Global inventory of volatile organic compound emissions from anthropogenic sources. Final report, March 1988-September 1990

Technical Report · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5869872

Watson, J J; Probert, J A; Piccot, S D

The report describes a global inventory of anthropogenic volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions that includes a separate inventory for each of seven pollutant groups--paraffins, olefins, aromatics, formaldehyde, other aldehydes, other aromatics, and marginally reactive compounds. The inventory, one input to atmospheric chemistry models required to estimate the global atmospheric concentration of ozone, is part of an assessment of the potential environmental impacts associated with global climate change. Study results show total global anthropogenic emissions of about 121 million short tons of VOCs per year. The U.S. is the largest emitter with 21% of the total. Globally, fuelwood combustion and savanna burning are the largest sources, together accounting for over 35% of global VOC emissions. The approach used to develop the inventory involved: (1) identifying the major anthropogenic sources of VOC emissions in the U.S. and grouping them into categories; (2) developing emission factors by dividing the U.S. emissions by the amount of production or consumption of the related commodity in the U.S.; (3) multiplying the U.S. emission factors by production/consumption statistics for other countries to yield global VOC emission estimates; and (4) geographically distributing the emissions.

• Research Organization: Radian Corp., Research Triangle Park, NC (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5869872
• Report Number(s): PB-91-161687/XAB; CNN: EPA-68-02-4288; EPA-68-02-4274
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CLIMATES
VARIATIONS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
AIR POLLUTION
ALDEHYDES
ALKANES
ALKENES
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
GLOBAL ASPECTS
INVENTORIES
OZONE
POLLUTION SOURCES
PROGRESS REPORT
VOLATILE MATTER
CHEMISTRY
DOCUMENT TYPES
HYDROCARBONS
MATTER
POLLUTION
540120* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)