Nielsen, O.-K., Lyck, E., Mikkelsen, M.H., Hoffmann, L., Gyldenkærne, S., Winther, M., Nielsen, M., Fauser, P., Thomsen, M., Plejdrup, M.S., Albrektsen, R., Hjelgaard, K., Vesterdal, L., Møller, I.S. & Baunbæk, L. 2009. Denmark’s National Inventory Report 2009. Emission Inventories 1990-2007 - Submitted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. National Environmental Research Institute, <ST1:PLACE w:st="on"><ST1:PLACENAME w:st="on">Aarhus</ST1:PLACENAME> <ST1:PLACETYPE w:st="on">University</ST1:PLACETYPE></ST1:PLACE>. 826 pp. – NERI Technical Report No. 724.
Reporting
This report is Denmark’s National Inventory Report (NIR) 2009 for submission to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, due April 15, 2009. The report contains detailed information about Denmark’s inventories for all years from 1990 to 2007. The structure of the report is in accordance with the UNFCCC guidelines on reporting and review. The difference between Denmark’s NIR 2008 report to the European Commission, due March 15, 2009, and this report to UNFCCC is reporting of territories. The NIR 2009 to the EU Commission was for Denmark, while this NIR 2009 to UNFCCC is for Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The annual emission inventory report for Denmark for the years from 1990 to 2007 is unchanged compared with the NIR 2009 to the EU Commission. Since the inventories for Greenland and Faroe Islands are included and described in this report in Annex 6 only, the sector chapters and the summary below are also basically unchanged since the EU reporting, March 15, 2009.
The annual emission inventory for Denmark for the years from 1990 to 2007 is reported in the Common Reporting Format (CRF). The CRF spreadsheets contain data on emissions, activity data and implied emission factors for each year. Emission trends are given for each greenhouse gas and for total greenhouse gas emissions in CO2 equivalents.
The issues addressed in this report are: Trends in greenhouse gas emissions, description of each emission category of the CRF, uncertainty estimates, explanations on recalculations, planned improvements and procedure for quality assurance and control.
This report itself does not contain the full set of CRF tables. Only the trend tables, tables 10.1-5 of the CRF format, are included, refer to Annex 9. The full set of CRF tables is available at the EIONET, Central Data Repository, kept by the European Environmental Agency:
http://cdr.eionet.europa.eu/dk/Air_Emission_Inventories
Please note that figures in the CRF tables (and Annex 9) are in the Danish notation which is “,” (comma) for decimal sign and “.” (Full stop) to divide thousands. In the report (except where tables are taken from the CRF as “pictures” as in Annex 9) English notation is used: “.” (Full stop) for decimal sign and (mostly) space for division of thousands. The English notation for division of thousand as “,” (comma) is (mostly) not used due to the risk of being misinterpreted by Danish readers.
Institutions responsible
The National Environmental Research Institute (NERI), University of Aarhus, is responsible for the annual preparation and submission for Denmark to the EU and UNFCCC of the National Inventory Report and the GHG inventories in the Common Reporting Format, in accordance with the UNFCCC guidelines. Thus NERI is responsible for reporting the national inventory for the Kingdom of Denmark to the UNFCCC. NERI is also the body designated with overall responsibility for the national inventory under the Kyoto Protocol for Greenland and Denmark. Furthermore, NERI participates when reporting issues are discussed in the regime of UNFCCC and EU (Monitoring Mechanism).
The work concerning the annual greenhouse gas emission inventory is carried out in cooperation with Danish ministries, research institutes, organisations and companies. The Greenland Home Rule Government is responsible for finalising and transferring the inventory for Greenland to NERI. The Faroe Islands Environmental Agency is responsible for finalising and transferring the inventory for The Faroe Islands to NERI.
