Estimating local greenhouse gas emissions—A case study on a Portuguese municipality

This paper describes the study that led to the development of a carbon dioxide emissions matrix for the Oeiras municipality, one of the largest Portuguese municipalities, located in the metropolitan area of Lisbon. This matrix takes into account the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to an increase of electricity demand in buildings as well as solid and liquid wastes treatment from the domestic and services sectors. Using emission factors that were calculated from the relationship between the electricity produced and amount of treated wastes, the GHC emissions in the Oeiras municipality were estimated for a time series of 6 yr (1998 – 2003). The obtained results showed that the electricity sector accounts for approximately 75% of the municipal emissions in 2003. This study was developed to obtain tools to base options and actions to be undertaken by local authorities such as energy planning and also public information.

This paper reports the development of a carbon dioxide emissions matrix for the Oeiras municipality, one of the largest Portuguese municipalities, located in the metropolitan area of Lisbon. This matrix takes into account greenhouse gas emissions, caused by an increase of electricity demand in buildings as well as solid and liquid wastes treatment, from the domestic and services sectors. Using emission factors that were calculated from the relationship between the produced energy and amount of treated wastes, greenhouse gas emissions in the Oeiras municipality, were estimated for a time series of six years (1998 to 2003). The results obtained showed that the electricity sector accounts for about 75% of the municipal emissions in 2003. This study constitutes a tool to define sectors for appropriate action, including energy planning and also public information.

Better information on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigation potential in the agricultural sector is necessary to manage these emissions and identify responses that are consistent with the food security and economic development priorities of countries. Critical activity data (what crops or livestock are managed in what way) are poor or lacking for many agricultural systems, especially in developing countries. In addition, the currently available methods for quantifying emissions and mitigation are often too expensive or complex or not sufficiently user friendly for widespread use.The purpose of this focus issue is to capture the state of the art in quantifying greenhouse gases from agricultural systems, with the goal of better understanding our current capabilities and near-term potential for improvement, with particular attention to quantification issues relevant to smallholders in developing countries. This work is timely in light of international discussions and negotiations around how agriculture should be included in efforts to reduce and adapt to climate change impacts, and considering that significant climate financing to developing countries in post-2012 agreements may be linked to their increased ability to identify and report GHG emissions (Murphy et al 2010, CCAFS 2011, FAO 2011).

Energy-related activities are a major contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A growing body of knowledge clearly depicts the links between human activities and climate change. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil and other human activities has released carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other heat-trapping GHG emissions into the atmosphere and thus increased the concentration of atmospheric CO2 emissions. The main human activities that emit CO2 emissions are (1) the combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity, accounting for about 37% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 31% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, (2) the combustion of fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel to transport people and goods, accounting for about 31% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 26% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, and (3) industrial processes such as the production and consumption of minerals and chemicals, accounting for about 15% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 12% of total ...

Indonesia has targeted 29 % Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction in 2030 and Industry is one of the big two contributors for GHG emissions. As an industry, mining is an energy-intensive industry, and reducing energy consumption is one of the strategies to improve mining environmental performance. The aim of this paper is to estimate the GHG emission reduction in a mining project through energy reduction initiatives. A copper mine in Indonesia with processing plant capacity of 120,000 t/d and operate 111 Caterpillar 793C Haul Truck was taken as a case study. This mine site has two sources of an electricity namely coal-fired power plant with 112 MW output and diesel power plant with 45 MW output. The analysis method for calculating CO2 emission is using IPCC method where fuel consumption and emission factor are two main variables for GHG emissions. Business as usual scenario (TIER 1) showed that the average of diesel fuel consumption for fleets operation generated 294,006 t CO2-eq/y. A coal-fired power plant with average coal consumption of 350 t/d/unit generated 1.15 Mt CO2-eq/y and diesel power plant consumed 4.35 ML/y produced 11,632 t CO2-eq/y. Two energy initiative programs were identified namely fuel conversion and used oil utilisation program. The initiative scenario focused on substituting, reducing and reusing of fossil fuels including coal, diesel fuel, and used oil. This scenario was estimated to contribute the carbon emission reduction (t CO2-eq) of 258,381 annually. The involvement of mining industry in carbon emission reduction is not only helping Indonesia in achieving its GHG emissions reduction target but also increases mine site environmental performance and company image.

