thecase of Tilbury B. Emissions data are supplied to regulators at different times for different purposes and different
individuals might be involved in preparing and submitting these data sets. Therefore, small differences in numbers mightoccur due to different data being available (i.e. ‘provisional’ and ‘final’ data) or differences in methodology. It seems
reasonable to believe that the differences for Aberthaw B and Fifoots Point could be due to a factor such as this (thedifference is ~3% in each case). The difference for Tilbury B is 18%, so either any revisions to data or methodology
would have to be very significant, there would have to be a major difference in scope, or one or other figure contained anerror. Without further information, it is not possible to conclude what reason there is for the difference, although adifference in scope appears the least likely.

3.3

Refineries

Table 3-2 shows CO2 emissions data for individual refineries.

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Table 3-2

Emissions data for crude oil refineries (ktonnes CO2)

Data by site
Site

Regulators’
inventories

CITL

UKPIA

Coryton

1,929

1,925

1,925

Fawley

3,018

3,018

3,018

Grangemouth

2,240

2,240

2,237

Killingholme

1,764

1,764

1,764

Milford Haven

1,210

1,210

1,206

North Tees

495

260

260

Pembroke

2,449

2,449

2,449

South Killingholme

2,237

2,141

2,141

Stanlow

2,930

2,702

2,702

Dundee26

25-

Eastham-

51-

Harwich22

22-

Three sets of data (regulator’s inventories, CITL, and UKPIA generally in close agreement or even identical. Only in thecases of North Tees, South Killingholme and Stanlow is there any significant disagreement between the figures and in all
three cases it is the figure from the regulator’s inventory which is different. The differences at North Tees and Stanlow
have already been explained above. The reason for the difference at South Killingholme is not known with certainty but
may be due to the inclusion of an activated sludge biological effluent-treatment plant in the PI which is not included in the
EUETS).

4

UK energy data and EUETS data comparisons

Estimates of emissions of carbon emissions in the UK GHG inventory mostly rely on data in the Digest of UK energy
statistics (DUKES). If more energy data from the ETS were to be used in the UK GHG inventory, it is important tounderstand the reasons for any differences between energy consumptions reported in DUKES and via the detailed ETS
returns.
A comparison between energy data presented in DUKES and data reported by plant operators as part of EU ETS returns
has been completed, and reported in The DA GHGI Improvement Programme 2009-2010 EU ETS Task (AEA, 2010).
This report was part of the DA improvement programme, and focused on how the EU ETS site specific data could be
used to improve both the DA and UK inventories. This report is available from:http://www.airquality.co.uk/reports/cat07/1005251111_DA_GHGI_Improvement_Report_EUETS_May2010r.pdf
The main findings of this report were that for sectors such as power generation and refineries, where the emissions
trading mechanism covers the whole of the economic sector, there is generally a good agreement between DUKES andthe EUETS data. However, when comparing fuel use statistics for sectors where not all of the operators are covered by
EUETS, some inconsistencies were evident and more fuel use was being reported in the EUETS data set than in
DUKES.
UK energy statisticians report that they use EU ETS data to inform the development of detailed official energy statistics(DUKES). In part, they provide a minimum value (de-minimus) for the fuel used in certain sectors of industry, and thestatisticians check that this is consistent with their independently derived energy consumption data.
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During the Phase 1 EU ETS, from 2005 to 2007, several economic sectors had many sites that were opted-out of EU
ETS due to pre-existing emissions trading arrangements within sector-wide Climate Change Agreements (CCAs).
However, from 2008 onwards the CCA opt-outs have ceased and hence the number of UK installations operating within
the EUETS has increased. This has allowed a more detailed analysis to be carried out for 2008.
A specific example of where the ETS data has helped improved the accuracy of the GHG inventory is the reporting of
petroleum coke use.
In DUKES, some petroleum coke is allocated to refineries, and the remainder to non energy use. It is, however, known
that petroleum coke is also used as a fuel in the domestic sector, power stations and the cement industry. Analysis of
the EU ETS data also indicates an under allocation of petroleum coke to refineries. The UK GHG inventory therefore
deviates from both the total petroleum coke use, and the sectoral allocation presented in DUKES.

5

Use of EUETS data in EU greenhouse inventories

The text in the sections below has been summarised from the 2010 National Inventory Report of the EU. It provides an
overview of the way that ETS data can be used in the GHG inventories of the EU MSs, a summary of the way that ETS
data is currently being used by MSs, and provides detailed examples of how the data have been used in three Member
States.
5.1.1 Overview
The ETS generates an EU-27 data set on verified installation-specific CO2 emissions for the sectors covered by thescheme. The ETS includes CO2 emissions from energy industries and manufacturing industries, in particular
combustion installations, mineral oil refineries, coke ovens, production and processing of ferrous metals, and mineralindustries (cement, glass, lime, bricks and tiles, other ceramic materials) if the installations exceed certain capacity
thresholds. In 2008 the scope of the EU ETS has been expanded to include petrochemical cracking installations,mineral wool production and carbon black production. At the moment, the greenhouse gases covered under the EU ETS
are CO2 (since 2005) and N2O (since 2010). However, other greenhouse gases and activities will be included in thescope of the EU ETS from 2013 onwards. In July 2006 the Climate Change Committee adopted unanimously therevised Monitoring and Reporting Guidelines for the ETS. The new Guidelines entered into force on 1st January 2008.
5.1.2 How might EUETS data be able to improve the EU GHG inventory?
The EU inventory is composed of the sum of the GHG inventories of the Member States of the EU. The plant-specificemissions data reported by operators under the EUETS can be used in different ways for the purposes of the E GHG
inventories:
1) Reported verified emissions can be directly used in the GHG inventory to report CO2 emissions for a specificsource category. This requires that the coverage of the respective ETS emissions is complete for therespective source category and that ETS activities and CRF source categories follow the same definitions. If
ETS emissions are not complete, the emissions for the remaining part of the source category not covered by
the EU ETS have to be calculated separately and added to the ETS emissions.
2) Emission factors (or other parameters such as oxidation factors) reported under the EUETS can be comparedwith emission factors used in the inventory and they can be harmonised if the EUETS provides improved
information.
3) Activity data reported under the EUETS can be used directly for the GHG inventory, in particular for source
categories where energy statistics face difficulties in disaggregating fuel consumption to specific subcategories,
e.g. to specific industrial sectors.
4) Data from EUETS can be used for more general verification activities as part of national quality assurance (QA)
activities without the direct use of emissions, activity data or emission factors.
5) Data from EUETS can improve completeness of the estimation of IPCC source categories when additional data
for source categories become available from EUETS.
6) ETS data can improve the allocation of industrial combustion emissions to sub-categories under 1A2
Manufacturing Industries and Construction;7) The comparison of the data sets can be used
to improve the uncertainty estimation for the GHG
inventories based on the ranges of data reported by installations.
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5.1.3 Extent of use of ETS data in the EU inventory
Based on the information submitted in the national inventory reports (NIRs) in 2010 to the UNFCCC secretariat or theEuropean Commission, 24 out of 27 Member States indicated that they used ETS data at least for QA/QC purposes (seeTable 5-1). This is a higher share of Member States than in 2008, where a similar analysis showed that 22 Member
States had used ETS data for inventory purposes. 14 Member States indicated to directly use the verified emissions
reported by installations under the ETS. 15 Member States used ETS data to improve country-specific emission factors.
10 Member States reported that they used activity data (e.g. fuel use) provided under the ETS in the national inventory.
The NIR of Lithuania did not provide any information whether ETS data was used for inventory purposes. For these
Member States it is unclear whether they checked data consistency in a systematic way. Luxembourg and Bulgaria did
not provide an updated NIR 2009 during the preparation of the 2010 NIR.
The analysis did not report explicitly whether countries has been able to discriminate between combustion and process
related emissions from industry where both types of emissions occur, such as the iron and steel sector.
Table 5-1

Use of ETS data for the purposes of the national GHG inventory

Member State
Austria

Used

Belgium

Used

Bulgaria
CyprusCzech Republic
Denmark

Used
Used
planned to use forverification in 2011
submission

FranceUsed

Finland

Used

Germany

Used

GreeceUsed

Hungary

Used
Used

Italy
LatviaLithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands

NIR 2010 not yet
available
Used





























































NIR 2010 not yet
available
Used






Used

Portugal
Romania

Used

Slovakia

Used

Slovenia

Used

Spain

Used

SwedenUsed

United Kingdom

Used

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Use forqualityassurance

Not indicated

NIR 2010 not yet
available
Used

PolandUse ofemissionfactors

NIR 2010 not yet
available
Used

Estonia

IrelandUse of
Activity
data

Status of use of
Use of
ETS data
emissions



















90









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Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Source: NIR submissions to UNFCCC 2009

Figure 5-1 shows the extent of ETS use in the EU. Green indicates the NIR provides information how ETS data wasused for GHG inventory. Red indicates no information provided in NIR about whether ETS data was used. No NIR for
Luxembourg was available during the preparation of EU 2010 NIR.
Figure 5-1

Use of ETS data for inventory purposes in the EU

The following assessment provides a detailed overview of the use of ETS data in the EU-15 Member States. The
information is mainly based on the NIR, as well as on the assessment conducted for this report.
5.1.4 Use of ETS data for GHG inventories in specific countries
Three countries have been chosen to illustrate the use of ETS data in national GHG inventories: the two largest GHG
emitters in Europe (Germany and France, with well developed national inventory systems), and Greece representing aless mature but developing GHG inventory. The authors of he EU NIR split the analysis into the use of energy, andindustrial processes and the analysis they made is reproduced below.
Germany
GeneralThe coverage of CO2 emissions from ETS activities in relation to individual CRF source categories is not provided in the
NIR.
In 2006 a research project compared ETS emissions and inventory emissions and developed allocation rules how the
ETS emissions should be allocated to inventory categories. Then a formalized procedure was developed for the annual
data exchange between ETS authority and the inventory system. ETS data are generally used for verification and QA
purposes but not directly in the inventory. Emission factors from ETS data are also used. Activity data from ETS data
are not used because these data are confidential and would decrease the transparency of the GHG inventory.
In the CRF table 1s1 (Energy) Germany reports an additional source category that includes the combustion emissions
from source categories covered by the ETS (glass, cement and ceramics). This additional voluntary reporting
considerably enhances the comparability of ETS emissions with inventory emissions at sectoral level.
EnergyThe NIR generally indicates that ETS data are used for verification purposes. Both systems, the inventory and the ETS,
refer to a list of “basic” CO2 emission factors in the energy sector.
Industrial processes•

2A1 Cement Production: EFs between inventory and ETS are largely consistent, deviation of 1%.

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2A3 Limestone and dolomite use: ETS data is used for verification and QA.
2A7: Glass Production: emissions were compared with ETS emissions and found to be in agreement.

FranceGeneralThe coverage of CO2 emissions from ETS activities in relation to individual CRF source categories is provided for somecategories in the NIR:
• Glass Production: no complete coverage of ETS data.
• Bricks and Tiles Production: 51 out of 140 plants are covered by the ETSFrance indicates in a general way that CO2 emissions in the inventory are consistent with ETS emissions because they
are based on the same data sources. In France plant-specific data is collected by the same entities from the same
installations for both the EUETS and the GHG inventory and energy statistics and data is therefore consistent. Small
deviations occur for the following reasons:•••

The CO2 emissions from blast furnace gas are allocated to the producer and could also be allocated to the user
in different systems.
Small installations with small emissions are not individually included in the estimation approach.
The sectoral and source category definitions can be different.

For 2005, a total deviation of 0.5% between ETS emissions and inventory emissions has been estimated,with the largest deviations for iron and steel industry and manufacturing industries.

Energy• 1A1 Energy industry: calculated emissions are verified with the emissions data reported under the ETS.
• 1B2a Petroleum refining: CO2 emissions are declared by the plants under the EUETS.
• 1A1c Manufacture of solid fuels and other energy industries: the CO2 emissions from ETS are used.
Industrial processes••••

2A1 Cement Production: France directly uses the emissions reported under the ETS.
2A2 Lime Production: ETS data are used for the inventory reporting.
2A5 Glass Production: ETS data are used for the inventory reporting. They are completed with the remaining
glass production not covered by the ETS. For this part of the production national emission factors are used.
2A5 Bricks and Tiles Production: 51 out of 140 plants are covered by the ETS. The emissions from ETS plants
are taken directly from the ETS reports. These emissions are complemented based on the remaining national
production and emission factors taken from ETS reports.

GreeceGeneralThe coverage of CO2 emissions from ETS activities in relation to individual CRF source categories is not provided
systematically, but the NIR from Greece indicated that all iron and steel plants are covered by the ETS.
Greece used AD and EF obtained from reporting under the ETS for the GHG inventory. In addition to the verified
emissions provided for the period 2005-2007, data collected for the purposes of the national allocations plans for the
ETS installations were collected for the period 2000-2006 and in some cases for the period 1990-2006 and thisinformation was also used as a source for the inventory compilation. ETS data were used for 1A1, 1A2 and industrial
processes.
Energy•For the fuels refinery gas, petroleum coke and PKB/Patent fuels NCVs were obtained from verified reports frominstallations under the ETS. The ETS EF and AD were combined with remaining production and IPCC default
EF to obtain complete emission estimates.