Greenhouse gases
The greenhouse gases reported are those under the UN Climate Convention:
The global warming potential (GWP) for various greenhouse gases has been defined as the warming effect over a given time of a given weight of a specific substance relative to the same weight of CO2. The purpose of this measure is to be able to compare and integrate the effects of the individual greenhouse gases on the global climate. Typical lifetimes in the atmosphere of greenhouse gases are very different, e.g. approximately for CH4 and N2O, 12 and 120 years respectively. So the time perspective clearly plays a decisive role. The lifetime chosen is typically 100 years. The effect of the various greenhouse gases can then be converted into the equivalent quantity of CO2, i.e. the quantity of CO2 giving the same effect in absorbing solar radiation. According to the IPCC and their Second Assessment Report, which UNFCCC has decided to use as reference, the global warming potentials for a 100-year time horizon are:
Based on weight and a 100-year period, CH4 is thus 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2 and N2O is 310 times more powerful than CO2. Some of the other greenhouse gases (hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride) have considerably higher global warming potentials. For example, sulphur hexafluoride has a global warming potential of 23 900. The values for global warming potential used in this report are those prescribed by UNFCCC. The indirect greenhouse gases reported are Nitrogenoxide (NOx), Carbonmonooxide (CO), Non-Methane Volatile Organic Compound (NMVOC) and Sulphurdioxid (SO2). Since no GWP is assigned these gases they do not contribute to GHG emissions in CO2 -equivalents.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The greenhouse gas emissions are estimated according to the IPCC guidelines and guidance and are aggregated into seven main sectors. According to decisions made under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto protocol the greenhouse gas emissions are estimated according to IPCC 1996 guidelines and IPCC 2000 good practice guidance. The greenhouse gases include CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs and SF6. Figure ES.1 shows the estimated total greenhouse gas emissions in CO2 equivalents from 1990 to 2007. The emissions are not corrected for electricity trade or temperature variations. CO2 is the most important greenhouse gas contributing in 2007 to national total emission in CO2 equiv. excluding LULUCF (Land Use and Land Use Change and Forestry with 80.3 %, followed by N2O with 9.7 %, CH4 8.7 % and F-gases (HFCs, PFCs and SF6) with 1.3 %. Seen over the time span from 1990 to 2007 these contributions (in percentages) have been increasing for CO2 and F-gases, almost constant for CH4 and decreasing for N2O . Stationary combustion plants, transport and agriculture represent the largest emission categories, followed by Industrial processes, Waste and Solvents, see Figure ES.1. The net CO2 removal by forestry and soil is in 2007 1.7 % of the total emission in CO2 equivalents in 2007. The National total greenhouse gas emission in CO2 equivalents excluding LULUCF has decreased by 3.5 % from 1990 to 2007 and decreased 5.9 % including LULUCF. Comments on the overall trends on the individual greenhouse gases etc. seen in Figure ES.1 are given in the sections below.
Figure ES.1 Greenhouse gas emissions in CO2 equivalents distributed on main sectors (excl. LULUCF) for 2007 and time-series for 1990 to 2007, when data for CO2 excludes LULUCF.
Energy
The largest source of the emission of CO2 is the energy sector, which includes the combustion of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. Energy excluding transport contribute in 2007 with 57 % of the national total CO2 emissions (excl. LULUCF). The transport sector accounts for approximately 22 %. The CO2 emission from the energy sector decreased by approximately 9 % from 2006 to 2007. The relatively large fluctuations in the emission time-series from 1990 to 2007 are due to inter-country electricity trade. Thus, high emissions in 1991, 1994, 1996, 2003 and 2006 reflect electricity export and the low emissions in 1990 and 2005 were due to import of electricity in these years. The increasing emission of CH4 is due to increasing use of gas engines in the decentralised cogeneration plants. The deregulation of the electricity market has made production of electricity in gas engines less favourable, therefore the fuel consumption has decreased and hence the CH4 emission has decreased. The CO2 emission from the transport sector has increased by 33 % since 1990, mainly due to increasing road traffic.
Industrial processes
The emissions from industrial processes – i.e. emissions from processes other than fuel combustion, amount to 3.8 % of total emissions in CO2-equivalents. The main categories are cement production, refrigeration, foam blowing and calcination of limestone. The CO2 emission from cement production – which is the largest source contributing with about 2.1 % of the national total – increased by 59 % from 1990 to 2007. The second largest source has been N2O from the production of nitric acid. However, the production of nitric acid/fertiliser ceased in 2004 and therefore the emission of N2 O also ceased.
The emission of HFCs, PFCs and SF6 has increased by 172 % from 1995 until 2007, largely due to the increasing emission of HFCs. The use of HFCs, and especially HFC-134a, has increased several fold so HFCs have become the dominant F-gases, contributing 67 % to the F-gas total in 1995, rising to 95 % in 2007. HFC-134a is mainly used as a refrigerant. However, the use of HFC-134a is now stabilising. This is due to Danish legislation, which, in 2007, bans new HFC-based refrigerant stationary systems. However, in contrast to this trend is the increasing use of air conditioning systems in mobile systems.
Solvents
The use of solvents in industries and households contribute 0.2 % of the total greenhouse gas emissions in CO2-equivalents. There is a 51 % decrease in CO2 emissions from 1990 to 2007. N2O comprises in 2007 30 % of the total CO2 -equivalent emissions for solvent use.