Executive Summary: The California Climate Action Registry, which was initially established in 2000 and began operation in Fall 2002, is a voluntary registry for recording annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The purpose of the Registry is to assist California businesses and organizations in their efforts to inventory and document emissions in order to establish a baseline and to document early actions to increase energy efficiency and decrease GHG emissions. The State of California has committed to use its ''best efforts'' to ensure that entities that establish GHG emissions baselines and register their emissions will receive ''appropriate consideration under any future international, federal, or state regulatory scheme relating to greenhouse gas emissions.'' Reporting of GHG emissions involves documentation of both ''direct'' emissions from sources that are under the entity's control and indirect emissions controlled by others. Electricity generated by an off-site power source is consider ed to be an indirect GHG emission and is required to be included in the entity's report. Registry participants include businesses, non-profit organizations, municipalities, state agencies, and other entities. Participants are required to register the GHG emissions of all operations in California, and are encouraged to report nationwide. For the first three years of participation, the Registry only requires the reporting of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, although participants are encouraged to report the remaining five Kyoto Protocol GHGs (CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, and SF6). After three years, reporting of all six Kyoto GHG emissions is required. The enabling legislation for the Registry (SB 527) requires total GHG emissions to be registered and requires reporting of ''industry-specific metrics'' once such metrics have been adopted by the Registry. The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) was asked to provide technical assistance to the California Energy Commission (Energy Commission) related to the Registry in three areas: (1) assessing the availability and usefulness of industry-specific metrics, (2) evaluating various methods for establishing baselines for calculating GHG emissions reductions related to specific actions taken by Registry participants, and (3) establishing methods for calculating electricity CO2 emission factors. The third area of research was completed in 2002 and is documented in Estimating Carbon Dioxide Emissions Factors for the California Electric Power Sector (Marnay et al., 2002). This report documents our findings related to the first areas of research. For the first area of research, the overall objective was to evaluate the metrics, such as emissions per economic unit or emissions per unit of production that can be used to report GHG emissions trends for potential Registry participants. This research began with an effort to identify methodologies, benchmarking programs, inventories, protocols, and registries that u se industry-specific metrics to track trends in energy use or GHG emissions in order to determine what types of metrics have already been developed. The next step in developing industry-specific metrics was to assess the availability of data needed to determine metric development priorities. Berkeley Lab also determined the relative importance of different potential Registry participant categories in order to asses s the availability of sectoral or industry-specific metrics and then identified industry-specific metrics in use around the world. While a plethora of metrics was identified, no one metric that adequately tracks trends in GHG emissions while maintaining confidentiality of data was identified. As a result of this review, Berkeley Lab recommends the development of a GHG intensity index as a new metric for reporting and tracking GHG emissions trends.Such an index could provide an industry-specific metric for reporting and tracking GHG emissions trends to accurately reflect year to year changes while protecting proprietary data. This GHG intensity index changes while protecting proprietary data. This GHG intensity index would provide Registry participants with a means for demonstrating improvements in their energy and GHG emissions per unit of production without divulging specific values. For the second research area, Berkeley Lab evaluated various methods used to calculate baselines for documentation of energy consumption or GHG emissions reductions, noting those that use industry-specific metrics. Accounting for actions to reduce GHGs can be done on a project-by-project basis or on an entity basis. Establishing project-related baselines for mitigation efforts has been widely discussed in the context of two of the so-called ''flexible mechanisms'' of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Kyoto Protocol) Joint Implementation (JI) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

Mitigating Curtailment and Carbon Emissions through Load Migration between Data Centers

Taking Stock of Strategies on Climate Change and the Way Forward: A Strategic Climate Change Framework for Australia

The impact of uncertainties on predicted greenhouse gas emissions of dairy cow production systems