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The CO2 emissions from the operation of flue gas desulphurization systems (limestone consumption in two
power plants): data from verified installation ETS reports were used.
• 1A1a Public Electricity and Heat: Activity data of natural gas combustion were updated for the years 2005-2007
based on plant specific data, derived from verified ETS reports.
• 1A1b Petroleum Refining: Tier 2 methodology was used with EFs calculated based on plant specific data (ETS
reports) and IPCC default EFs for the whole time series. CO2 and N2O emissions from catalytic cracking are
included in this sub-source category, while CH4 emissions are supposed to be included in Fugitive emissions
from fuels.
• 1A1c Manufacture of Solid Fuels and Other Energy Industries: Data collected during the formulation of the NAP
for the period 2005 – 2007 and verified ETS reports (for years 2005 - 2007) were used in this inventory,
particular EFs. The allocation of the consumption into gas turbines and boilers as taken from ETS reports. The
CO2 EF of natural gas was estimated to comprise emissions from the processing of sour gas cleaning process
among with the emissions from combustion. The EF for the processing of sour gas is based on ETS data.
• 1A2 Manufacturing Industries and Construction: ETS data were used for an improved distribution of fuelconsumption to different technologies and activities. ETS data was used to improve completeness of
subcategories in the inventory. The NIR provides detailed information on 1A2a Iron and Steel, 1A2 b Nonferrous metals, 1A2c Chemicals, 1A2d Pulp and Paper, 1A2e Food Processing, Beverages and Tobacco and
1A2f Other. 1A2c Chemicals: The activity data of gaseous and liquid fuels were updated for the years 20052007, based on plant specific data, derived from verified ETS reports. Moreover, according to plant specificdata of refineries, the amounts of NG and naptha used for hydrogen production were reallocated to 1.A.1.b
sector.
• Energy consumption in Non metallic minerals is disaggregated into energy consumption for cement production(SNAP 030311), lime production (SNAP 030312), ceramics production (SNAP 030319) and glass production(SNAP 030105) according to verified ETS reports of years 2005 - 2008.
• Data on the non-energy consumption of fuels derive from the national energy balance. However, plant specificdata derived from verified ETS reports and information provided by specific industries in Greece resulted to theimprovement of reallocation of non-energy use fuels from the energy to the industrial processes sector: The
non-energy use of natural gas for ammonia production has been reallocated in industrial processes sector, byusing data from ETS reports and plant specific information.
• Solid fuels consumption in the ferroalloys production industry is included (in the national energy balance) in thesolid fuels consumption of the non-ferrous metals sector. However, by using data from ETS reports and plant
specific information, emissions from solid fuels for ferroalloys production are reallocated to the industrial
processes sector, as from this submission.
Industrial processes
•

•

•

•

•

CO2 emissions from the majority of mineral and metal industries are estimated on the basis of country-specificemission factors. These emission factors derive of plant specific activity and emission data in the context of the
EU ETS. Plant specific information has been collected through questionnaires for the formulation of the NAP(years 1990-2003) and verified reports under the EU ETS.
2A1 Cement Production: For the years 2005-2007 detailed data have been accessed via the verified ETS
reports of the plants. These data refer to the quantities of carbonate raw material (CaCO3, MgCO3) used for the
production of clinker.
2A1 Lime Production: The emissions are estimated making use of plant-specific data provided by the verified
reports of the plants under the ETS. According to data received by the ETS, it seems that the main lime
industries have significantly increased limestone consumption in 2007, which explains the increasing trend from2005 to 2007.
2A3 Limestone and dolomite use: Steel production: Data are generally plant specific, deriving from the EU ETS
verified reporting of the plants (for the years 2005-2008); Ceramics production: Carbonates consumption data
(in the context of the ETS reports) have been used to estimate emissions in the years 2005-2008. Activity data
refer to CaCO3 and MgCO3 consumption. SO2 scrubbing: The operation of flue gas desulphurization systems in
Greece started in 2000. The estimation of emissions is based on data collected during the formulation of the
NAP for the period 2005 – 2007. For years 2005-2008 data from verified installation ETS reports were used.

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•

•
•

•

•

2A7 Glass Production: Activity data for the period 2001 – 2004 were collected (through questionnaires
developed according to the guidelines described in the Commission Decision 2004/156/EC) in the framework of
the formulation of the NAP for the period 2005 – 2007, according to the EU Directive 2003/87/EC. The detailed
data of 2005-2007 by the verified EU ETS reports have led to the need for recalculation of the time-series inorder to ensure consistency.
2A7 Ceramics Production: Carbonates consumption data (in the context of the ETS reports) have been used for2006 and 2007 emissions estimation.
2B1 Ammonia Production: The non-energy use of natural gas for ammonia production is reallocated inindustrial processes sector as from the 2009 submission, by using data from ETS reports and plant specificinformation.
2C1 Iron and Steel: Data are generally plant specific, deriving from the EU ETS verified reporting of the plants(for the years 2005-2007) and the reporting performed for the NAP formulation in the previous years. Activity
data and EF for 2005-2007 are plant specific and are based on the verified reports under the EU ETS context.
2C2 Ferroalloys Production and primary aluminium production: Activity data for 2005-2007 derive of the verified
reports of the industry under the EU ETS.

5.1.5 Summary
EUETS data can benefit the EU GHG inventories in a variety of ways, including:••••

Reported verified emissions can be directly used in the GHG inventory to report CO2 emissions for a specificsource category.
Emission factors and other parameters such as oxidation factors can be compared with emission factors usedin an inventory and they can be harmonised if appropriate.
Activity data reported under the EUETS can be used directly for the GHG inventory, in particular for source
categories where energy statistics face difficulties in disaggregating fuel consumption to specific subcategories.
Data from EUETS can improve completeness of the estimation of IPCC source categories.

EUETS data are widely used in the GHG inventories of EU Member States:
•
•
•
•
•
•

•

•
•
•

Nearly all Member States use the ETS for quality control and verification purposes. Often the emissions
reported in the ETS are compared with emissions reported in the GHG inventory of a MS.
Both mature and more recent GHG inventories were able to make use of EUETS data.
Many MSs use EUETS emissions in their GHG inventory, and some use activity data and emission factors.
Some countries have completed specific studies to examine the feasibility of using ETS data in GHG
inventories prior to ETS data being used.
Collection of plant specific data by the same entities compiling the GHG inventory, the ETS and national energy
statistics could promote internal consistency and efficiency.
Germany reports an additional source category that includes the combustion emissions from source categories
covered by the ETS (glass, cement and ceramics). This additional voluntary reporting considerably enhances
the comparability of ETS emissions with inventory emissions at sectoral level.
France reports a very close agreement between the ETS emissions and estimates of GHG emissions. It is
likely that close agreement is because the plant specific data is collected by the same entities compiling the
GHG inventory, the ETS and national energy statistics.
There are some problems discriminating between combustion and process emissions from ETS returns.
Detailed ETS data has been helpful to provide information about the specific uses of fuels, for example,
reallocating the of non-energy use fuels from the energy to the industrial processes sector.
There was no information in the EU NIR about how and if the Tier associated with ETS data had been used tojudge the suitability of the data used.

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6

Questions for discussion

This paper has raised a number of questions that would be useful to consider, particularly if more detailed guidance iswritten by the IPCC about integrating ETS data into a GHG inventory
•

•

•

7

Securing access to ETS data. What are suitable approaches to securing reliable access to ETS data, whilst
maintaining commercial confidentiality?
• Developments to improve usefulness of EUETS data within GHG inventory. EUETS data
management decisions to simplify the data allocation issues could be considered, such as:• Harmonising activities. Installations could be allocated to a harmonised list of activities,aligned with IPCC sectors.
• Harmonising fuel names. Operators could allocate fuels to a harmonised, limited list of fueltypes that can then be more easily / consistently be allocated to IPCC fuel types. This would
supplement, not replace, the existing ETS reporting.
o e.g. fuel use, NCVs and emissions are reported from fuels which cannot be easily
identified. This is a particular problems for petroleum-derived fuels and from nonstandard fuels such as process gases, refinery off-gases, flared fuels etc where fuelquality is expected to be variable. (i.e. non-refined, non-processed fuels, where thespecification of the fuel quality is not closely defined)• Clarity of reporting. Improve disaggregation of activities to report emissions from specificactivities, and from the use of biomass.
o e.g. power stations – allocate emissions from fuel use (by fuel), from biomass andfor other sources such as flue gas desulphurisation
More research to investigate EUETS data quality management is needed, for example, through crosssectoral, cross-Member State fuel data analysis to identify outliers, system inconsistencies within a country,
between sectors or between countries. It is not appropriate to use all ETS data in a GHG inventory since someof these data may be of lower quality that the data already in the GHG inventory. This raises the questions ofwhether it is possible to devise guidance on the accuracy and / or uncertainty must be associated with data with
before these ETS data can be used in a GHG inventory?
Would new IPCC guidance on “good practice” use of ETS data be appropriate?
• Guidance on how to integrate new ETS data into existing GHG inventories to minimise impacts ontime-series consistency.
• Best practice guidance on data quality checking, identification of outliers, resolution of activity data
discrepancies• Best practice guidance on when to use EUETS data to either (i) change the national energy statistics
total, or (ii) change the sector allocation of the existing total national energy statistics.
• Preparing the guidance for future changes driven by a lower carbon economy. The current status may
not persist, e.g. the development of more regionally disaggregated electricity generation will mean
there will be challenges to track fuel use and fuel quality as countries may move to more to a smallerscale lower-carbon generation infrastructure.

Concluding remarks

This analysis has demonstrated that emissions data given in the UK GHG inventory are often broadly consistent withemissions data given in regulators’ inventories, in the CITL (reporting verified emissions from the EUETS), and in otherdata sets. In some cases where there are differences, we are able to identify reasons why these differences exist. The
UK is making use of some detailed EUETS data in its inventory, such as carbon emission factors for fuels used in key
sources (coal and gas used in power stations) and for fuels whose composition is variable (some fuels used in refineries).

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Further investigation would be needed to completely understand issues such as the difference in scope between
processes for the purpose of inclusion in the regulators’ inventories compared with the scope of those same processes
when covered by the EU ETS.
In the European Community, good use is being made of data from the EUETS in the GHG inventories of many countries.
We suggest that the ETS is a valuable source of data, but countries need to carefully investigate the relationshipbetween emissions reported in the ETS and in other related data sets before ETS data can be used directly in GHG
inventories. An annual repetition of the detailed numerical analysis is not considered essential once the key features areunderstood, but would probably be useful on a periodic basis, perhaps every 3 years.

Annex 1
Extract of UK verified emissions for 2008-2009, and allocations for 2008-2009, to illustrate the level of verified emission
data that is publically available. Taken from the spreadsheet <AL_VE_2009_public_format.xls> available on the Europe
web site (run by the European Commission) at:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/emission/citl_en_phase_ii.htm#reports

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Annex 2
Example of the detailed returns that the UK participants of the ETS make to the UK Environment Agency. The
Environment Agency is the regulatory of the ETS in the UK. These data are commercially confidential, and emissions
and most data in this return has been anonomised and set to a value of 1.
C1

B1

PGB1

Combustion emissions data (M&RG Section 11.3)

Please complete the following pages for each Schedule 1 combustion process within your installation. Emissions occurring from different
sources within a single installation belonging to the same type of activity may be reported in an aggregate manner for the type of activity
provided that the emission factors and the oxidation factors are identical.

B1.1

Calculation of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion (for M&RG Annex II
activities)

Relevant Row ID in Table A 2.1:

1Type of Schedule 1 activity:

E1 Com bustion

Description of activity:

Various boilers and furnaces (heaters) providing heat/energy to theoil refining process. Flares.

Please complete the following boxes using one box for each fuel associated with the activity stated above.

* NCV - Net Calorific value
Type of fuel:Sources included

RFG
VariousParameter

Units

Activity data (m ass/vol.)(NCV)*m3
TJ/m3

Type of fuel:Data

1 Tier 4a
1 Tier 3
1 Tier 3
0.995 Tier 1
1

Emission factor

tCO2/TJ

Oxidation factor

no units

EmissionstCO2

Type of fuel:Sources included

NG
GT706, GT711-4

Parameter

Units

Activity data (m ass/vol.)(NCV)*m3
TJ/m3

Emission factor

tCO2/TJ

Oxidation factor

no units

EmissionstCO2

Type of fuel:Sources included

SG
GT711-4

Parameter

Units

Activity data (m ass/vol.)(NCV)*

tonnes
TJ/tonne

TierappliedData

TierappliedTierapplied

1 Tier 4a
1 Tier 2
1 Tier 2a0.995 Tier 1
0.995

Emission factor

tCO2/TJ

Oxidation factor

no units

EmissionstCO2

Type of fuel:Sources included

Diesel
EDG-709/710/711/801,
DFP, OH, COMP

Parameter

Units

Activity data (m ass/vol.)(NCV)*

tonnes
TJ/tonne

Emission factor

tCO2/TJ

Oxidation factor

no units

Emissions

tCO2

IPCC Expert Meeting Report

Data

Flare1#1 FlareParameter

Units

Activity data (m ass/vol.)Data

Tier applied

1 Tier 2

m3(NCV)*
Emission factor

tCO2/m3

Oxidation factor

no units

EmissionstCO2

Type of fuel:Flare3

1 Tier 1
0.995 Tier 1
1

Sources

1 Tier 4a
1 Tier 2
1 Tier 2a0.995 Tier 1
0.995

Data

Sources included

Tierapplied1 No Tier
1 Tier 2
1 Tier 2a0.995 Tier 1
1

Parameter

Units

Activity data (m ass/vol.)Data

Tier applied

1 Tier 2

m3(NCV)*
Emission factor

tCO2/m3

Oxidation factor

no units

EmissionstCO2

Type of fuel:Sources included

VG1
H4101

Parameter

Units

Activity data (m ass/vol.)(NCV)*

tonnes
TJ/tonne

Emission factor

tCO2/TJ

Oxidation factor

no units

EmissionstCO2

Type of fuel:Sources included

VG2
H1102

Parameter

Units

Activity data (m ass/vol.)(NCV)*

tonnes
TJ/tonne

Emission factor

tCO2/TJ

Oxidation factor

no units

Emissions

tCO2

97

1 Tier 1
0.995 Tier 1
0.995

Data

Tier applied

1 No Tier
1 Tier 2
1 Tier 2a0.995 Tier 1
0.995

Data

Tier applied

1 Tier 3a
1 Tier 2
1 Tier 2a0.995 Tier 1
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Annex 3
Example of the detailed ETS data that the UK GHG inventory team is now able to access. The data is supplied from database that the UK Environment Agency maintains. These
data are commercially confidential and data has been anonomised.

