Nielsen, O-K., Winther, M., Mikkelsen, M.H., Hoffmann, L., Nielsen, M., Gyldenkærne, S., Fauser, P., Plejdrup, M.S., Albrektsen, R. & Hjelgaard, K. 2010: Annual Danish Informative Inventory Report to UNECE. Emission inventories from the base year of the protocols to year 2008. National Environmental Research Institute, Aarhus University, Denmark. 565 pp. – NERI Technical Report No. 776
This report is Denmark’s Annual Informative Inventory Report (IIR) due March 15, 2010 to the UNECE-Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP). The report contains information on Denmark’s inventories for all years from the base years of the protocols to 2008.
The gases reported under the LRTAP Convention are SO2, NOX, NMVOC, CO, NH3, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Se, Zn, dioxins/furans, HCB, PAHs, TSP, PM10 and PM2.5.
The annual emission inventory for Denmark is reported in the Nomenclature for Reporting (NFR) 2002 format. The new NFR format (revised in December 2008) in the current reporting guidelines and many of the new elements and demands in the reporting guidelines have not been implemented. The reason for this is that they require significantly more resources and furthermore, no extra funds have been available.
The issues addressed in this report are: trends in emissions, description of each NFR category, uncertainty estimates, recalculations, planned improvements and procedures for quality assurance and control. The structure of the report is, as far as possible, the same as the National Inventory Report to UNFCCC.
This report and NFR tables are available to the public on NERI’s homepage and on the Eionet central data repository.
The National Environmental Research Institute (NERI), Aarhus University, is on behalf of the Ministry of the Environment responsible for the annual preparation and submission to the UNECE-LRTAP Convention of the Annual Danish Emissions Report and the inventories in the NFR format. NERI participates in meetings under the UNECE Task Force on Emission Inventories and Projections and the related expert panels, where parties to the convention prepare the guidelines and methodologies on inventories.
Figure S.1 shows the emission of Danish acidifying gases in terms of acid equivalents. In 1990, the relative contribution in acid equivalents was almost equal for the three gases. In 2008, the most important acidification factor in Denmark was ammonia nitrogen and the relative contributions for SO2, NOx and NH3 were 7 %, 40 % and 53 %, respectively. However, with regard to long-range transport of air pollution, SO2 and NOX are still the most important pollutants.
Figure S.1 Emissions of NH3, NOX and SO2 in acid equivalents.
The main part of the SO2 emission originates from combustion of fossil fuels, i.e. mainly coal and oil, in public power and district heating plants. From 1980 to 2008, the total emission decreased by 96 %. The large reduction is mainly due to installation of desulphurisation plant and use of fuels with lower content of sulphur in public power and district heating plants. Despite the large reduction of the SO2 emissions, these plants make up 34 % of the total emission. Also emissions from industrial combustion plants, non-industrial combustion plants and other mobile sources are important. National sea traffic (navigation and fishing) contributes with about 5 % of the total SO2 emission. This is due to the use of residual oil with high sulphur content.
The largest sources of emissions of NOx are road transport followed by other mobile sources and combustion in energy industries (mainly public power and district heating plants). The transport sector is the sector contributing the most to the emission of NOx and, in 2008 47 % of the Danish emissions of NOx stems from road transport, national navigation, railways and civil aviation. Also emissions from national fishing and off-road vehicles contribute significantly to the NOx emission. For non-industrial combustion plants, the main sources are combustion of gas oil, natural gas and wood in residential plants. The emissions from energy industries have decreased by 73 % from 1985 to 2008. In the same period, the total emission decreased by 48 %. The reduction is due to the increasing use of catalyst cars and installation of low-NOx burners and denitrifying units in power plants and district heating plants.
