Archived: Air Pollutant Emission Inventory report: annex 3

Annex 3 - Preparation of APEI data for submission to the UNECE per CLRTAP obligations

A3.1 Introduction

Canada submits reports on atmospheric emissions of air pollutants to the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) Centre on Emission Inventories and Projections (CEIP)  pursuant to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) and its associated protocols. Of these, the 1999 Gothenburg Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone, the 1998 Aarhus Protocol on Heavy Metals and the 1998 Aarhus Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) identify the pollutants and reporting requirements under the CLRTAP. Table A3-1 lists the atmospheric pollutants for which annual emissions are reported to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), along with the corresponding protocols under CLRTAP:

The present edition of the APEI indicates that 14 of the 17 reported air pollutants show reductions compared to historical levels:

• Emissions of sulphur oxides (SO_x)  were 1.0 million tonnes in 2015  68% below the emission ceiling of 3.3 million tonnes established under the 1985 Helsinki Protocol on the Reduction of Sulphur Emissions or their Transboundary Fluxes.
• Emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) were 1.8 million tonnes in 2015, 19% below the emission ceiling of  2.3 million tonnes established under the 1988 Sofia Protocol concerning the Control of Emissions of  Nitrogen Oxides or their Transboundary Fluxes.
• In  2015, emissions of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) were 83%, 76% and  75% respectfully below the ceilings established under the 1998 Aarhus Protocol on Heavy Metals.

In 2015, emissions of all Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) were below ceilings established in the 1998 Aarhus Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants including the four species of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) ( 67% below), hexachlorobenzene (HCB) (91% below), and dioxins and furans (87% below). Emissions of non-methane volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbon monoxide (CO) decreased by 36% and  54%, respectively, since 1990, even though Canada has no specific emission reduction targets for these substances.

Exceptions to the general downward trends described above occur for emissions of ammonia (NH₃) ( 22% above 1990 levels in 2015), and total particulate matter (TPM) (11% above 1990 levels in 2015), although fine particulate matter emissions decreased (18%) in the same time frame.

In 2017, Canada’s Air Pollutant Emission Inventory (APEI) will accompany the UNECE report on 1985-2015 emissions.

A3.2 Overview of the UNECE reporting template

The UNECE Nomenclature for Reporting (NFR) categories correspond to the sectors described in the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme/European Environment Agency (EMEP/EEA) 2013 Air Pollutant Emission Inventory Guidebook (EMEP/EEA 2013). In addition to providing technical guidance for developing inventory methodologies, the 2013 EMEP/EEA guidebook includes instructions for attributing sectoral emissions to NFR codes.

Whereas the APEI report groups emissions by sectors (e.g. pulp and paper industry), the emissions in the UNECE are grouped by process and combustion sources. For example, the pulp and paper industry within the APEI includes both combustion and process emissions. The combustion component is mapped to NFR sector 1A2d (Stationary combustion in manufacturing industries and construction: Pulp, Paper and Print). The process component is mapped to NFR sector 2H1 (Pulp and paper industry).

Table A3-2 illustrates the structure of the UNECE reporting template for the category 1A1b Petroleum Refining. The template in its entirety can be found on the CEIP website.

Table A3-2: Excerpt from UNECE NFR 14 reporting template for 2017

A3.3 Mapping of APEI emissions to UNECE NFR categories

The mapping of emissions by APEI sectors to the UNECE NFR categories involves the division of sectoral emissions into their combustion and process components. Whereas certain sectors contribute solely a process component (in the case of road dust) or solely a combustion component (in the case of mobile sources), the majority of sectoral emissions are distributed over both components. This is accomplished using a split ratio, which, apart from a small number of exceptions, is assigned to a particular subsector and pollutant. For example, in the alumina production sector, all Hg, CO, sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and VOC emissions are attributed to combustion activities, while the remaining pollutants are attributed to both the bauxite refining process and combustion activities (Table A3-3).

The mapping of APEI sector emissions to UNECE NFR categories is achieved through the use of database queries. A manual process is in place to verify the results during the quality assurance / quality control process.

A3.4 References

[EMEP/EEA] European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme/European Environment Agency. 2013. EMEP/EEA Air Pollutant Emission Inventory Guidebook 2013. Technical Guidance to Prepare National Emissions Inventories. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union Technical Report N^o. 12/2013.

[UNECE] United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. 2014. Guidelines for Reporting Emissions and Projections Data under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. (PDF: 194 KB) Advance Version.