AppID ReportingYear ActivityID FuelID FuelType
2007
1
1 RFG (OPG): F1 (major)
2007
1
2 RFG (OPG): F3 (major)
2007
1
3 RFG (OPG): F5 (major)
2007
1
4 Fuel Oil: F7 (major)
2007
1
5 Flare F10 (minor)
2007
1
6 RFG (OPG): F1 (De Minimis)
2007
1
7 RFG (OPG): F3 (De Minimis)
2007
1
8 GO: F12 (De Minimis)
2007
1
9 RFG (OPG): F2 (major)
2007
1
10 RFG (OPG): F4 (major)
2007
1
11 Fuel Oil: F6 (major)
2007
1
12 Natural Gas F9 (major)
2007
1
13 Flare F11 (minor)
2007
1
14 RFG (OPG): F2 (De Minimis)
2007
1
15 RFG (OPG): F4 (De Minimis)
2007
1
16 F13 (De Minimis)

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SourcesIncluded
S1-S10 inclusive, S47
S36 & S37
S40
S22,S23,S28
S41
S38 & S58-68 inclusive
S81 & S82
S43, S44 & S55
S11-S21 inclusive
S22-S24 & S26-S30 inclusive, S48
S1,S36
S39,S40
S42
S69-80 inclusive
S50,S83,S84
S49 (VDU-2 Offgas)

98

ActivityUnit ActivityData ActivityTier NCVUnit
tonnes148332.023 Tier 4a
TJ/tonne
tonnes
74010.46714 Tier 4a
TJ/tonne
tonnes32765.1604 Tier 4a
TJ/tonne
tonnes64607.9733 Tier 3a
TJ/tonne
tonnes26269.23526 Tier 1
TJ/tonne
tonnes
7205.561792 No Tier
TJ/tonne
tonnes2736.665494 No Tier
TJ/tonne
tonnes459.0479326 No Tier
TJ/tonne
tonnes142673.909 Tier 4a
TJ/tonne
tonnes226348.8885 Tier 4a
TJ/tonne
tonnes179287.7307 Tier 4a
TJ/tonne
tonnes181292.7382 Tier 4a
TJ/tonne
tonnes
47106.05252 Tier 1
TJ/tonne
tonnes2472.533571 No Tier
TJ/tonne
tonnes1569.279963 No Tier
TJ/tonne
tonnes8925.438353 No Tier
TJ/tonne

NCVData NCVTier
0.051186 Tier 3
0.051501 Tier 3
0.043339 Tier 3
0.040322 Tier 3
0.04875 Tier 2
0.051172 Tier 3
0.0515 Tier 3
0.0434 Tier 2
0.048064 Tier 3
0.04334 Tier 3
0.040363 Tier 3
0.046536 Tier 3
0.035249 Tier 2
0.048106 Tier 3
0.043228 Tier 3
0.048165 No Tier

EFUnittC O2/ttC O2/ttC O2/ttC O2/ttC O2/TJtC O2/ttC O2/ttC O2/ttC O2/ttC O2/ttC O2/ttC O2/ttC O2/ttC O2/ttC O2/ttC O2/t

TFI

EFDataEFTier1.303954 Tier 3
1.294011 Tier 3
1.238423 Tier 3
1.522725 Tier 3
1.274472 Tier 2
1.304572 Tier 3
1.294437 Tier 3
1.51844 Tier 2a1.257598 Tier 3
1.227377 Tier 3
1.537078 Tier 3
1.256929 Tier 3
1.086765 Tier 2
1.259136 Tier 3
1.225692 Tier 3
1.033327 No TierOxFactorData OxFactorTier CombustionEmissions WasteCat IEA
0.995 Tier 1
218818.9626
0.995 Tier 1108347.4423
0.995 Tier 145905.9458
0.995 Tier 1111300.0218
0.995 Tier 1
37876.11951
0.995 Tier 110634.65986
0.995 Tier 1
4007.655431
0.995 Tier 1
788.5755405
0.995 Tier 1
202989.7431
0.995 Tier 1
314299.8167
0.995 Tier 1
311769.8771
0.995 Tier 1257797.6337
0.995 Tier 1
57916.16495
0.995 Tier 1
3522.105443
0.995 Tier 1
2176.052979
0.995 No Tier
10434.09423

Use of Models and Facility-Level Data in Greenhouse Gas Inventories

The use of facility-specific emission factor data in Australia’s
national inventory
Rob Sturgiss
Director
National Inventory Team
Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency
Australian Government

Invited Background Paper to the IPCC Experts Meeting,
Sydney, Australia, 9 – 11 August 2010

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Summary
The Australian national inventory is in the process of transitioning from the use of tier 2 methods in which representative
country-specific emission factors are applied in the emission calculations for all facilities within a sector to the use of aset of tier 3 methods which utilises newly available information on facility-specific emission factors.
The new information has been derived from the recent introduction of a mandatory emissions reporting system (theNational Greenhouse and Energy Reporting system – (NGERs)). The implementation of the NGER system involved all
major companies in Australia and has constituted a substantial allocation of resources and effort by private operators
towards emissions measurement in Australia.
The new information is yet to be incorporated into the national inventory. Guidance on the use of facility or plant-specificinformation in national inventories is included in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines, which address the use of tier 3 methods for
the Energy, IP and Waste sectors. However, the Guidelines do not assume that all plant-specific information will be
used in an inventory as guidance is also provided on the use of plant-specific information as a QC tool to test thereasonableness of tier 2 national emission factors. Given these two broad scenarios, some interpretation of the
Guidelines is required in the consideration of how to best use the new plant-specific information in the national inventory.
With future Australian inventories in mind, a decision tool has been developed to provide a framework for a consistent,
coherent use of facility-specific information across all targeted sectors of the Australian inventory.
Given the nature of the IPCC guidance in this area, and the provision for the use of expert judgements for manydecisions, IPCC workshops and conferences may have a useful role to perform in assisting inventory compilers andother experts in developing their understanding of how to improve national inventories through the use of plant-specific
data.

Australia’s national inventory’s use of plant-specific tier 3
methods
Australia’s national inventory currently uses mainly tier 2 methods for energy, industrial processes and waste. For any
source, the tier 2 methods commonly apply a representative country-specific factor to the national population of facilities
that generate the emissions for the source. Two exceptions are fuels consumed for the purpose of electricity production
and fugitive emissions from underground coal mines where a tier 3 method is already in place (these two sources
constitute around 50% of NGER emissions).
The national inventory is in the process of transitioning from the use of tier 2 methods to the use of a set of tier 3
methods which utilise newly available information on facility-specific data (mainly emission factors based on carbon
content of fuels). The adoption of tier 3 methods is especially valuable for fuels where the carbon content varies
appreciably across the economy – this is particularly the case for coal but also natural gas. Tier 3 methods are lessimportant for relatively homogenous fuels like petroleum based products.

National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System (NGERs)
The catalyst for the transition to tier 3 methods has been the implementation of the National Greenhouse and Energy
Reporting Act 2007. The Act provides for mandatory reporting of emissions (and energy) data by all companies thatbreach certain thresholds and represents a significant enhancement if Australia’s national inventory systems.
The first reporting period under the NGER Act related to the Australian financial year 2008-09 while the first reports
submitted by companies were received in October 2009. Consequently, given these timeframes, the data received
under NGERs is yet to be incorporated into an Australian inventory submitted under the UNFCCC.
The features of the NGER reporting system include:

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broad coverage of emissions sources, including IPCC sources energy (fuel combustion), energy (fugitive),industrial processes and waste;• a relatively low reporting thresholds that relates to facilities at 25kt of emissions (including scope 2 emissions)and for companies at 50kt of emissions;• like the EU ETS and the US mandatory GHG reporting rule, reporters are able to choose between a number ofmethods in certain circumstances and in particular, reporters may:o use own measurements of carbon content based on the application of Australian and international
standards ; oro use country-specific default emission factors; oro undertake direct monitoring of emissions;• integration of the facility methods with the national inventory - the default factors used are country-specificfactors taken directly from the national inventory;• mandatory use of higher order emission estimation methods for the electricity generation, underground coalmines and PFC emissions from aluminium smelters; and• strong compliance provisions exist with powers of audit provided for the Regulator while significant penalties
exist for breaches.
More detail is provided in the Appendix.
•

As with any inventory, the decision to invest in enhanced use of measurement data required a balance to be struck
between the costs and benefits of the additional measurement effort. In practice, in Australia, direct monitoring ofemissions only occurs in underground coal mines. For fuel combustion and, in particular, fuel combustion for electricity
generation, measurement of the carbon content of the fuel is normally undertaken for commercial or existing regulatory
reasons.
The provision for reporters to be able to choose their estimation method reflected in part international practice but also
recognition that the costs of measurement were uncertain for many sources. The interpretation of how to use datacollected given this provision in the national inventory constitutes the principal discussion point in this paper.
Nonetheless, the first year of implementation of NGERs provoked a massive investment in emissions measurement
activity across the economy and the data collected represents a significant enhancement of our understanding of thedriving forces behind actual emissions estimates in Australia.
The operation of this provision could be considered temporary in nature as it is intended for the system to gradually
move to more comprehensive use of higher order emissions estimation methods over time.

What new information does the reported NGERs data contain? Data received under NGERs
Considerable facility-specific data has been received under NGERs for the carbon content of black coal, brown coal,natural gas, coal seam methane fuel combustion. Smaller samples were collected for other fuels.
In particular, in the first reporting year under NGERs over 120 facilities reported the consumption of black coal withassociated emissions of over 131 Mt of CO2. Thirty-one of these facilities reported using methods 2 or 3 accounting foraround 124 Mt of CO2. The majority of these facilities are electricity generators who are required to use method 2, 3 or 4
under NGERS. Eighty-nine facilities reported the consumption of black coal using method 1. This represented only 7.3 Mt
of CO2 (less than 6% of reported emissions from this fuel). The majority of these emissions are reported by the 16
facilities who reported greater than 1 PJ of coal consumption (around 100,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions). Most method 1
coal reporters consume significantly less coal: some reported less than 10 tonnes of consumption.
Similarly, data on facility-specific emission factors representing just under 100% of emissions from brown coal was
obtained.
Analysis of the collected data generally showed strong agreement with existing tier 2 parameters. For example, for blackcoal, the average emission factor for the data collected from facilities accounting for over 90% of emissions from black
coal (other than that used to produce coke) was 90.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide per gigajoule of black coal. The mean of
the NGERs sample was not significantly different to the NGERs default emission factor of 88.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide
per gigajoule of black coal. For brown coal, the average emission factor of this group of NGER reporters was 92.9
tonnes of carbon dioxide per gigajoule of brown coal. The NGER default emission factor was 92.7 tonnes of carbon
dioxide per gigajoule of brown coal.
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Use of the NGER data in the inventory
The data collected under NGERs represents a significant advance in the information available about the characteristics
of emissions at plant level in Australia.
How should the data be utilised within the inventory?
The major decisions concern whether the plant specific data should be used directly in the inventory – or not. That is,should the NGER EF data be used directly in the inventory - a tier 3 method - or simply used for quality control?
In cases where plant specific data are not available for the complete source then an additional question arises as to how
the NGER EF data should be used in relation to the uncovered portion of a source for which no facility-specific emission
factor data is available. The true emission factor for facilities in the uncovered portion of a source is unknown and,
therefore, a representative country-specific emission factor would need to be applied to these facilities.
Logically, three possibilities exist as to how the NGER data might inform the selection of a representative countryspecific emission factor for the uncovered portion of the source:1) the NGER data is valid and demonstrates that the existing tier 2 country-specific emission factor used forfacilities in the uncovered portion of the source should be revised;
2) the NGER data is valid and confirms that the existing tier 2 country-specific emission factor is appropriate tocontinue to be applied to facilities in the uncovered portion of the source; or3) the NGER data is not valid, and should not be used to assess the country-specific factor for the inventory.

