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No. 131: Danish emission inventory for industrial processes

Hoffmann, L., Hjelgaard, K. & Nielsen, O.-K. 2014. Danish emission inventory for industrial processes. Aarhus University, DCE – Danish Centre for Environment and Energy, 112 pp. Scientific Report from DCE – Danish Centre for Environment and Energy No. 131. http://dce2.au.dk/Pub/SR131.pdf

Summary

Danish emission inventories are prepared on an annual basis and are reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or Climate Convention) and to the Kyoto Protocol as well as to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention). Furthermore, a greenhouse gas emission inventory is reported to the European Union (EU) due to the EU – as well as the individual member states – being party to the Climate Convention and the Kyoto Protocol. Four pollutants (sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds and ammonia) are estimated for reporting to the European Commission’s National Emissions Ceiling Directive (NECD).

The annual Danish emission inventories are prepared by the DCE – Danish Centre for Environment and Energy, Aarhus University. The inventories include the following pollutants relevant to industrial processes: carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydroflourocarbons (HFCs), perflourocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), ammonia (NH3), heavy metals (HMs), polyclorinated dibenzodioxins and –furans (PCDD/F), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). In addition to annual national emissions, the report includes emission data for a number of source categories. Every five years the reporting includes data on the geographical distribution of the emissions, a projection of emissions, data and details of the activity data, e.g. fuel consumption – on which the inventories are based.

The inventories for industrial processes are largely based on official Danish statistics (from Statistics Denmark) and on a set of emission factors for various source categories and technologies. For some source categories the official statistics are supplemented by information from individual plants or from industrial associations. Plant specific emissions for large industrial sources are incorporated into the inventories. This report provides detailed background information on the methodology and references for the input data in the inventory – activity data and emission factors.

The emission factors are based on either national references or on international guidance documents (EEA, (2004, 2009, 2013); IPCC, (1996, 2000, 2006)). The majority of the country-specific emission factors are determined from Danish research reports or calculations based on plant-specific emission data from a considerable number of individual plants. The plant-specific emission factors are provided by plant operators, e.g. in annual environmental reports or in the reports under the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS).

Greenhouse gases

An overview of the sources identified is presented in Table 0.1 in the report with an indication of the contribution to the industrial part of the emission of greenhouse gases in 2012. The emissions are extracted from the Common Reporting Format (CRF) tables.

The subsectors Mineral products (2A) constitutes 54 % of the emission in 2012, Consumption of halocarbons (HFCs and PFCs) and SF6 (2F) constitutes 44 %, Other, Lubricants (2G) constitutes 1.8 %, Chemical industry (2B) and Food and Drink (2D) each constitutes below 1 % of the industrial emission of greenhouse gases. There are no greenhouse gas emissions from Metal production (2C) in 2012, since the only electric arc furnace in Denmark was last in operation in 2004. The total emission of greenhouse gases (excl. emissions/removals from Land-Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF)) in Denmark in 2012 is estimated to 51.6 Mt CO2 equivalents, of which industrial processes contribute with 1.79 Mt CO2 equivalents (3.5 %). The emission of greenhouse gases from industrial processes from 1990-2012 are presented in Figure 0.1 in the report.

The key categories in the industrial processes sector - cement production and refrigeration - constitute 1.69 % and 1.12 % of the total emission of greenhouse gases. The trends in greenhouse gases from the industrial sector/subsectors are presented in Table 0.2 in the report and they will be discussed subsector by subsector below.

The emission of f-gases is documented in the report “The greenhouse gases HFCs, PFCs and SF6. Danish consumption and emissions, 2012” (Poulsen & Musaeus, 2014) and will not be described further in this report.

Other pollutants

Emissions of air pollution occur in many subsectors under industrial processes. An overview of the emissions of main pollutants (SO2, NOx, NMVOC, CO and NH3) and particulate matter (Total Suspended Particulates (TSP), and particles with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10 mm (PM10) and particles with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 mm (PM2.5)) is shown in Table 0.3 in the report.

Production of nitric acid ceased in Denmark in 2005, which caused a significant decrease in the emissions of NOx and particulate matter from industrial processes. The CO emission has decreased significantly from the source ‘Other mineral products’, this is due to a decrease in emissions from the Danish producers of mineral wool caused by the establishment of abatement measures. Emissions of SO2 have decreased due to lower production in the later years of bricks, tiles and expanded clay products.

The emissions of heavy metals (Arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn)) and persistent organic pollutants (PCDD/F, HCB and PCBs) are shown in the Tale 0.4 in the report..

The closure of the electro steelwork in 2002 with the brief reopening in 2005 as well as the closure of the secondary aluminium plant in 2008 has meant a decrease in emissions of several heavy metal and POPs (e.g. Pb, Zn, PCDD/F, HCB and PCBs).