Nizam Zachman is a modern fishery port located in Muara Baru, Jakarta, Indonesia. Some of its facilities include a temporary collection of solid waste and wastewater treatment plants, emitting greenhouse gases that lead us to climate change by warming up the global temperature. In this study, greenhouse gas emissions are estimated from these two facilities by using the IPCC Tier 1 method and emission factor calculation. By estimating greenhouse gas in this area, it will give knowledge and convicing to make greenport as a consideration of the strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emission, starting from waste and wastewater management. Solid waste treatment comprises open dumping, recycling, and transportation of wastes to the temporary landfill in this area. With a total waste of 5, 411.4 tons/year, greenhouse gas emissions from open dumping and transportation are estimated to be 14, 340.2 and 22.3 tons CO2eq/year, respectively. Meanwhile, recycling activities contribute to 143 tons CO2 eq/year of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the estimated greenhouse gas emissions include emissions from wastewater treatment, discharge of industrial wastewater to waterways via the drainage system, and domestic wastewater treatment by using a septic tank. In addition, greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment, drainage system, and septic tanks are estimated to be 2, 830; 108.7; and 3.2 tons CO2 eq/year, respectively. Based on the estimation, solid waste treatment generates 83% of the total greenhouse gas emissions, while wastewater treatment generates only 17% of the total emissions. Herein, composting, increase of recycling, and utilization of methane are recommended to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from waste management.

Major US electric utility climate pledges have the potential to collectively reduce power sector emissions by one-third

ORYX GTL, a joint venture between shareholders Qatar Petroleum and Sasol Synfuels International, is a pioneering gas-to-liquids (GTL) facility that produces premium diesel fuel, naphtha and LPG. The objectives of this paper are related to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) management at ORYX GTL: it aims toidentify the various sources of GHGdescribe the methodology to quantify GHG emissionsidentify various opportunities to reduce GHG emissions, andprovides a case study on GHG emission reduction through utilization of tailgas as fuel in fired heaters. The paper is organized in two sections; the first section presents a brief overview of the ORYX GTL process, identifies the various GHG emission sources, quantifies the GHG emissions and describes the concepts and options to reduce GHG emissions. The second section describes a case study on the opportunity to optimize fired heaters to make use of tailgas and steps that can be taken to make use of these opportunities. A brief overview is also provided on projects executed by ORYX GTL to support the company's strategy of optimizing sustainability and stability by reducing GHG emissions. The major GHG emission sources from the ORYX GTL facility are broadly classified as combustion and flaring emissions. The GHG emissions at ORYX GTL are derived from estimates and calculations taking into account the composition of fuel streams, the energy content of the fuel, available measurement data, emission factors and mass balance approaches. It was found that flaring of tailgas contributes significantly to the release of GHG emissions from the ORYX GTL facility. The GHG reduction was achieved by making use of Advanced Process Control techniques, utilization of tailgas for fuel, and recovery of low pressure vent gases to use as fuel in process heaters. The use of tailgas as a fuel to fired heaters increased from 10% to 90–95% of total heat duty since start-up. The increase of tailgas as fuel resulted in the reduction of natural gas as fuel, improving the carbon efficiency of the plant and thus reduced the environmental impact. In 2012, a 23% reduction in GHG emissions was achieved compared to 2011 levels due to maximizing tailgas utilization as fuel and stable plant operations. The results from this study highlight that a further reduction of GHG emissions is achievable by focusing on plant stability and flare reduction projects. 1. Introduction The growing world energy demand for fossil fuels plays a key role in the continuous increase in GHG emissions into the atmosphere. According to the IPCC, atmospheric GHG concentrations will more than triple in the next 50 years compared to pre-industrial levels if no action is taken, posing climate change risks such as damage to natural ecosystems and more extreme weather conditions [1]. As global concerns intensify to reduce GHG emissions, there is a continuous increase in demand for ultra-clean fuels derived from natural gas. Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) technology converts natural gas into high performing, ultra-clean liquid fuels, as alternatives to the conventional refining of crude oil. In the past ten years, there have been technological advances in developing GTL technology on a larger scale, with several commercial scale plants commissioned. This new and emerging technology is expected to contribute a larger share of the world's gas-processing industry in the future [2, 3].