Treatment of the use of plant specific data under the 2006 IPCC Guidelines
The 2006 IPCC Guidelines provide for a range of possibilities for the use of plant specific data.
Option 1: measured plant specific data used as a QC tool for the existing parameters in the tier 2 method
The 2006 IPCC Guidelines indicate in Volume 1 that plant specific data may be used for quality control purposes.
Compare country-specific factors with site-specific or plant-specific factors. For example, if
there are emission factors available for a few plants (but not enough to support a bottom up approach)these plant specific factors ....provides an indication of both the reasonableness of the country
specific factor and its representativeness.
IPCC 2006 Vol 1 6.13
Option 2: measured plant specific data used as a tier 3 method
The 2006 IPCC Guidelines indicate in Volume 1 and in Volume 2, the Energy volume, that tier 3 methods can be
deployed where there is complete coverage of plant specific data, such as, in Australia’s case, in the electricity sector(see IPCC 2006 Volume 2, 1.9).
Option 3: measured plant-specific data used in a tier 2 /3 mixed method
While complete coverage occurs for some sources, the more common situation is likely to be covered by a mix of data –option 3 – in which case the implementation of a mixed tier 2 /3 method is provided for. The decision tree in the Energy
volume indicates the following decision making path for the use of plant specific (emission factor) data:
1)
2)
3)
4)

Are emission measurements available (with satisfactory QC)?
If yes then, are all single sources in the source category measured?
If no, then are country-specific EFs available for the unmeasured part of the key category?
If yes, then use a tier 2 / 3 mix.
IPCC 2006 Volume 2, 1.9 (paraphrased)

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In addition, according to Volume 1 of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines, where plant specific data is available there are many
situations where it should be used and that if a portion of the sector is not covered by available plant specific data then acountry-specific factor should be applied to that portion.
When data do not fully represent the whole country, eg measurements for 3 out of 10 plants, then thedata can still be used but needs to be combined with other data to calculate a national estimate.
IPCC 2006 Volume 1, 2.10
In these cases, expert judgement or the combination of these data with other datasets can be used.
IPCC 2006 Volume1, 2.10
While some general principles could be considered to implicitly underpin these statements there is no clear description in
the Guidelines as to when option 1 or when option 3 should be applied. Rather, the Guidelines presume that expert
judgement will be important in resolving decisions in relation to the application of the available options (also see below).

Importance of expert judgement
The 2006 IPCC Guidelines indicate that statistical principles should be taken into account when making judgements
about how plant specific data should be used in the national inventory but that, equally, the decision making process as
to how the plant specific data should be used ultimately involves considerable expert judgement.
When considering using measurement data it is good practice to check whether it covers a
representative sample – ie that is typical of a reasonable proportion of the whole category
IPCC 2006 Volume 1, 2.9
A degree of judgement is required even when applying classical statistical techniques since one mustjudge whether the data are a representative sample. Interpretation is especially needed for data setsthat are small, highly skewed or incomplete
IPCC 2006 Volume 1, 2.6.
Expert judgement on methodological choice and choice of input data to use is ultimately the basis of
all inventory development.
IPCC 2006 Volume 1, 2.6
The implicit assumption behind the first excerpt from the IPCC guidelines indicates that the compiler is employing astatistical model to determine the country-specific factor for the residual portion of the sector where there are nomeasurements. Available plant specific data is to be assessed as to whether it would constitute a representative sample
such that the characteristics of the sample may be extended to the portion of the sector for which measured plant
specific data are not available. It follows from the second and third quotes that expert judgement is critical to theassessment of the representativeness of the available data.
If the available plant specific data do not pass the experts’ tests of representativeness, what then?
In the case of any country, like Australia, in the process of transition from tier 2 to tier 3, the country-specific factor isalready understood from the application of the existing tier 2 model. Consequently it is not unreasonable to conclude thatthe existing country-specific factor from the tier 2 model should continue to be used for the uncovered portion of thesector in this case.
Other possibilities might exist.
To sum up, the specific IPCC guidance in relation to the use of plant specific data do not seem to be prescriptive but,rather, presume that expert judgement will be important in resolving decisions in relation to the application of the data.

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Decision tool to guide consistent application of decisions
based on available information on the sample of facilityspecific data
Given the broad nature of the IPCC guidance in this field, Australia has developed an approach to the use of plant
specific data that is consistent with the IPCC guidelines and which attempts to provide a more explicit framework for theconsistent determination as to how these data are used within the inventory.
With the preparation of Australia’s future inventories in mind, the framework incorporates a decision tree to guidedecision making to encourage consistent and coherent use of plant specific data throughout the inventory (see figure 1).
In particular, conditions have been established that should be satisfied before plant specific data is incorporated into thenational inventory.
These conditions include:
1) the sample of the population reporting plant specific data must be significant – both absolutely and relative tothe overall population (the IPCC Guidelines refer to a ‘reasonable proportion’);2) the sample must be representative; and3) the sample must be approximately normally distributed and homogenous.
Plant specific data are used to revise the tier 2 country-specific emission factor for the portion of the inventory with nomeasurement data available when the conditions (1) – (3) above are satisfied while also taking into account whether: (4)the mean of the sample of plant specific data is significantly different to the country-specific tier 2 factor.
If these conditions hold, then the NGER EF data will be used a) for those plants reporting measured emission factors
and b) to construct an NGER determined emission factor that is applied to all facilities for which there is no information
available in relation to their actual plant-specific factor (the uncovered portion of the source).
If conditions (1) – (3) hold but (4) does not, then the NGER data is taken to be valid for those plants reporting data and,in relation to the unmeasured portion of the source, to have confirmed the pre-existing value of the country-specificemission factor. In this case, the pre-existing representative country-specific emission factor will be maintained for thosefacilities where no information is available on facility-specific factors.
If conditions (1) – (3) do not hold, further information is required to decide how the plant specific data should be used.
What if condition (1) is not maintained? – ie what if the sample of NGER EF data is not sufficiently large?
In this case, NGER data is taken to be insufficient to justify re-estimation of the country-specific emission factor for any
part of the whole population. The pre-existing representative country-specific emission factor will be maintained for all
facilities – ie the inventory will maintain a tier 2 method. The NGERs EF data will not be used in the inventory directly
but will be used as a QC tool to check the reasonableness of the country-specific factor.
What if condition (2) is not maintained? – ie what if the sample is not representative?
Under NGERs – like the EU ETS or the US EPA mandatory reporting rule – reporters are sometimes offered theopportunity to select their method of emission estimation (under NGERs this is true in all cases except for electricity
generation or underground coal mines). Consequently, it is possible that reporters have self selected an emission factor
that minimises their emissions i.e. where a higher order method results in an emission factor that is higher than thedefault a reporter has no incentive to use the higher order method. Due to this possible ‘choice bias’ the sample will notnecessarily be representative of the overall population in these cases and needs to be assessed in every case. This‘choice bias’ is removed where higher order methods are mandated.
If a non-representative sample is detected, then the new information is not considered sufficient to justify a re-estimationof the national implied emission factor. While the reported EFs may be incorporated for facilities for which they are
known, the emission factor applied to those facilities without EF information is amended to compensate. In this case, thetier 2 /3 method produces a national inventory estimate that is equivalent to the tier 2 method.
What if condition (3) is not maintained? – ie what if the population is determined to be not homogenous?
In some cases, it is possible that sub-populations may exist for which representative samples may be obtained. Within
the NGER data obtained for the combustion of black coal, for example, two sub-populations were able to be
distinguished. In this case, the general approach identified above would be able to be applied to the sub-population – ie
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if the sample was sufficiently large, representative and homogenous within the sub-population then the reported EF data
may be utilised for that segment of the inventory.
Facility Level Activity Data

Start

Does the facility level data provide fullcoverage of the sector?

YES

Use Facility level data set innational inventory

NO
Use Facility data for portion covered
Use output of EF decision tree foruncovered portion.

Start

Facility Level Emission Factors

Can it be demonstrated that thecoverage and sample size of the facility
data sample is sufficient

NO

YES

Is the sample unbiased?

NO
Can the sample be divided into
homogenous groups (e.g. technology
type, region, coal basin) such that bias
is not present?

YES
NO

NO

Does the facility data sample have anapproximate normal distribution?

YES
NO

Should a part of the data
be applied to the inventory? (Can the newdata improve the old?)

Does the sub sample
cover more than X% of the sub group
population?

YES

NO
YES

Is the mean EF of the facility data
significantly different to the method 1
default EF?

YES
Do not use facility data directly ininventory but for QA/QC checks.
Extrapolate sub group data to subgroup residual.

YES
Use facility specific EF data.
Apply IEF for facility data to
uncovered portion of sector.
Review in light of QA/QC plan.

IPCC Expert Meeting ReportNO
Use facility specific EF data.
Use existing inventory default EF
for the uncovered portion.

105

Apply an EF to the uncovered
portion that maintains theprevious IEF for the whole sector.

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Implications for use of guidelines
The flexibility provided by the Guidelines in the determination of the use of plant specific data leads to a range ofpossible emission estimates for national inventories that appear to be potentially consistent with the proper application of
the Guidelines. To the extent that the Guidelines are designed to assist inventory compilers that do not have perfect
information then, as long as compilers provide transparent documentation, this should generally not be an issue. The
Guidelines cannot be expected to provide a specific solution for every situation confronting an inventory compiler andreliance on expert judgement provisions is inevitable.
Nonetheless, where there are areas of inventory development where the Guidelines provide for the use of (and relianceon) expert judgement, the development of international understanding of the actual implementation of the Guidelines byinventory practitioners becomes of interest.
IPCC workshops and conferences may have a useful role to perform in assisting inventory compilers and other experts
in developing understanding of how to improve national inventories where expert judgements are provided for in the
Guidelines.

APPENDIX
The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (‘the Act’) established the legislative framework for a national
greenhouse and energy reporting system. The Act provides for an integrated reporting system that will provide the basisfor:• informing government policy formulation and the Australian public;• meeting Australia’s international reporting obligations;• assisting Commonwealth, State and Territory government programs and activities;• underpinning the introduction of an emissions trading scheme in the future; and• avoiding duplication of similar reporting requirements in the States and Territories..
The Act makes reporting mandatory for corporations whose energy production, energy use, or greenhouse gas
emissions meet certain specified thresholds.
This Determination is made under subsection 10 (3) of the Act and provides methods, and criteria for methods, for theestimation and measurement of the following items arising from the operation of facilities:1) greenhouse gas emissions;2) the production of energy; and3) the consumption of energy.
The methods governing the estimation of emissions are set out in the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting(Measurement) Determination 2008.
The structure of the Determination is designed to facilitate the integration of corporate and facility level data provided
under the Act with international data standards on greenhouse emissions.
The scope of the Determination is given by the following categories of emission sources:
The emission sources are:Fuel combustion: emissions from the combustion of fuel for energy (see chapter 2);
Fugitive emissions from the extraction, production, flaring, processing and distribution of fossil fuels (seechapter 3);• Industrial process emissions where a mineral, chemical or metal product is formed using a chemical reactionthat generates greenhouse gases as a by-product (see chapter 4); and• Waste emissions from waste disposal - either in landfill, as management of wastewater or from waste
incineration (see chapter 5).
The most important source is fuel combustion, which accounts for over 60 per cent of the emissions reported in thenational greenhouse gas inventory.
••

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The scope of the Determination does not include land based emissions covered by the IPCC categories ‘Agriculture’ and‘Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry’. Emissions from fuel combustion for land based industries are, nonetheless,covered by this Determination.

Methods of measurement
Emissions are rarely measured through direct observation and are most often estimated by reference to readily
observable variables that are closely related to greenhouse gas emissions such as the quantity of fossil fuels consumed.
The Determination provides Methods that allow for both direct emissions monitoring and the estimation of emissions
through the tracking of observable, closely-related variables. This framework reflects the approaches of the internationalguidelines governing the estimation of national greenhouse gas inventories and, similarly, national practice such as for
the EU Guidelines for the Monitoring and Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the US Environment Protection
Agency Mandatory Reporting Rule.
At its simplest, emissions may be estimated by reference to reportable data such as fossil fuel consumption, evidenced
by invoices, and the use of specified emission factors provided in the Determination. For emissions from fuel combustion,for example, data on fuel consumption would be multiplied by a specific emission factor for that fuel to generate anemissions estimate. A similar approach has been used for over a decade in the voluntary reporting program
Greenhouse Challenge Plus and before that, Greenhouse Challenge.
Greater levels of complexity and measurement effort may in some circumstances produce better estimates of emissions
at facility level. This may result from, for example, sampling and analysis of a fuel consumed for its carbon content andother qualities that will affect actual emissions generated by its combustion at a facility. In Australia, this kind of
approach to emissions estimation is already widely used in the electricity industry - in part for commercial reasons and inpart because of the reporting processes under the Generator Efficiency Standards program.
Direct monitoring of emissions is also potentially an important approach to emissions estimation. While not common,such direct monitoring already occurs in some form in some instances such as in the coal industry, where statelegislation requires the monitoring of methane levels for health and safety reasons.
Each of these broad approaches has been incorporated into the Determination as Methods for the estimation ofemissions.
In particular four Methods have been described which provide a framework for emissions estimation for a range of
purposes.
By drawing on existing emission estimation practices where possible the Determination aimed to minimise the reporting
burden on corporations. As indicated above, there are many instances where higher methods (2, 3 and 4 set out below)
already reflect current commercial or regulatory practice.
The provision for Reporters to select Methods for the estimation of emissions also allows Reporters to make their own
judgments to balance the costs of using the higher methods with the benefits of potentially improved emission estimates.