Agriculture
The agricultural sector contributes with 15.1 % of the total greenhouse gas emission in CO2-equivalents (excl LULUCF) and is one of the most important sectors regarding the emissions of N2 O and CH4. In 2007 the contributions to the total emissions of N2O and CH4 were 92 % and 67 %, respectively. The main reason for the decrease of approximately 31 % in the emission of N2O from 1990 to 2007 is a legislative demand for an improved utilisation of nitrogen in manure. This result in less nitrogen excreted pr livestock unit produced and a considerable reduction in the use of fertilisers. From 1990 to 2007, the emission of CH4 from enteric fermentation has decreased due to decreasing numbers of cattle. However, the emission from manure management has increased due to changes in stable management systems towards an increase in slurry-based systems. Altogether, the emission of CH4 for the agricultural sector has decreased by 4 % from 1990 to 2007.
Land Use and Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF)
The LULUCF sector is generally a net sink. In 2007 it has been estimated to be a net sink equivalent to 1.7 % of the total emission. This is slightly higher compared with 2006 due to stormfelling in the forests in 2005 reducing the net sink in forests from normally 3 000-3 500 Gg CO2 pr yr to 2 977 Gg CO2 pr yr. In cropland a net emission has been estimated to 1 779 Gg CO2 with the organic soils as source and the mineral cropland as net sink. The emission estimate from cropland is calculated with a dynamic model taking into account harvest yields and actual temperatures and may therefore fluctuate between years. The year 2007 was the warmest year ever registred in Denmark, however the agricultural soils maintained the C-stock in the soil as it was in 2006. In Denmark there are small areas with permanent grassland so emission/removal from these areas has only a limited influence on the overall emission trend.
Waste
The waste sector contributes in 2007 with 2.1 % of the national total. The trend of emission from 1990 to 2007 is decreasing by 12 %. The sector is dominated by CH4 emission from solid waste disposal contributing 78 % to the sector total in 2007. This emission has decreased by 20 % from 1990 to 2007. This decrease is due to the increasing incineration of waste for power and heat production. Since all incinerated waste is used for power and heat production, the emissions are included in the 1A IPCC category.
The CH4 and N2O emissions from wastewater handling contribute to the sectoral total with 19 and 3 %, respectively. For the wastewater handling the CH4 emissions has an increasing trend while N2 O decreases.
ES.4.1 Quality assurance and quality control
A plan for Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) in greenhouse gas emission inventories is included in the report. The plan is in accordance with the guidelines provided by the UNFCCC (Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories and Guidelines for National Systems). ISO 9000 standards are also used as an important input for the plan.
The plan comprises a framework for documenting and reporting emissions in a way that emphasis transparency, consistency, comparability, completeness and accuracy. To fulfil these high criteria, the data structure describes the pathway, from the collection of raw data to data compilation and modelling and finally reporting.
As part of the Quality Assurance (QA) activities, emission inventory sector reports are being prepared and sent for review to national experts, not involved in the inventory development. To date, the reviews have been completed for the stationary combustion plants sector, the transport sector and the agricultural sector. In order to evaluate the Danish emission inventories, a project where emission levels and emission factors are compared with those in other countries has been conducted.
ES.4.2. Completeness
The Danish greenhouse gas emission inventories include all sources identified by the revised IPPC guidelines except the following:
Agriculture: The CH4 conversion factor in relation to the enteric fermentation for poultry and fur farming is not estimated. There is no default value recommended by the IPCC. However, this emission is seen as non-significant compared with the total emission from enteric fermentation.
ES.4.3. Recalculations and improvements
The main improvements of the inventories are:
Energy
Stationary Combustion
Update of fuel rates according to the latest energy statistics. The update included the years 1980-2006. The most changes were for the years 2005 and 2006.
Data from the ETS has been utilised for the second time in the 2009 inventory submission. It was mainly coal and residual oil fuelled power plants where detailed information was available. One of the reports for 2007 was judged by NERI to be incorrect and therefore not incorporated in the 2007 inventory. Following this, the 2006 report for the same plant, which was also an outlier, was removed from the inventory.
Based on the centralised review in September 2008 several improvements have been made to the NIR:
Mobile sources
For heavy duty vehicles new information from the Danish Car Importers Association has enabled a more precise distribution of vehicles into Euro levels. Also, a more realistic development from 2005 to 2006 in the total mileage for passenger cars has been introduced in the calculations. For 2005 and 2006, the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) has made small changes in a downward direction for the annual diesel fuel consumption statistics.
Fuel consumption and emission factors directly measured for the ferries used by the company Mols Linien have now been implemented in the inventory calculations, and small activity changes have been made for two smaller Danish ferry companies.
Due to the change in fuel consumption for national sea transport, fuel adjustments are made for gas oil used by fishing vessels, and the emissions for this sector are also affected. Also, an error in the energy statistics for the year 2006 has been corrected by the DEA, thus reducing the gas oil fuel consumption for fisheries by 0.4 PJ.