Almost all atmospheric emissions of NH3 are related to agricultural activities. Only a minor fraction originates from road transport (2 %). This fraction is, however, increasing due to increasing use of catalyst cars. The major part of the emission from agriculture stems from livestock manure (80 %) and the largest losses of ammonia occur during the handling of the manure in stables and in field applications. Other contributions come from use of mineral fertilisers (7 %), N-excretion on pasture range and paddock (3 %), sewage sludge used as fertiliser, crops and ammonia used for straw treatment (7 %) and field burning (less than 1 %). The total ammonia emission decreased by 36 % from 1985 to 2008. This is due to the active national environmental policy efforts over the past twenty years.
The emissions of NMVOC originate from many different sources and can be divided into two main groups: incomplete combustion and evaporation. Wood burning stoves, road vehicles and other mobile sources such as national navigation vessels and off-road machinery are the main sources of NMVOC emissions from incomplete combustion processes. Road transportation vehicles are still the main contributors, even though the emissions have declined since the introduction of catalyst cars in 1990. The evaporative emissions mainly originate from the use of solvents and the extraction, handling and storage of oil and natural gas. The emissions from the energy industries have increased during the 1990s due to the increasing use of stationary gas engines, which have much higher emissions of NMVOC than conventional boilers. The total anthropogenic emissions have decreased by 45 % from 1985 to 2008, largely due to the increased use of catalyst cars and reduced emissions from use of solvents.
Other mobile sources and non-industrial combustion plants contribute significantly to the total emission of this pollutant. Transport is the second largest contributor to the total CO emission. A law banning the burning of agricultural crop residues on fields was implemented in 1990 and caused a significant reduction in CO emission. The emission decreased further by 40 % from 1990 to 2008, largely because of decreasing emissions from road transportation.
The present emission inventory for PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) includes the four PAHs reported to UNECE: benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(b)-fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene and indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene. The most important sources of PAH emissions are combustion of wood in the residential sector and road transportation. The increasing emission trend is due to increasing combustion of fuel wood in the residential sector.
The particulate matter (PM) emission inventory has been reported for the years 2000-2008. The inventory includes the total emission of particles TSP (Total Suspended Particles), emission of particles smaller than 10 µm (PM10) and emission of particles smaller than 2.5 µm (PM2.5).
The largest PM2.5 emission sources are residential plants (70 %), road traffic (12 %) and other mobile sources (8 %). For the latter, the most important sources are off-road vehicles and machinery in the industrial sector and in the agricultural/forestry sector (both 38 %). For the road transport sector, exhaust emissions account for the major part (72 %) of the emissions. The PM2.5 emission increased by 26 % from 2000 to 2008 due to an increasing wood consumption in the residential sector.
The largest TSP emission sources are the residential sector and the agricultural sector. The TSP emissions from transport are also important and include both exhaust emissions and the non-exhaust emissions from brake and tyre wear and road abrasion. The non-exhaust emissions account for 53 % of the TSP emission from road transport.
In general, the most important sources of heavy metal emissions are combustion of fossil fuels and municipal waste. The heavy metal emissions have decreased substantially in recent years, except for Zn. The reductions span from 7 % to 93 % for Cu and Pb, respectively. The reason for the reduced emissions is mainly increased use of gas cleaning devices at power and district heating plants (including waste incineration plants). The large reduction in the Pb emission is due to a gradual shift towards unleaded gasoline, the latter being essential for catalyst cars. The major source of Zn is accidental fires (53 %), and the increase in total Zn emission from 1990 to 2008 owe to an increasing number of car fires. Zn emissions from accidental fires are included for the first time in the inventory and due to the large share the emission factor will be further investigated before the next submission.
In general, considerable work is being carried out to improve the inventories. Investigations and research carried out in Denmark and abroad produce new results and findings, which are given consideration and, to the extent of which is possible, are included as the basis for emission estimates and as data in the inventory databases. Furthermore, the updates of the EMEP/CORINAIR guidebook (now the EMEP/EEA Guidebook) and the work of the Task Force on Emission Inventories and its expert panels are followed closely in order to be able to incorporate the best scientific information as the basis for the inventories.
The implementation of new results in inventories is made in a way so that improvements, as far as possible, better reflect Danish conditions and circumstances. This is in accordance with good practice. Furthermore, efforts are made to involve as many experts as possible in the reasoning, justification and feasibility of implementation of improvements.