Current and future greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the management of municipal solid waste in the eThekwini Municipality – South Africa

Globally, agriculture is directly responsible for 14% of annual greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions and induces an additional 17% through land use change, mostlyin developing countries (Vermeulen et al 2012). Agricultural intensification andexpansion in these regions is expected to catalyze the most significant relativeincreases in agricultural GHG emissions over the next decade (Smith et al 2008,Tilman et al 2011). Farms in the developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa andAsia are predominately managed by smallholders, with 80% of land holdingssmaller than ten hectares (FAO 2012). One can therefore posit that smallholderfarming significantly impacts the GHG balance of these regions today and willcontinue to do so in the near future.However, our understanding of the effect smallholder farming has on theEarth’s climate system is remarkably limited. Data quantifying existing andreduced GHG emissions and removals of smallholder production systems areavailable for only a handful of crops, livestock, and agroecosystems (Herrero et al2008, Verchot et al 2008, Palm et al 2010). For example, fewer than fifteenstudies of nitrous oxide emissions from soils have taken place in sub-SaharanAfrica, leaving the rate of emissions virtually undocumented. Due to a scarcity ofdata on GHG sources and sinks, most developing countries currently quantifyagricultural emissions and reductions using IPCC Tier 1 emissions factors.However, current Tier 1 emissions factors are either calibrated to data primarilyderived from developed countries, where agricultural production conditions aredissimilar to that in which the majority of smallholders operate, or from data thatare sparse or of mixed quality in developing countries (IPCC 2006). For the mostpart, there are insufficient emissions data characterizing smallholder agricultureto evaluate the level of accuracy or inaccuracy of current emissions estimates.Consequentially, there is no reliable information on the agricultural GHG budgetsfor developing economies. This dearth of information constrains the capacity totransition to low-carbon agricultural development, opportunities for smallholdersto capitalize on carbon markets, and the negotiating position of developingcountries in global climate policy discourse.Concerns over the poor state of information, in terms of data availability andrepresentation, have fueled appeals for new approaches to quantifying GHGemissions and removals from smallholder agriculture, for both existing conditionsand mitigation interventions (Berry and Ryan 2013, Olander et al 2013).Considering the dependence of quantification approaches on data and the currentdata deficit for smallholder systems, it is clear that in situ measurements must bea core part of initial and future strategies to improve GHG inventories and

In recent years, energy consumption and associated Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and their potential effects on the global climate change have been increasing. Climate change and global warming has been the subject of intensive investigation provincially, nationally, and internationally for a number of years. While the complexity of the global climate change remains difficult to predict, it is important to develop a system to measure the amount of GHG released into the environment. Thus, the purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate how several methods can accurately estimate the true GHG emission reduction potential from renewable technologies and help achieve the goals set out by the Kyoto Protocol reducing fuel consumption and related GHG emissions, promoting decentralization of electricity supply, and encouraging the use of renewable energy technologies. There are several methods in estimating emission factors from facilities: direct measurement, mass balance, and engineering estimates. Direct measurement involves continuous emission monitoring throughout a given period. Mass balance methods involve the application of conservation equations to a facility, process, or piece of equipment. Emissions are determined from input/output differences as well as from the accumulation and depletion of substances. The engineering method involves the use of engineering principles and knowledge of chemical and physical processes (EnvCan, 2006). In Guler (2008) the method used to estimate emission factors considers only the total amount of fuel and electricity produced from power plants. The previous methodology does not take into consideration the offset cyclical relationship, daily and yearly, between electricity generated by renewable technologies. It should be noted that none of the methods mentioned above include seasonal/daily adjustments to annual emission factors. Specifically, the proposed research would include analyzing existing methods in calculating emission factors and attempt to estimate new emission factors based on the hourly electricity demand for the Province of Ontario. In this Chapter, several GHG emission factor methodology was discussed and compared to newly developed monthly emission factors in order to realize the true CO2 reduction potential for small scale renewable energy technologies. The hourly greenhouse gas emission factors based on hour-by-hour demand of electricity in Ontario, and the average Greenhouse Gas Intensity Factor (GHGIFA) are estimated by creating a series of emission factors and their corresponding profiles that can be easily incorporated into simulation