A framework for Method selection
The four Methods in the Determination can be broadly described by the following:
Method 1: the National Greenhouse Accounts default method
Method 1 provides a class of estimation procedures derived directly from the methodologies used by the Department of
Climate Change and Energy Efficiency for the preparation of the National Greenhouse Accounts. The use of
methodologies from the National Accounts anchors Method 1 within the international guidelines adopted by the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change for the estimation of greenhouse emissions.
Method 1 specifies the use of designated emission factors in the estimation of emissions. These emission factors arenational average factors determined by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficient using the Australian
Greenhouse Emissions Information System (AGEIS).
Although significantly updated, this Method is very similar in approach to that used by many corporations for over a
decade to report emission estimates under the Greenhouse Challenge Plus program.

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Method 1 is likely to be most useful for emission sources where the source is relatively homogenous, such as from the
combustion of standard liquid fossil fuels, where the emissions resulting from combustion will be very similar across mostfacilities.
Method 2: a facility-specific method using industry sampling and Australian or international standards listed in
the Determination or equivalent for analysis of fuels and raw materials to provide more accurate estimates ofemissions at facility level.
Method 2 enables corporations to undertake additional measurements - for example, the qualities of fuels consumed at aparticular facility - in order to gain more accurate estimates for emissions for that particular facility.
Method 2 draws on the large body of Australian and international documentary standards prepared by standards
organisations to provide the benchmarks for procedures for the analysis of, typically, the critical chemical properties ofthe fuels being combusted.
Method 2 is likely to be most useful for fuels which exhibit some variability in key qualities, such as carbon content, fromsource to source. This is the case for coal in Australia.
Method 2 is based on existing technical guidelines used by reporters under the Generator Efficiency Standards program.
The possibility to report using this, higher order, approach is extended by the Determination from the electricity industry
to all major consumers of fossil fuels.
Method 3: a facility-specific method using Australian or international standards listed in the Determination orequivalent standards for both sampling and analysis of fuels and raw materials
Method 3 is very similar to Method 2, except that it requires, additionally, Reporters to comply with Australian orequivalent documentary standards for sampling (of fuels or raw materials) as well as documentary standards for the
analysis of fuels.
Method 4: direct monitoring of emission systems, either on a continuous or periodic basis.
Method 4 provides for a different approach to the estimation of emissions. Rather than analysing the chemical
properties of inputs (or in some case, products), Method 4 aims to directly monitor greenhouse emissions arising from anactivity. This approach can provide a higher level of accuracy in certain circumstances, depending on the type ofemission process, however, it is more likely to be more data intensive than other approaches. Such monitoring alreadyoccurs, for example, in underground coal mines reflecting the nature of the emission process and the importance ofrelatively accurate data to support health and safety objectives.
As for Methods 2 and 3, there is a substantial body of documented procedures on monitoring practices and state andterritory government regulatory experience that provide the principal sources of guidance for the establishment of such
systems.

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Facility and Plant Level Data: Incorporating Facility Reported Data
into the U.S. GHG Inventory
Lisa Hanle

Invited Background Paper to the IPCC Experts Meeting,
Sydney, Australia, 9 – 11 August 2010

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Abstract
Implementation of the first mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting program in the United States began in earnest in
the end of 2009 with publication of the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule. This rule established EPA’s
Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), which requires large direct emitters of GHGs, and suppliers of fossil
fuels and industrial gases to begin data collection in 2010 and report their GHG emissions and other related data to EPA
beginning in 2011. Implementation of the GHGRP is a critical milestone for the United States, with the data gathered
through the program serving the foundation for future climate policy. Policymakers and stakeholders at the local, stateand national level are only beginning to realize what can be done with the reported data. For the first time, the public will
be able to better understand some of the large GHG emissions sources in their communities. State and national leaders
will be better informed to analyze the GHG emissions implications of potential climate policy options.
Among the many beneficiaries of the data will be the team compiling the Inventory of U.S. GHG Emissions and Sinks(U.S. GHG Inventory). This paper provides a background on the GHGRP and begins to explore the opportunities, andchallenges, associated with incorporating the data gathered through that program into the U.S. GHG Inventory. In
particular, the paper reviews how the availability of facility-level data could impact the fundamental quality objectives of
the inventory- transparency, completeness, consistency, comparability, and accuracy. There are significant
opportunities for the United States and many other nations that have facility-level reporting programs to improve theirnational inventories, as long as the incorporation of that data is done in a deliberative manner with an eye to thesequality objectives.

Background
The United States and other developed countries agreed to submit greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reports annuallywhen they signed the Climate Treaty in June 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit. The United States has submitted theInventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions and Sinks (the U.S. GHG Inventory) to the Secretariat of the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on an annual basis since 1993. Over the years,
methods used by the United States to develop the U.S. GHG Inventory have evolved as the international guidelines haveadvanced and as new and better data sources become available to support Inventory development. The United States
continually strives to improve the national Inventory and present the most accurate GHG emissions estimates for boththe entire time series and the most recent year for which data are available. This means, as methods evolve and new
data sources become available, we are very mindful of the IPCC quality objectives in developing the Inventory:transparency, accuracy, consistency, comparability, and completeness 14.
Transparency: There is sufficient and clear documentation such that individuals or groups other than inventory
compilers can understand how the inventory was compiled and can be assured it meets the good practicerequirements for national greenhouse gas emissions inventories.
Completeness: Estimates are reported for all relevant categories of sources and sinks, and gases.
Consistency: Estimates for different inventory years, gases and categories are made in such a way thatdifferences in the results between years and categories reflect real differences in emissions. Inventory annual
trends, as far as possible, should be calculated using the same method and data sources in all years andshould aim to reflect the real annual fluctuations in emissions or removals and not be subject to changes
resulting from methodological differences.
Comparability: The national greenhouse gas inventory is reported in a way that allows it to be compared withnational greenhouse gas inventories for other countries.

14 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Edited by Simon Eggelston, Leandro Buendia, Kyoko Miwa,

Todd Ngara, Kiyoto Tanabe. Published by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) for the IPCC ISBN 4-88788-032-4

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Accuracy: The national greenhouse gas inventory contains neither over- nor under-estimates so far as can be
judged.
The United States has a significant opportunity to improve the U.S. GHG Inventory in the coming years with theestablishment of the first nationwide mandatory reporting of GHG emissions program in 2009. Certain large emissions
source categories in the United States began collecting GHG emissions information and other related data on January 1,
2010 and will report the information to EPA in March 2011, and every year thereafter. This paper provides a
background on the EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program and begins to explore the opportunities, and challenges,
associated with incorporating the data gathered through that program into the U.S. GHG Inventory.

EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP)
Overview
In October 2009, EPA issued the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule (40 CFR Part 98), which requires reporting of GHG
emissions and other related data from certain large downstream sources and suppliers of fossil fuels and industrial
gases in the United States. Generally, facilities that emit equal to or greater than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide
equivalent (mtCO2e) emissions per year are required to submit annual reports to EPA. For some industries, for example,
cement production, aluminum production and ammonia production, all or most facilities were estimated to be over thethreshold, and therefore all are required to report under the program, regardless of size.
In addition to capturing reporting from downstream emitters, the GHGRP requires all domestic suppliers of petroleum
products; coal-based liquids, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and industrial gases, including CO2, to report the CO2
emissions that would be released if all fuels were combusted or industrial gases were released to the atmosphere.
Importers and exporters of certain fuels and industrial gases are required to report if their potential emissions are equal
to or greater than 25,000 mtCO2e. In some case the upstream supplier of a fuel (for example natural gas) will have toreport on the GHG emissions assuming complete combustion of all the natural gas that they deliver, while if that natural
gas is consumed at a downstream facility that is subject to the rule (e.g., an ammonia manufacturer) the downstream
facility must report on the combustion of that fuel. There is inherent double reporting in such a system requiring
reporting from upstream suppliers and downstream sources necessitates caution when aggregating the emissions toestimate national GHG emissions.

Coverage.
Figure 1 illustrates the source categories required to collect data in 2010 and submit their first reports to EPA in March
2011. Source categories required to report as a “downstream emitter” are highlighted in yellow, blue or orange. The
yellow bars represent source categories for which all facilities the meet the definition of the source category are required
to report. Industries highlighted in blue are only required to report if their facility-level emissions are equal to or greaterthan 25,000 mtCO2e. Other facilities that do not meet the definition of one of listed source categories must still report if
their emissions from stationary combustion are equal to or less than 25,000 mtCO2e (highlighted in orange). Industries
highlighted in gray are “suppliers” and most report the CO2 emissions that would be released if all of the fossil fuel were
combusted or the industrial gases were released. Vehicle and engine manufacturers (except light duty vehicles) must
report an emissions rate.

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Table 1 provides additional facilities that must begin data collection on January 1, 2011 and report to EPA in March 2012.
A third set of source categories listed in Table 1 have been proposed for inclusion in the Greenhouse Gas Reporting
Program, and if finalized as expected, would require facilities to begin data collection January 1, 2011 and submit reports
by March 31, 2012.
Table 1. Additional Source Categories under the GHGRP
Will Begin Data Collection
January 2011
Industrial Landfills
Industrial Wastewater
Magnesium Production
Underground Coal Mines

Will Begin Data Collection January 2011,
if Finalized as Proposed
Injection and geologic sequestration of CO2
Petroleum and natural gas systems
Fluorinated GHG emissions from electronics mfg
Production of fluorinated gases
Use of electrical transmission and distribution equipment
Mfg or refurbishment of electrical equipment
Import and export of pre-charged equipment and closed cell foams.

Methodological Development
The United States Congress provided the overall framework for what the program should cover (upstream suppliers anddownstream sources), but left development and implementation of the program to the U.S. EPA. The GHGRP wasdesigned to support a range of climate change programs, and as such had to be developed in a way that could serve as
the foundation for multiple potential future climate policies (e.g., cap and trade, technology specific standards, et cetera).
This meant EPA needed to strive to get the most accurate data possible, while still recognizing that the program did not
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require emissions reductions from reporting facilities. EPA therefore strived to strike an appropriate balance between
data accuracy and cost in the calculation methods required.
Identifying the most appropriate methods was perhaps one of the least challenging parts of developing the rule. There
was no need to reinvent the wheel. EPA has been developing national estimates for GHG emissions for over 15 years inpublishing the Inventory of U.S. GHG Emissions and Sinks, using methods published by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) as well as country-specific methods. Different programs at the federal, state, local andcorporate level have been incorporating those same or other similar GHG emissions calculations methodologies into
their programs. For most source categories, methods for calculating GHG emissions are fairly well established. The key
was selecting the appropriate methods for inclusion in the rule.
Bearing in mind the need to balance data accuracy and cost, EPA reviewed the existing methodologies available for thevarious source categories covered in the rule, modified them as necessary to apply them at the facility-level, anddeveloped a program that relied on use of continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) for facilities where it was a
feasible option and the facility already had some of the basic infrastructure in place, and for other source categories
required facility-specific calculation methodologies. In limited cases, default emission factors are also allowed. The
methodological foundation for the GHGRP is presented in Table 2 below.
Table 2. Methodological Foundation of the GHGRP
Continuous emissions monitoring systems for larger stationary combustion units that meet certain conditions(e.g., burn solid fuel, have concentration monitors or flow meters installed, etc).
Facility-specific calculations for other sources (e.g., stack testing, mass balance, monitoring inputs and sitespecific factors).
Methods are prescribed, must follow one of the methods in the rule. In some cases there are choices (e.g., if a
facility-specific calculation is prescribed you may still choose to use CEMS).
Simplified methods may be allowed for smaller sources (e.g., fugitive methane emissions at petroleum
refineries).
Did not re-invent the wheel- generally used higher-tiered IPCC methods.
Facilities generally required to follow industry consensus standards for monitoring inputs to the equations (e.g.,high heating value, carbon content, molecular weight).

Quality Assurance/Quality Control and Verification
Just as it is important to conduct quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) throughout the cycle of GHG Inventory
development, it is also critical to ensure that QA/QC and verification are fundamental to a reporting rule’s requirements
to ensure that the data obtained are of a known and appropriate quality.
To achieve this goal, in many cases the program requires facilities to use standardized calibration, certification,
maintenance, and other QA/QC procedures when quantifying GHG emissions. In some instances, the rule allows
reporters to use one of several alternative consensus standards or use a method specified by the manufacturer of thedevice. Where CEMS are used, the facility must comply with either the QA/QC provisions provided in relevant parts of
the Clean Air Act, or an applicable State continuous monitoring program. The actual requirements and QA/QC required
vary between subparts, and even within a subpart, where options are allowed for reporting. For example, in the final rule,facilities subject only to subpart C (General Stationary Combustion) that use gas chromatography (GC) analysis for highheating value/ carbon content may use GC as long as it is operated, maintained and calibrated according to
manufacturer’s instructions. However, a hydrogen production facility or a petroleum refinery subject to subpart P or Y
must use one of the listed methods in the rule when using a GC. Under Subpart C, a facility may be allowed to use amore simplified method for smaller combustion units, but that same facility could choose to use a more advanced
method based on continuous emissions monitors for that same unit. The different approaches to calculating emissions
have various levels of stringency in terms of the QA/QC methods and the accompanying data reporting requirements.
Once the facility submits the data to EPA, the representative of that facility will attest, under penalty of law, that theemissions estimates are accurate to the best of their knowledge.
The GHG emissions and other related data that were used in the emissions calculations, as well as other data necessary
for data verification, are then submitted to EPA electronically. EPA will review the emissions data and supporting datasubmitted by reporters using electronic checks and auditing tools. The level of verification possible depends on the data
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reporting requirements for a specific source category. As noted above, this can vary across subparts of the rule, andeven within a subpart.
In addition to electronic checks carried out on all data to identify potential calculation and reporting errors, EPA intends tofollow-up with facilities should potential errors, discrepancies, or questions arise through the review of reported data.
This may be followed up by on-site audits of the data. The goal of these verification steps is to ensure accuracy andcompleteness, such that EPA and the public are confident in using the data for developing climate policies and potential
future regulations.

