Carbon pollution (greenhouse gas) measurement and reporting

Abstract

AbstractThe processes of Carbon Reporting and Emissions Trading in countries including the United States and Australia have developed from appearing unlikely in 2007 to the implementation of mandatory data reporting commencing in July 2008 in Australia and January 2010 in the United States. The onus is on emitting corporations to determine whether they must report. The data reported will have financial importance if and when Australia and the United States join Europe in placing a price on Carbon. To date, much of the public discussion in these countries has centred on the financial aspects of a Carbon tax or Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). However, significant challenges exist in identifying and quantifying the emissions which the financial community seeks to trade, and business community understanding of the details of greenhouse emissions is not strong. Greenhouse emission reporting regulations and guidelines in Australia, where the first mandatory reports have been lodged by the 680 largest emitters, are outlined. Industrial examples are used to illustrate the challenges of understanding greenhouse gas emissions and their estimation, and how Chemical Engineering methodologies are useful in overcoming these challenges. Copyright © 2010 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.