In improving the inventories, care is taken to consider implementation of improvements for the whole time-series of inventories to make it consistent. Such efforts lead to recalculation of previously submitted inventories. This submission includes recalculated inventories for the whole time-series. The reasoning for the recalculations performed is to be found in the sectoral chapters of this report. The text below focuses on improvements and recalculations, in general, and further serves as an overview and summary of the relevant text in the sectoral chapters.
Improvements and updates of the Danish energy statistics are made regularly by the producer of the statistics, the Danish Energy Agency (DEA). In close cooperation with the DEA, these improvements and updates are reflected in the emission inventory for the energy sector. The Danish energy statistics have, for the most part, been aggregated to the SNAP categorisation. This, however, does not include energy statistics for fuel consumption data for specific industries.
The inventories are still being improved through work to increase the number of large point sources, e.g. power plants, included in the databases as individual point sources. Such an inclusion makes it possible to use plant-specific data for emissions etc. available, e.g. in annual environmental reports from the plants in question.
Improvements and recalculations since the 2009 emission inventory submission include:
· A time-series have been estimated for the HCB emission factor for MSW incineration.
· The NMVOC emission factors that are not country specific now all refer to the EMEP/EEA Guidebook. The emission factors for the key sources are country specific and are not affected by this recalculation.
· Improved emission factors for residential wood combustion have been estimated for NMVOC, TSP, PM10, PM2.5 and PCDD/F. The update in emission factors refer to a study funded by the Danish EPA.
· NH3 emissions from residential plants have been estimated for the first time. The emission factors for coal, brown coal, coke and wood refer to the EMEP/EEA Guidebook.
The total mileage pr vehicle category from 2005-2008 have been updated based on the traffic index development (derived from traffic counts on selected roads) from the Danish Road Directorate. In addition new data prepared by DTU Transport for the Danish Infrastructure Commission has given information of the total mileage driven by foreign trucks on Danish roads. This mileage contribution has been added to the total mileage for Danish trucks on Danish roads, for trucks > 16 tonnes of gross vehicle weight. The data from DTU Transport was estimated for 2005, and by using appropriate assumptions the mileage have been backcasted to 1985 and forecasted to 2008.
For passenger cars the new division of total mileage into gasoline and diesel made by the Danish Road Directorate is regarded as very broad. Hence in the subsequent model calculations, the fuel and emission results for diesel passenger cars are adjusted with the overall sales/calculated fuel ratio, being applied to the estimates for the other diesel vehicle categories as well. This is a change compared to previous year’s inventory submissions for which the diesel passenger car results remain unadjusted.
For heavy duty vehicles an error for the NMVOC emission factors for Euro 0-III trucks and buses has been corrected giving somewhat smaller emission factors.
For mopeds and motorcycles, updated first registration year information for 2005+ and 2000+, respectively, has caused some changes in the fleet/technology mix and the resulting emissions.
The minimum and maximum percentage difference and year of numeric maximum differences (min %, max %, year of max %) for the different emission components are: Particulates (-2.5 %, -9.1 %, 2007), NOx (0.5 %, 5 %, 2007), SO2 (0 %, - 0.1 %, 2007), NMVOC (0.1 %, -0.9 %, 2005), CO (-0.1 %, -1.8 %, 2007) and NH3 (0 %, 0.8 %, 2003).
Emission factors derived from the new road transport simulations have caused some emission changes from 1985-2007. The minimum and maximum emission differences (min %, max %) for the different emission components are: Particulates (-3 %, -9 %), NOx (0 %, 3 %), NMVOC (0 %, -5 %), CO (0 %, -2 %) and NH3 (0 %, -1 %).
The number of riders has been updated for 2007. Thus, the emission increases are 1 % for NMVOC and particulates, 2 % for SO2 and NOx, and 3 % for CO and NH3.
Industrial non road machinery
The number of wheel type excavators has been updated for 2007. The fuel consumption and emission increases are insignificant.