Fugitive emissions
Emissions from oil refining has in earlier years been reported under 1B2a vi “Other”. In 2007 “Oil refined” has been relocated to 1B2a iv “Refining/Storage”. This was a result of a suggestion made during the internal EU review.
Recalculation has been made for flaring and processing of petroleum products in refineries for the years 2005-2006 according to availability of new data from the Danish oil refineries.
For flaring in natural gas storage plants the data have been relocated from CRF 1B2b iv to 1B2b iii for the year 2000 to make the time-series consistent.
Industry
The emission of CO2 from production of cement has been revised for the years 1998-2005 based on new information from the company. For yellow bricks and expanded clay products the CO2 emission has been adopted from the company reports to EU-ETS as the emission factors calculated previously and used until 2005 were found not to be in line with the actual emission.
In the group 2F9 Other production of fibre optics has been included from 2005 with emissions of HFC-23.
The sector Other (2G), consumption of lubricant oil is included in the inventory for the first time.
Solvents
The following chemicals and groups have been removed, compared to the 2008 submission, due to vapour pressures below 0.01kPa: aminooxygen groups, glycerol, toluendiisocyanate, dioctylphthalate, diethylenglycol.
NMVOC emission factors (EFs) have been adjusted for all chemicals, with most predominant effect for the following chemicals: ethanol, formaldehyde, turpentine, xylene, toluene and ethylenglycol.
A differentiation of EFs in four different categories has been implemented: 1) chemical industry (lowest EF), 2) other industry, 3) non-industrial activities, 4) domestic and other diffuse use (highest EF). In previous inventories there was only a differentiation in two categories.
More detailed and reliable information on used amounts and emission factors has been obtained from importers and producers for the following chemicals: methanol, ethanol in windscreen washing agent, naphthalene, propane and butane.
Agriculture
N2O emission factors for synthetic nitrogen fertilizers have been changed to the values given by EMEP/EEA (2009) and recalculations have been done for 1990-2006. This results in an increase in N2 O emission of less than 1 % for the period.
Updated data from The Danish Environmental Protection Agency (DEPA) for the use of sewage sludge as fertilizers for the years 2004-2006 have been received and therefore recalculations. This results in an increase in N2 O of 16 % for the period.
The NH3 emission factors for crops are lowered from 5 to 2 % for crops and from 3 to 0.5 % for grass based on a literary survey. Recalculations have been done for the years 1990-2006. This results in a decrease in the NH3 emission of 62-64 %. A further result is that the N2 O emission from atmospheric deposition decreases by 1-10 % in the period.
NH3 emission factors for fur farming have been raised from 25 to 36 % in agreement with FAS and recalculation is done for the years 1990-2006.
Data for dairy cattle and heifer’s time on pasture have been lowered with 10 % in 2007. In order to remove time-series inconsistency the data are interpolated for the years 2003-2006.
Waste
For the submission in 2009, recalculations have been carried out in relation to the submission in 2008 of inventories for the years 2004-2006. The recalculation represents updates in the energy statistics on the uptake of CH4 by installations at SWDSs for energy production. Further, for 2004-2005 rounding of data for waste amounts was removed in the model. The recalculation implies an increase in emissions of 2.5 and 4.0 % for 2004 and 2005, respectively.
Land Use and Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF)
The increase in C stock of living biomass was corrected for the year 1999 (378 Gg C to 379 Gg C).
The decrease in C stock in living biomass for conifers in forests remaining forests was corrected for the years 2005 and 2006. The reason for this is an update of harvesting figures at Statistics Denmark. There is only a slight difference between previously and currently reported net removals, i.e from 1 672 Gg CO2 to 1 640 Gg CO2 for 2005 and from 2 574 to 2 601 Gg CO2 for 2006.
For cropland converted to forest land, we reported forest floor C sequestration for the fist time in the NIR from 2008 for the period 1990-2006. We have moved this C sink from “Net carbon stock change in soils” to “Net carbon stock change in dead organic matter” for the years 1990-2006. This would be the correct column for reporting as we understand the term “soil” as mineral soil without the organic material accumulated in the forest floor.
As the reported emission from agricultural soils is a five-year average there has been a recalculation of the emission in 2005 and 2006. Furthermore a small error in the amount of used lime in 2006 has been corrected.
Total changes
or the National Total CO2 Equivalent Emissions without Land-Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF), the general impact of the improvements and recalculations performed is small and the changes for the whole time-series are between -0.18 % (1998) and +0.81 % (2006). Therefore, the implications of the recalculations on the level and on the trend, 1990-2006, of this national total are small.
For the National Total CO2 Equivalent Emissions with Land-Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF), the general impact of the recalculations is also small, although the impact is somewhat larger than without LULUCF. The differences vary between –0.15 % (2004) and +1.14 % (2005).
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