Use of Facility-Level Data in the U.S. GHG Inventory Now…..
Local, state, national, and perhaps international stakeholders alike eagerly await the GHG emissions data that will bereported to EPA by March 31, 2011. While there are multiple interests and intentions for using the emissions information,
the team compiling the U.S. GHG Inventory has started considering how we can use that data to further our national
GHG Inventory. Before considering the opportunities, it is good to assess where we are right now in terms of using
facility-level data in the GHG Inventory.
In the Inventory, GHG emissions are estimated using methodologies that are consistent with the Revised 1996 IPCC
Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC/UNEP/OECD/IEA 1997), the IPCC Good Practice Guidanceand Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC 2000), the IPCC Good Practice Guidance
for Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (IPCC 2003), and the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse
Gas Inventories (IPCC 2006). The United States continually strives to improve the Inventory and use the best data andhighest tiers possible to develop a high-quality inventory. Nevertheless, until now, the United States has not had any
legal requirements in place mandating that facilities report GHG emissions, with the exception of the CO2 emissions
reported by utilities under the Acid Rain Program of the Clean Air Act. As such, the Inventory, with limited exceptions,relies predominantly on national-level statistics. Approximately a quarter of the key categories in the most recent
inventory are quantified using a Tier 3, or equivalent country-specific method. Table 3 provides a summary of thecurrent methodological approach for some key categories in the Inventory, as well as for some of the sources where Tier
3 or comparable methods are currently followed.
Table 3. Summary of Current Inventory Methods for Selected Source Categories
Source Category

Key
Category?
√

Current
Tier

Adipic Acid√

Tier 2/Tier 3Ammonia Production√

Tier 1/
Tier 2

Cement Production√

Tier 2

HFC-23 from HCFC-22
Production√

Tier 3

Petroleum and Natural
Gas Systems√

Tier 3

Underground Coal√

Tier 3General Stationary
Combustion (coal, oiland gas)

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Tier 1/ Tier
2

General Approach
1. Determine total fuel consumption by fuel type and sector;
2. Subtract consumption of fuel in industrial processes, non energy
use of fuels, international bunkers.
3. Apply fuel-specific carbon content
For two plants, emission estimates obtained directly from theplant engineer and account for reductions due to control
systems in place; for other two facilities emissions calculated
by multiplying production by an emission factor and adjustingfor the percentage of N2O released as a result of plant-specificemission controls.
Apply CO2 EF to percent of ammonia produced with natural gas
feedstock, separate EF applied to the percentage of ammonia
produced from petroleum coke.

Apply default clinker EF to the national level production ofclinker.

The five plants measured concentrations of HFC-23 to estimate
their emissions of HFC-23. Plants using thermal oxidation toabate their HFC-23 emissions monitor the performance of theiroxidizers to verify HFC-23 is almost completely destroyed;
plants that release some of their byproduct HFC-23 periodicallymeasure HFC-23 concentrations in the output stream using gas
chromatography.

Developed country-specific emission factors for sources in early
1990’s, apply emission factors to most recently available activity
data.
Ventilation data received from the Mine Safety and Health

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Mines

Administration, mine specific approach to estimating degasification
and recovery emissions.

Current Inventory Approach and the IPCC Quality Objectives
The U.S. GHG Inventory is annually subject to a peer review, a public review and a review by international experts andcontinues to be regarded as a high quality Inventory. In general, the inventory has consistently been determined to betransparent, complete, consistent, comparable and accurate.
Transparency
Inventory is transparently documented. With limited exceptions, all data used to develop the national Inventory
are publicly available and can be readily reviewed by external Parties for adherence with internationalguidelines.
• With the current reliance on national statistics, it can be challenging to ensure that the bodies collecting theunderlying statistics adhere to appropriate QA/QC procedures.
Completeness•

Inventory is developed using primarily national-level statistics and default or facility-specific emission factors.
Use of national statistics results in a complete inventory that covers the geographic boundaries of the UnitedStates.
• For more complex sources, where national statistics are not available and there is no mandatory reporting
requirement (e.g., methane capture and destruction at underground coal mines, petroleum and natural gas
systems), finding a consistent approach and data sources can be a challenge.
Consistency•

The Inventory generally follows the same methods over the time series. National statistics are typicallycollected in the same fashion over time, covering the same types of facilities, thereby ensuring time seriesconsistency.
Comparability•

The United States follows the IPCC Guidelines and reporting guidelines established by the UNFCCC ensuring
comparability with other reporting parties.
Accuracy••

Current approach provides relatively high certainty of emissions estimates at the national level for most sources;difficult to disaggregate estimates to the facility, state or regional level for policy analysis.

…..and use of Facility-level Data in the Future
The U.S. Inventory is of a very high quality. Nevertheless, there are always opportunities for improvement.
Commencement of the first nation-wide reporting obligation is an unprecedented opportunity for the United States toreview all aspects of the Inventory development process-- source categories covered, IPCC methods selected, QA/QC
procedures, verification and uncertainty analysis, and look for opportunities to further improve the national GHG
emissions estimates. The structure of the GHGRP will dictate how useful facility-reported data will be in the national
Inventory. Table A-1 in the Appendix provides a crosswalk illustrating the sources covered in the national inventory,
whether or not EPA will gather data from the GHGRP, and the accompanying threshold for that source category in the
GHGRP.
A couple of points stand out:•

EPA will be collecting at least some data for most source categories in the inventory; categories for which data
will not be gathered are primarily in the agriculture and land use, land use change, and forestry sectors. In otherwords, at the source category level, there is good mapping between the data that will be received from the
GHGRP, and the data that will be needed to develop the Inventory. This illustrates a significant opportunity toat least improve most source categories in the inventory, and for some industries to fully replace the current
IPCC methods followed and use facility-specific data reported through the GHGRP.

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For source categories with thresholds, a large fraction of the industry may not be subject to reporting. One goalof the GHGRP, after all, was to maximize emissions coverage while minimizing the number of reporters to theprogram. EPA will need to consider how representative reported data are of national practices? For someindustries the fact that only large industries are reporting may not be relevant, as the same practices, fuels, etc.,
may be used at smaller facilities as well. For other industries, the larger facilities subject to the rule may havevastly different practices and some data obtained from them may not be sufficient for applying to the smaller
sources.
The availability of plant-level data could address or partially address many of the current challenges associated with
Inventory development. Overall, the GHGRP will help improve the national Inventory by:•

Directly provide the combustion and process-related emissions for some source categories (e.g. ammonia,
cement, aluminum) on an annual basis.
• Allowing the United States to better disaggregate national emissions by industry; disaggregate the current
stationary combustion estimates by manufacturing sector per reporting guidelines (e.g., iron and steel, nonferrous metals, chemicals, etc.).
• Ensuring that the underlying data for certain source categories are gathered following very specificmethodologies; methodologies that can subsequently be readily reviewed by review teams.
• Enabling the Inventory Agency to develop a relationship with the facilities directly, as opposed to relying on athird party national statistics organization.
• Reducing reliance on default emission factors; develop country-specific (or even more refined) emission factors.
• Providing substantial supporting information in addition to the GHG emissions data that will enable us to verify
emissions reported.
• Gather underlying data that can help affirm, or bring into question, previous assumptions used in the Inventory.
• Provide an additional data source to conduct quality assurance/quality control checks.
• Refine the uncertainty analysis by allowing us to rely more on data and less on expert judgment.
Nevertheless, we can already anticipate a number of challenges with incorporating reported GHG emissions information
into the national inventory. Some key challenges anticipated include:
•

•

•

•

Time Series Consistency. Ensuring time series consistency will be a key issue for all source categories,
although some will be more difficult than others (e.g., combustion-related emissions information received fromfacilities using CEMS, petroleum and natural gas systems). Will have to assess source category by source
category whether Tier 3 data obtained through the GHGRP is applicable for earlier years. This may be thecase where there is minimal penetration of technologies and minimal fuel variability over time.
Comparability. As discussed above, there are only so many ways to quantify emissions from various source
categories. Although the uncertainty bands around emissions estimates will narrow as the United States andother countries start implementing higher-tiered and country-specific methods, determining comparability may
become more challenging as it may be difficult for inventory reviewers to assess the comparability of methods.
Transparency. There is still uncertainty over how much of the data will be required to be held confidential. EPA
is currently undertaking a rulemaking to determine how the data will be handled. Our goal is to make as muchavailable as possible, thereby facilitating transparent review of the data. Nevertheless, some data will inevitably
be held as confidential. The extent to which this affects transparency is yet to be determined. In addition,some methods employed by facilities within a given source category may actually result in less verification datareported to EPA, which in turn could introduce challenges with ensuring transparent data presented in theInventory.

Conclusions
The United States has an unprecedented opportunity to collect more comprehensive GHG emissions information as aresult of the first annual GHG reports submitted by facilities in 2011 under the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program.
One can only imagine all of the ultimate uses of the data generated through this program (e.g., project, corporate,
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national, and even international level). The United States has only just begun to think about the next steps of how to use
these data; although it is certain that one important end-user will be the National Inventory system.
It is generally true that Tier 3 data are more accurate and lead to improved emissions estimates. However, incorporationof facility-specific data into national emissions inventories needs to be done in a deliberate manner taking into accountthe principles of transparency, completeness, consistency, comparability and accuracy, in order to ensure that thenational emissions estimates are in fact improved and can be verified as such. As the United States and other countries
start incorporating more Tier 3 methods into their national inventories, some key questions for the international
community arise, including:
1) What is meant by a Tier 3 method? Are all Tier 3 methods alike?
2) How should Tier 3 methods be presented in the national inventory?
3) Is current IPCC guidance on QA/QC sufficient for Tier 3 methods? How do inventory compilers document
facility specific QA/QC activities undertaken?
4) How will the international community assess comparability of Tier 3 methods across Parties?
5) How should uncertainty analyses be conducted where there is variability in methods within a source category?
Is the IPCC guidance sufficient to address this?
6) Can Tier 3 methods introduced in 2010 be applied historically? If so, how? Does it depend on the source
category?
7) Will confidential business information be more of an issue where inventories are developed using facilityspecific data?
One of the great ironies of inventory development is that while higher-tiered methods are desired, it can often be thecase that as countries move to higher tiers and develop more country-specific methods more questions arise about thevalidity of the emissions estimates or the approaches to obtaining the data. These questions about the inventory quality
objectives are most certainly valid, but we should not lose site of the fact that collection and use of facility-specific data in
the national Inventory presents significant opportunity for countries to improve their national inventory.

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Appendix A-1. Crosswalk of U.S. Inventory Source Categories and Data Collected under the GHG Reporting
Program beginning in 2011.

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Notes: Developed with support from ICF International.

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Use of COPERT 4 for the compilation & sub-mission of roadtransport GHG inventories
L. Ntziachristos
ETC/ACC

Invited Background Paper to the IPCC Experts Meeting,
Sydney, Australia, 9 – 11 August 2010

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Background
COPERT 4 is a methodology and software that can be used for the compilation of national emission inventories in theframework of UNFCCC and CLRTAP. For UNFCCC submissions, COPERT may assist national experts in thecompilation of their inventories by including the appropriate methodology and emission factors to calculate CO2, N2O,
and CH4 emissions from road transport. COPERT (software and/or methodology) is used by 18 out of the 27 EU
countries for the preparation and submission of national inventories.
Support for the official use of COPERT 4 in Europe is provided by the European Environmental Agency through theEuropean Topic Centre on Air and Climate Change while its methodology development is coordinated by the ERMES
group and is reviewed by TFEIP. The Laboratory of Applied Thermodynamics and their spin-off company EMISIA SA are
responsible for the scientific and technical support of the program.

Methodology
The methodology of COPERT 4 is described as the Tier 3 method of the EMEP/EEA emission inventory guidebook,which is directly referenced in the IPCC2006GLs. COPERT 4 has also delivered the aggregated CH4 and N2O emission
factors for European cars included in the 2006 Guidelines.
Ultimate CO2 emissions are estimated in COPERT 4 on the basis of fuel consumption only, assuming that the carbon
content of the fuel is fully oxidised into CO2.
In the case of an oxygenated fuel described by the generic chemical formula CxHyOz the ratio of hydrogen to carbon
atoms and the ratio of oxygen to carbon atoms are, respectively:

rH :C =

y
x

(1)

z
rO:C =x

If the fuel composition is known from ultimate chemical analysis, then the mass fractions of carbon, hydrogen andoxygen atoms in the fuel are c, h, and o correspondingly, where c + h + o = 1. In this case, the ratios of hydrogen tocarbon and oxygen to carbon in the fuel are respectively calculated as:

rH :C = 11.916

h
c

(2)

o
rO:C = 0.7507cWith these ratios, the mass of CO2 emitted by vehicles in category j, combusting fuel m can be calculated as:

E

CALC
CO 2 , j, m

FC CALCj, m= 44.011 ×
12.011 + 1.008rH:C,m + 16.000rO:C,m(3)

Where FCCALC is the fuel consumption of those vehicles for the time period considered.
Table 1 presents relevant hydrogen to carbon and oxygen to carbon ratios for different fuel types.