Agricultural non road machinery
The number of machine pool tractors, harvesters and self-propelled vehicles has been updated for 2007. The fuel consumption and emission increases are less than 1 %.
En error for 2007 has been corrected. Erroneously, the flights between Denmark and Greenland/Faroe Islands were treated as international flights. As a result of this correction the fuel consumption and emissions change substantially. The fuel consumption increases by 51%, whereas particulates, NOx, NMVOC and CO emissions increase by 34 %, 39 %, 7 % and 4 %, respectively.
Very small emission changes between 0 % and 2 % occur for the years 2001-2006, due to inclusion of new representative aircraft types.
The amounts of imported coal used for calculation of fugitive emissions from storage of solid fuels (SNAP 050103) have been updated according to the Energy Statistics for 2008 for the years 1980-2002.
The amounts of gasoline sales used for calculation of fugitive emissions from service stations (SNAP 050503) have been updated according to the Energy Statistics for 2008 for the years 1983-2007.
The emission factors for NMVOC from service stations have been updated for both reloading of tankers and refuelling of vehicles for the years 2000-2008.
Emissions from distribution of town gas have been included in the emission inventory for the years 1985-2008. The input data are sparse as several of the distribution companies have been closed down. Only in the cities of Copenhagen and Aalborg town gas is still being distributed. Another two distribution companies are included in the inventory. Those were closed in 2004 and 2006, respectively. To complete the time-series interpolation and extrapolation has been used on basis of the available data.
The same emission factors are adopted for flaring in storage and treatment plants as for offshore flaring for the components SO2, NOx, CO, particulate matter, dioxin and PAHs. The emissions of NMVOC are given by the plants in the environmental reports.
The emission factors for flaring in refineries have been updated. The emission factors for NMVOC are based on new information from one of the refineries on the fuel gas composition. The same emission factors are adopted for the second Danish refinery. Emission factors from the EMEP/EEA guidebook (2009) are used to calculate emissions of NOx and CO. For trace metals, dioxin and PAHs the emission factors given in the guidebook (EMEP/EEA, 2009) for stationary combustion Tier 1 are adopted for flaring in refineries.
For sector 2D2 Food and Drink, emissions of NMVOC from production of bread, sugar, ethanol, spirits, margarine, cooking fats, processing of meat and fish and coffee roasting have been included for the first time. The estimates cover the period 1990-2008.
Improvements and additions are continuously being implemented due to the comprehensiveness and complexity of the use and application of solvents in industries and households. The main improvements in the 2010 reporting include the following:
· An improved and more detailed source allocation method has been implemented, which enables emission calculation on SNAP sub-category level.
· Emission factors (EFs) have been improved for some chemicals.
· EFs have been attributed to all chemicals on SNAP sub-category level.
Compared with the previous NH3 and PM emissions inventory (submission 2009), some changes and updates have been made. These changes cause a decrease in the NH3 emission (1985 – 2007) and a decrease in the PM emission (2000 – 2007.
The main reason for the decrease in ammonia emission is calculations of ammonia have been adjusted to TAN for the whole period 1985-2008 and this have led to a decrease in the emission from animal manure of 4-8% in the period 1985-2007.
The PM emission mainly decreases because of changes in the emission factor for poultry in the EMEP/EEA Guidebook.
This year the emission from field burning of agricultural wastes has been reconsidered and burning of straw from grass seed production is taken into account. Emission of NH3, NOx, CO, NMVOC, SO2, particulate matter (PM), heavy metals, dioxin and PAH from field burning of agricultural wastes are included in the inventory for the whole period 1985-2008 and recalculations for NH3, NOx, CO, NMVOC, SO2 is made for the years 1985-1989.
The inventory submission for 2010 includes for the first time emissions from incineration of carcasses. Also emissions of other pollutants than PCDD/F from accidental fires have been estimated for the first time. This affects emission estimates of all relevant pollutants from the base years of the protocols to 2008.
Full report in pdf-format (4.7 MB)
