Development of methodologies for calculating greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation for the California climate action registry

Conference · Mon Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 2002

OSTI ID:842490

Price, Lynn ^[1]; Marnay, Chris; Sathaye, Jayant; Murtishaw, Scott; Fisher, Diane; Phadke, Amol; Franco, Guido

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1. LBNL Library

The California Climate Action Registry, which will begin operation in Fall 2002, is a voluntary registry for California businesses and organizations to record annual greenhouse gas emissions. Reporting of emissions in the Registry by a participant involves documentation of both ''direct'' emissions from sources that are under the entity's control and ''indirect'' emissions controlled by others. Electricity generated by an off-site power source is considered to be an indirect emission and must be included in the entity's report. Published electricity emissions factors for the State of California vary considerably due to differences in whether utility-owned out-of-state generation, non-utility generation, and electricity imports from other states are included. This paper describes the development of three methods for estimating electricity emissions factors for calculating the combined net carbon dioxide emissions from all generating facilities that provide electricity to Californians. We fi nd that use of a statewide average electricity emissions factor could drastically under- or over-estimate an entity's emissions due to the differences in generating resources among the utility service areas and seasonal variations. In addition, differentiating between marginal and average emissions is essential to accurately estimate the carbon dioxide savings from reducing electricity use. Results of this work will be taken into consideration by the Registry when finalizing its guidance for use of electricity emissions factors in calculating an entity's greenhouse gas emissions.

• Research Organization: Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; California Energy Commission, California Institute for Energy Efficiency
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 842490
• Report Number(s): LBNL--50225; LBNL-50250
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
CARBON DIOXIDE
CLIMATES
Calculating GHG Emissions Electricity Generation California Climate Action Registry
DOCUMENTATION
ELECTRICITY
GREENHOUSE GASES
IMPORTS
SEASONAL VARIATIONS