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Table 1: Ratios of hydrogen to carbon and oxygen to carbon atoms for different fuel types
Fuel (m)Chemical formula

Ratio of hydrogen tocarbonRatio of oxygen tocarbonGasoline[CH1.8]x

rH:C=1.80

rO:C=0.0

Diesel[CH2]xrH:C=2.00

rO:C=0.0

Ethanol

C2H5OH

rH:C=3.00

rO:C=0.5

CH4 (95%)- C2H6 (5%)

rH:C=3.90

rO:C=0.0

CH4 (85%)- C2H6 (15%)

rH:C=3.74

rO:C=0.0

LPG Fuel A

C3H8 (50%)-C4H10 (50%)

rH:C=2.57

rO:C=0.0

LPG Fuel B

C3H8 (85%)-C4H10 (15%)

rH:C=2.63

rO:C=0.0

Natural Gas

The calculation of N2O, NH3 and CH4 emissions is based on cold urban (eCOLD), and hot urban, rural and highway
emission factors (eHOT), which are provided per vehicle type and technology level. In order to apply the methodology, it isfirst checked whether the mileage fraction driven at thermally non-stabilised engine conditions (β-parameter) exceeds
the mileage share attributed to urban conditions (SURBAN). For each vehicle category j, and pollutant i (i = CH4, N2O) the
calculation takes the form presented in the following algorithm. In that, N represents the number of vehicles of type jwhich are driven for M km per year
If βi, j > SURBAN; j
ECOLD URBAN; i, j= βi,j × Nj × Mj × eCOLD URBAN; i, j
ECOLD RURAL; i, j = 0
EHOT URBAN; i, j = 0
EHOT RURAL; i, j = [SRURAL; j – (βi,j – SURBAN; j)] × Nj × Mj × eHOT RURAL; i, j
EHOT HIGHWAY; i, j = SHIGHWAY; j × Nj × Mj × eHOT HIGHWAY; i, j
Else if βi, j <= SURBAN; j
ECOLD URBAN; i, j = βi,j × Nj × Mj × eCOLD URBAN; i, j
ECOLD RURAL; i, j = 0
EHOT URBAN; i, j = (SURBAN; j – βi, j) × Nj × Mj × eHOT URBAN; i, j
EHOT RURAL; i, j = SRURAL; j × Nj × Mj × eHOT RURAL; i, j
EHOT HIGHWAY; i, j = SHIGHWAY; j × Nj × Mj × eHOT HIGHWAY; i, j
Lube-oil related and SCR oriented CO2 emissions are not calculated by COPERT. These elements will be introduced in
one of the upcoming versions of the software.

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Benefits
Use of the COPERT 4 software and methodology can provide a number of benefits to the user, while compiling thesubmission of an official inventory in the framework of UNFCCC.
In particular, use of the software allows to store and calculate activity data and emissions over a time series within asingle file. This means that when input data have been introduced then calculations can take place with the click of abutton. This is particularly beneficial in cases where there is a change in the methodology or an emission factor because
all years can be automatically updated with the new emission factor. The software also provides a graphical userinterface that allows the user to easily manipulate the data and import from/to MS Excel. Finally the software allows toexport results directly to CRF (XML) format that can then be directly used for submission.
As regards the benefits offered by the methodology, COPERT includes the methods and the emission factors to
calculate emissions practically from all popular vehicle types and technologies, accounting for more than 99.7% of GHG
emissions from road transport (urea and lube-oil CO2 not yet included). It correctly distinguishes between diesel andbiodiesel in order to report CO2 emissions on the basis of fossil fuel only while N2O and CH4 emissions take into accountthe total fuel consumed.

QA/QC
The development and use of COPERT software follow the IPCC recommendations for good practice. Transparency isachieved by the methodology which is reviewed by the experts in the Task Force on Emission Inventories andProjections. All methodological items and emission factors are documented in the EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission
inventory guidebook. Then, calculations are checked by several users worldwide which use the software for official or
private applications. With regard to completeness, the software calculates emissions of CO2, CH4 and N2O whichcorrespond to more than 99.7% of total GHG emissions from road transport. For the correct calculation of CO2 emissions
from lube-oil and SCR operation, a Tier 3 methodology would be necessary which is easy to introduce in a next versionof the software. Consistency is by definition achieved by using a software version for all time-series calculations. The
software includes emission factors for practically all vehicle technologies that appeared since 1970 to be introduced until
2020. Comparability is also easy to achieve as the inventory is structured in the same way between counties. Accuracy,
although this is difficult to prove for a complete national inventory, is established by using a widely recognized method. In
particular for CO2, COPERT provides a fuel-balance check where bottom-up calculations (Tier 3) are compared against
the statistical one (Tier 1). This can provide a good level of confidence to the calculations.
In addition, a Monte Carlo uncertainty/sensitivity analysis has been conducted on COPERT 4 and has revealed the total
uncertaintyofthecalculations.
The
reporton
COPERT
uncertainty
isavailableon
http://transportpanel.jrc.ec.europa.eu/projects.html.

OutlookRoad transport GHG emissions are projected to decline after 2020 as a result of efficiency improvement measures andthe introduction of new, low GHG emission technologies. Still, there is an increasing need for improved calculations as aresult of the complex mix of vehicle technologies on the road today and in the future. In this direction, COPERT may
assist in compiling an inventory following good practice methods. The following updates are expected in the following
version of COPERT:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Inclusion of emission and consumption factors for CNG/LNG cars. CH4 emission factors are particularly
important for NG vehicles.
Inclusion of Bio-(EtOH, MTBE) to correctly account CO2 emissions from bio-components in petrol fuelLube-oil consumption estimation which can be introduced as a Tier 3 method, taking into account vehicle type,age and technology.
Urea-derived CO2, using a Tier 3 method taking into account vehicle type and technology to estimate emissions
Other issues of importance in road transport include:
Development of tiers for urea-derived CO2
Improve guidance for CO2 emission factors (biofuels, oxygen content, etc.)

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•

•

•

•

Guidance and/or reconciliation AQ needs/ fuel sold requirements. In particular, national experts are some times
confused by large deviations when calculating emissions in the framework of UNFCCC and other studies inwhich air quality is important.
Guidance on new technologies (hybrids, plug-in hybrids, electric + range extender, …). The distinction between
technologies may be necessary. In particular, hybrids are solely based on one fuel (mainly gasoline) whileelectric vehicles with range extender and plug-in hybrids use two sources (liquid fuel and grid power).
Impact of model / methodology updates on recalculations (how to predict, account for?) Some guidance may berequired to assess the direction that one expects recalculations to take place. I.e. whether more detailed
emission factors are expected to increase/decrease emissions.
PM black carbon effects? This is a more general issue (not specific for road transport). However road transport
is a significant source of black carbon from both exhaust and non-exhaust (brake, tires) emissions.

More info and references
COPERT Web-site: http://lat.eng.auth.gr. User’s manual, software and methodology are available on the web-site.
EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebook 2009. Technical Report no 9. European Environment Agency.
Available online at http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/emep-eea-emission-inventory-guidebook-2009.
Kouridis, Ch., Gkatzoflias, D., Kioutsioukis, I., Ntziachristos, L., Pastorello, C., Dilara, P. 2010. Uncertainty Estimatesand Guidance for Road Transport Emission Calculations. European Commission, Joint Research Centre, InstituteforEnvironment
andSustainability,
Italy.
Available
onlineat http://transportpanel.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pdf/projects/TA_uncertainty.pdf.
Ntziachristos, L., Gkatzoflias, D., Kouridis, Ch., Samaras, Z. 2009. COPERT: A European Road Transport Emission
Inventory Model. 4th International ICSC Symposium on Information Technologies in Environmental Engineering. May,
28-29, Thessaloniki, Greece.

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Annex 3.

Co-Chairs Summary

Expert Meeting on Use of Models and Measurements in GHG Inventories
9-11 August 2010, Sydney
Co-Chairs Summary
1. The expert meeting considered the use of models and measurements for all sectors in greenhouse gas emission
inventories. In the light of experience to date, the meeting compiled a report on experience and the lessons learnt,
particularly related to transparency so that inventory compilers addressing these issues can benefit from thisexperience.
2. Measured data underlie both models and facility level data. Measurements may be made at individual plant covering
all of part of specific sub-sectors, and the meeting noted that there are an increasing number of reporting systems
that combine such measured data with other facility level information. In general, models, use measured data forcalibration, evaluation and validation to estimate those emissions or removals that cannot be easily otherwise
obtained, and so extend limited information to cover national emissions and removals.
3. The use of both models and facility level data in inventories provides significant opportunities to improve the overall
quality and, usually, accuracy of the inventory, through, amongst other things, (i) reducing uncertainty and improving
uncertainty estimates in the national inventory; (ii) improving spatial and temporal resolution of data and further
disaggregating data categories; or (iii) improving potential to correctly estimate impacts of mitigation on national
inventories by, for example, reflecting any mitigation effects from measurements or by improving inventory
stratification. Therefore their use in the national inventory should be encouraged.
4. The key issue identified in the use of both models and facility level data, is transparency. While approaches toensuring transparency, documenting and reporting lower Tier approaches are clearly given in the IPCC Guidelines,
the use of models and facility level data is only discussed more generally as the specifics depend on national
circumstances. The 2006 IPCC Guidelines do provide the overall approach to transparently documenting andreporting these types of data. The meeting noted that clearer descriptions of the approaches used to derive nationalemissions would help ensure the results understandable and credible and that recent experience provides usefulguidance to inventory compilers on how to do this.
5. The meeting compiled lists of typical items that, when reported, may lead to improved transparency. These include:
ModelsFacility Level Data
Institutional arrangements• Basis and type of model• Legal basis• Application and adaptation of the model• Elements covered• Main equations/processes• Criteria for data selection• Key assumptions• QA/QC• Domain of application• Confidentiality• How the model parameters were estimatedCategory-specific• Description of key inputs and outputs• Category emissions• Details of calibration & model evaluation• Implied emission factor• Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis• Uncertainty• QA/QC procedures adopted•
How completeness and time series consistency• References to peer-reviewed literatureare ensured
6. The meeting also considered some of the factors inventory compilers need to consider in the use of models andfacility level data.
7. For models considerations include: reasons for model selection; interpretation of model results; calibration andparameterisation; evaluation of model methods, processes and results; comparisons with lower tiers andmeasurements; uncertainty and sensitivity analysis.
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8. For facility level data considerations include: do the facility level data definitions match those of the inventory andhow has this matching been achieved; does the dataset completely cover a reporting category and if not how thisgap has been filled; how has time series consistency between the facility level data and estimates for earlier years
has been achieved; and how might these data enhance the quality of inventories.
9. The meeting also considered how the use of these methods can be encouraged. The main barriers to the adoptionof complex models are the need for enhanced financial resources and institutional capacity. Access to suitablemodels, and the ability to modify them, remains a barrier to their use. The participants also noted that the use ofmodels requires a significant, sustained and dedicated effort over the lifetime of the model to collect and update highquality and reliable data at a suitable resolution and to maintain and adapt suitable models.

Thelma Krug
Co-Chair Task Force Bureau

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Co-Chair Task Force Bureau

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Annex 4.

Meeting Agenda

Monday, 9 August
09:30 –10:00

10:00 –10:30

REGISTRATION
Welcome

Co-Chairs (TFI)
Gary Richards (Australia)
Allen Madden (Australia)

Introduction (TSU)
2006 IPCC Guidelines and the use of Tier 3 approaches (TSU)
10:30 –13:00

Issues arising from the UNFCCC Inventory review process from the use of plant
specific data and complex models, and the reporting of mitigation efforts(UNFCCC)
Issues arising from the use of Tier 3 Models in AFOLU and inter-annual
variability (Gary Richards, Australia)
Discussion

13:00 –14:00

LUNCH
Canadian Forest Models (Werner Kurz, Canada)
New Zealand's enteric methane/nitrous oxide inventory model and the New
Zealand emissions trading scheme (Andrea Pickering, New Zealand)
An inventory of CH4 emissions from rice paddies in China based on Tier 3
approaches (Yao Huang, China)

14:00 –17:00

Estimation of national GHG emissions from solid waste disposal site by using
field investigation results (Komsilp Wangyao, Thailand)
Discussion
Comparison of the UK inventory and other EU inventories with the EUETS
combustion CO2 data (John Watterson,UK)
Facility data in the Netherlands emission inventory (Rianne Dröge, Netherlands)

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Tuesday, 10 August
10:00 –13:00

The use of facility-specific emission factor data in Australia's national
inventory (Rob Sturgiss, Australia)
Facility and plant level data: Incorporating facility reported data into the U.S.
GHG Inventory (Lisa Hanle, USA)
Use of COPERT 4 for the compilation and submission of road transport
greenhouse gas inventories (Leonidas Ntziachristos, EEA/ETC)
Discussion

13:00 –14:00

LUNCH

14:00 –17:00

Breakout Groups (BOGs)
BOG1: Models
BOG2: Facility Level Data

Wednesday, 11 August
10:00 –13:00

BOGs continue
BOGs agree text for meeting report

13:00 –14:00

LUNCH

14:00 –17:00

Plenary: Agree Draft Meeting Report

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Annex 5.

