Abstract
This thesis deals with methodological and practical aspects of compiling global emission inventories in relation to their use. The first part of the thesis describes quality aspects from the perspective of the user: i.e. definition, determining factors, practical applications and quantitative uncertainty estimates. Quality aspects discussed are transparency, consistency, completeness,
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comparability and accuracy. The practical applications refer to (a) the development and improvement of bottom-up global emission inventories in the framework of the Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) that assist in policy and scientific applications and (b) with the development of methods and guidelines for compiling, reporting and reviewing national greenhouse gas emission inventories. In the second part, a description is given of methods and data sources used for compiling global emission inventories in practice, and reviewing the uncertainties and other quality elements to be considered. The role and importance of validation and verification of the emission inventory is also explained.
Inventories of global emissions of pollutants are made for specific scientific and policy purposes. Various approaches and methods are available for inventory construction. Provision of a quality label - in terms of accuracy or uncertainty in a broad sense - to the data of such emission inventories is required to judge their applicability. Research questions were: (a) how does a user define the ‘quality’ of an inventory; (b) what determines the quality of a global emission inventory; (c) how can inventory quality be achieved in practice and expressed in quantitative terms (‘uncertainty’); and (d) what is the preferred approach for compiling a global emission inventory, given the practical limitations and the desired inventory quality? These questions were explored by analysing recent insights gained from knowledge on sources of global emissions to air of greenhouse gases and of precursors of tropospheric ozone and aerosols at various spatial and temporal levels. The EDGAR 2.0 inventories for 1990 and EDGAR 3.2 methane inventory for the 1970-1995 period are described and their quality have been analysed. In addition, an overview is provided of existing inventories of natural sources and their uncertainty estimates.
As quality assessments a comparison of two different global inventories for CO2 and a review of the options available for validation and verification of national and international emission inventories are presented. In addition, the sources of uncertainty and practical methods for estimating uncertainty in annual emissions, as well as uncertainty in trends, based on selected input data (activity data, emission factors and grid maps) are summarised. In addition ‘good practice’ in achieving the requested inventory quality is described and analysed. Practicalities are shown that determine the uncertainty and other quality aspects: availability of activity data, applicability to a specific source of emission factors and grid maps developed for a particular activity, as well as the accuracy or uncertainty characteristics of the input data. The focus was on the analysis of the influence of these elements on inventory quality, including possible correlations, and on validation and verification of inventories.
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