Participants
Benin

Argentina

G. H. Sabin GUENDEHOU
Benin Centre for Scientific andTechnical Research
03 P.O. Box 2048 or 1665 Cotonou
Republic of Benin
Tel: +229 95 05 93 91
Fax: +229 21 32 36 71
sguendehou@yahoo.com
guensab@yahoo.fr

Leonidas Osvaldo GIRARDIN
Bariloche Foundation
Piedras 482 2H - Buenos Aires, 1070
Argentina
Tel & Fax: +54 11 4331 2021
logirardin@fundacionbariloche.org.ar
logirardin@gmail.com
Australia

BrazilPenny REYENGA
Department of Climate Change andEnergy Efficiency
GPO Box 854, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
Tel: +61 2 6159 7387
Fax: +61 2 6159 7016
Penny.reyenga@climatechange.gov.au

Thelma KRUG (TFI Co-chair)
INPE - National Institute for Space Research
Av. Dos Astronautas, 1758 - Jardim da Granja,
12227-010 Brazil
Tel: +55 12 3208 6005
Fax: +55 12 3941 2077
thelmakrug@dir.inpe.br
Thelma@dir.iai.int

Gary RICHARDS
Department of Climate Change andEnergy Efficiency
2 Constitution Ave, Canberra ACT, 2601 Australia
Tel: +61 2 6159 7201
Fax: +61 2 6159 7013
Gary.Richards@climatechange.gov.au

CanadaDominique BLAIN
Environment Canada, Science andRisk Assessment / GHG Division
200 boul Sacré Coeur, 9e étage, Gatineau (Qc)
K1A 0H3 Canada
Tel: +1 819 994 0888
Fax: +1 819 953 3006
dominique.blain@ec.gc.ca

Robert STURGISS
Department of Climate Change andEnergy Efficiency
GPO Box 854, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
Tel: +61 2 6159 7388
Fax: +61 2 6159 7016
rob.sturgiss@climatechange.gov.au

Werner KURZ
Natural Resources Canada,
Canadian Forest Service
506 West Burnside Road, Victoria BC,
V8Z 1M5 Canada
Tel: +1 250 363 6031
Fax: +1 250 363 6004
werner.kurz@nrcan.gc.ca

Robert Michael WATERWORTH
Department of Climate Change andEnergy Efficiency
GPO Box 854, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
Tel: +61 2 6159 7232
Fax: +61 2 6159 7014
robert.waterworth@climatechange.gov.au

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Chile

Hungary

Sergio GONZÁLEZ
Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias(INIA)La Platina Regional Centre,
N° 11610, Santa Rosa Avenue, (La Pintana),
Metropolitan Region of Santiago, 7083150 Chile
Tel: +56 2 7575115/5105
Fax: +56 2 7575347
sgonzale@inia.cl
spe_gonzal@hotmail.com

Zoltán SOMOGYI
Hungarian Forest Research InstituteStefánia út 14. Budapest, H-1142
Hungary
Tel: +36 30 465 2684
som9013@helka.iif.hu
India
Nijavalli H. RAVINDRANATH
Centre for Substantial Technologies,
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore - 560012
India
Tel: +91 80 23341838
Fax: +91 80 2360 1428
ravi@ces.iisc.ernet.in

China
Yao HUANG
Institute of Atmospheric Physics,
Chinese Academy of Sciences
c/o LAPC, Beijing 100029 China
Tel: +86 10 82074294
Fax: +86 10 62041393
huangy@mail.iap.ac.cn

Indonesia
Rizaldi BOER
Bogor Agriculture University
Centre for Climate Risk and Opportunity Managementin Southeast Asia & Pacific Kampus IPB
Baranangszaing, Jalan Raya Pajajaran, Bogor 16134
Tel: +62 811 117660
Fax: +62 251 8313709
rizaldiboer@gmail.com

Lingxi ZHOU
Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences(CAMS),
China Meteorological Administration (CMA)
CAMS, 46 Zhongguancun Nandajie,
Beijing, 100081 China
Tel: +86 10 58995279
Fax: +86 10 62176414
zhoulx@cams.cma.gov.cn
zhoulx2007@gmail.com

Japan
Tatsuya HANAOKA
National Institute for Environmental Studies(NIES)
16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8506
Japan
Tel & Fax: +81 29 850 2710
hanaoka@nies.go.jp

Finland
Teemu Santeri OINONEN
Statistics Finland
Työpajankatu 13, Helsinki,
Postal: P.O.Box 6A, FI-00022
Statistics Finland
FinlandTel: +358 9 1734 2634
Fax: +358 9 1734 3429
teemu.oinonen@stat.fi
tsoinonen@gmail.com

Taka HIRAISHI (TFI Co-chair)
C/o Institute for Global Environmental
Strategies (IGES)
2108-11 Kamiyamaguchi Hayama, Kanagawa,
240-0115 Japan
Tel: +81 46 855 3758
Fax: +81 46 855 3808
hiraishi@iges.or.jp

Guatemala
Edwin CASTELLANOS
Universidad del Valle de Guatemala
18 Ave. 11-95 zona 15, Vista Hermosa III,
Guatemala City, 01015 Guatemala
Tel: +502 2368 8353
Fax: +502 2369 7358
ecastell@uvg.edu.gt

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Shigehiro ISHIZUKAForestry and Forest Products Research Institute4-11-16 Kurokami, Kumamoto, Kumamoto
860-0862 Japan
Tel: +81 96 343 3739
Fax: +81 96 344 5054
ishiz03@ffpri.affrc.go.jp

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Akihiko ITONational Institute for Environmental Studies(NIES)
16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8506
Japan
Tel: +81 29 850 2981
Fax: +81 29 850 2960
itoh@nies.go.jp

Andrea PICKERING
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House, 25 The Terrace,
P.O. Box 2526, Wellington 6011
New ZealandTel: +64 4 894 0624
Fax: +64 4 894 0741
Andrea.Pickering@maf.govt.nz

Yasuhito SHIRATO
National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences
Kan-non-dai 3-1-3, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8604
Japan
Tel: +81 29 838 8235
Fax: +81 29 838 8199
yshirato@affrc.go.jp

Papua New Guinea
Sandro FEDERICI
Coalition for Rainforest Nations
370 Lexington Avenue, 26th Floor,
New York, 10017 USA
Tel: +1 646 448 6870
Fax: +1 646 448 6889
sandro.federici@gmail.com

MalawiRepublic of Korea

Samuel KAINJAMalawi Water PartnershipP/B 303, Chichiri, Blantyre 3
MalawiTel: +265 1 927507
skainja@yahoo.com

Seungdo KIM
Hallym University
1 Okchon-dong, Dept. of Environmental
Sciences and Biotechnology
Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, 200-702
Republic of Korea
Tel: +82 33 248 2153
Fax: +82 33 242 1536
sdkim@hallym.ac.kr

Fredrick KOSSAM
Department of Climate Change andMeteorological Services
P.O. BOX 1808, Blantyre
MalawiTel: +265 99 5319352 (Mobile)+265 1 822014 (Office)Fax: +265 1 822215
fredkossam@yahoo.com

RussiaAnna ROMANOVSKAYA
Institute of Global Climate and Ecology
Glebovskaya str., 20 B, Moscow, 107258
RussiaTel: +7 499 169 2198
Fax: +7 499 160 0831
An_roman@mail.ru

Netherlands
Rianne DROGETNO Built Environment and Geosciences
Princetonlaan 6, 3584 CB Utrecht,
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 88 866 20 26
Fax: +31 88 866 20 44
Rianne.droge@tno.nl

Senegal
Mamadou KHOUMAInternational Development Consulting (IDEV)
B.P. 50037 Dakar R.P. Senegal
Tel: +221 77 632 13 88
Fax: +221 33 855 95 92
khoumamamadou@yahoo.fr

New Zealand
Leonard BROWN
Ministry for the Environment
23 Kate Sheppard Place, P.O. Box 10362,
Wellington 6143 New ZealandTel: +64 4 439 7504
Fax: +64 4 439 7706
Len.Brown@mfe.govt.nz

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Syria
Sadeddin KHERFAN
Arab University of Science & Technology
Hama - Tal Kartel, P.O. Box 74, 033
Syria
Tel: +963 33 584905
Fax: +963 33 584903
skherfan@yahoo.com
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Tanzania

USA

Hubert MEENA
CEEST Foundation
17 Kaunda Drive, Oysterbay, P.O. BOX 5511,
Dar es Salaam Tanzania
Tel: +255 222 667569
hemeena@yahoo.com

Lisa HANLE
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW,
Washington, DC 20460 USA
Tel: +1 202 343 9434
Fax: +1 202 343 2359
Hanle.Lisa@epa.gov

Emmanuel Jonathan MPETA
Tanzania Meteorological Agency
Ubungo Plaza, Morogoro Road,
P.O. BOX 3056, Dar es Salaam
Tanzania
Tel: +255 22 2460706/8
Fax: +255 22 2460735
empeta@meteo.go.tz
empeta@yahoo.co.uk

William N. IRVING
Climate Change Division, OAR, USEPA
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20460 (6207J) USA
Tel: +1 202 343 9065
Fax: +1 202 343 2359
Irving.bill@epa.gov
Stephen Michael OGLE
Colorado State University
Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory
Department 1499
Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 USA
Tel: +1 970 491 7662
Fax: +1 970 491 1965
ogle@nrel.colostate.edu

ThailandSirintornthep TOWPRAYOON
The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment,
King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi
126 Prachauthit Rd., Bangmod, Tungkru, Bangkok,
10140 Thailand
Tel: +66 8 17514159
Fax: +66 1 8729805
sirin@jgsee.kmutt.ac.th

European Topic Centre on Air and Climate Changeof the European Environment Agency (EEA/ETC)

Komsilp WANGYAOThe Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment,
King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi
126 Prachauthit Rd., Bangmod, Tungkru, Bangkok,
10140 Thailand
Tel: +66 2 4708309 ex:4152
Fax: +66 2 8729805
komsilp@jgsee.kmutt.ac.th
komsilp@gmail.com

Leonidas NTZIACHRISTOS
Aristotle University Thessaloniki
Lab of Applied Thermodynamics,
P.O. Box 458, Thessaloniki,
GR-54124 Greece
Tel: +30 23 10 99 60 03
Fax: +30 23 10 99 60 19
leon@auth.gr
leon.n@emisia.com

United Kingdom

UNFCCC

Jim PENMAN
UK Dept of Energy and Climate Change
3 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2AW
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 300 068 5646
Jim.penman@decc.gsi.gov.uk

Astrid OLSSONUNFCCC secretariat
P.O. Box 260 124, D-53153 Bonn
Germany
Tel: +49 228 815 14 50
Fax: +49 228 815 19 99
aolsson@unfccc.int

John David WATTERSONAEA Technology
The Gemini Building, Fermi Avenue, Harwell,
Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0QR
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 870 190 6594
Fax: +44 870 190 6318
john.d.watterson@aeat.co.uk
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C/o Institute for Global Environmental
Strategies (IGES)
2108-11 Kamiyamaguchi Hayama, Kanagawa,
240-0115 Japan
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Simon EGGLESTON
Tel: +81 46 855 3751
Fax: +81 46 855 3808
eggleston@iges.or.jp

Jamsranjav BAASANSUREN
Tel: +81 46 855 3757
Fax: +81 46 855 3808
baasansuren@iges.or.jp

Kiyoto TANABE
Tel: +81 46 855 3752
Fax: +81 46 855 3808
tanabe@iges.or.jp

Maya FUKUDA
Tel: +81 46 855 3753
Fax: +81 46 855 3808
m-fukuda@iges.or.jp

Nalin SRIVASTAVA
Tel: +81 46 855 3754
Fax: +81 46 855 3808
srivastava@iges.or.jp

Eriko NAKAMURA
Tel: +81 46 855 3750
Fax: +81 46 855 3808
nakamura@iges.or.jp

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Annex 6.

References

Falloon, P. and Smith, P. (2003). Accounting for changes in soil carbon under the Kyoto Protocol: need for
improved long-term data sets to reduce uncertainty in model projections. Soil Use and Management
19:265-269.
IPCC (1997). Houghton J.T., Meira Filho L.G., Lim B., Treanton K., Mamaty I., Bonduki Y., Griggs D.J., and Callander
B.A.(Eds). Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. IPCC/OECD/IEA, Paris,
France.
IPCC (2000). Penman J., Kruger D., Galbally I., Hiraishi T., Nyenzi B., Emmanuel S., Buendia L., Hoppaus R., Martinsen
T., Meijer J., Miwa K., and Tanabe K.(Eds.). Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories. IPCC/OECD/IEA/IGES, Hayama, Japan.
IPCC (2003). Penman J., Gytarsky M., Hiraishi T., Krug T., Kruger D.,Pipatti R., Buendia L., Miwa K., Ngara T., Tanabe
K. and Wagner F.(Eds.). Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry, IPCC/IGES,
Hayama, Japan.
IPCC (2006). Eggleston H.S., Buendia L., Miwa K., Ngara T. and Tanabe K. (eds). 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Prepared by the National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme, Published:
IGES, Japan

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