A decade of sectoral initiative to promote consistent and reliable quantification of greenhouse gas emissions*
Karin Ritter A , James Keating B , Terri Shires C and Miriam Lev-On DA American Petroleum Institute 1220 L Street, NW, Washington DC 2005, USA. Email: ritterk@api.org
B BP North America, Inc 150 W. Warrenville Road, Naperville, IL 60563, USA. Email: james.keating@bp.com
C URS Corporation, 9400 Amberglen Boulevard, Austin, TX 78729, USA. Email: terri_shires@urs.com
D The LEVON Group 236 Marjorie Avenue, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320, USA. Email: miriam@levongroup.net
The APPEA Journal 50(2) 696-696 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ09060
Published: 2010
Abstract
With the increased focus on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and their role in the implementation of policy measures for their mitigation, there continues to be a need for accurate, reliable and transparent characterisation of these emissions. A myriad of mandatory reporting regulations and voluntary initiatives with diverse protocols and methodologies are emerging globally. This poses a particular challenge to multinational companies, such as in the oil and natural gas industry sector, which operate globally and in joint ventures.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) and its member companies recognised these challenges over a decade ago and launched a multi-year initiative to map out and provide tools for the quantification of GHG emissions from oil and natural gas industry operations and similar industrial sources. During this time span, the industry developed several key guidance documents to promote the consistent and accurate quantification and reporting of GHG emissions.
This paper will focus on two recent publications:
the 2009 Edition of API’s Compendium of GHG Emissions Estimation Methodologies for the Oil and Gas Industry (3rd revision); and,
a new document addressing technical considerations and statistical calculation methods for assessing the uncertainty of GHG emission estimates.
The paper will discuss case studies pertinent to oil and natural gas exploration and production activities and will put these in context with emerging US mandatory GHG emissions reporting. It will also discuss the broad applicability of these estimation methods, and uncertainty considerations, to most industry sectors that rely on fossil fuels for their energy sources.
Keywords: greenhouse gas emissions, emissions inventory, uncertainty interval, oil and gas operations, mandatory emissions reporting
Karin Ritter is manager in the Regulatory & Scientific Affairs Department of the American Petroleum Institute. In this capacity she directs projects related to Oil & Gas industry stationary source emissions, including greenhouse gas emissions. |
James (Jim) Keating has been with BP for 18 years and is currently the US Refining Environmental Advisor for Climate Change. His responsibilities include: providing analysis, support, guidance, coordination and leadership in the effort to assess the impacts of emerging state and federal climate change policies; advocacy efforts for greenhouse gas legislation and regulation that will impact the refining business; and assisting US refining sites with GHG regulatory implementation and compliance. He currently chairs the API Greenhouse Gas Workgroup. |
Terri Shires has over 20 years’ experience in air quality and greenhouse gas emission projects. Her responsibilities include GHG emissions inventory and protocol development, emissions characterization, emission reduction assessment, and greenhouse gas strategy support. Ms Shires is currently supporting API in promoting worldwide, industry consensus on greenhouse gas emission estimation methods, developing common reporting guidelines, and advising developers of state, regional and national climate change programs and policies. |
Dr Lev-On has over 30 years of experience in air quality management, energy technologies, climate change strategies, and GHG emission estimation and reporting. She helped convene, and was the first chair, of the API GHG Emissions Working Group, leading the development of the API Methodology Compendium. She continues to support API on issues related to GHG Sectoral guidance. Her global practice continues to focus on climate action planning and the development of emerging GHG protocols and emission reduction projects for both voluntary initiatives and mandatory programs. |
References
Carb, 2007—Regulation for the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions pursuant to California AB32, December 2007. California: California Air Resources Board (CARB). Available from: http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/reporting/ghg-rep/ghg-rep.htm.Epa, 2009—Final Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule, Federal Register, Vol. 74, October 2009, p. 5,6260. Available from: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ghgrulemaking.html.
Nger, 2009—National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act of 2007, revised October 2009. Available from: http://www.climatechange.gov.au/en/government/initiatives/national-greenhouse-energy-reporting.aspx.
Api, 2009—Compendium of GHG Emissions Methodologies for the Oil & Gas Industry, Version 3.0. Washington: American Petroleum Institute. Available from: http://www.api.org/ehs/climate/new/upload/2009_GHG_COMPENDIUM.pdf.
API/CONCAWE/IPIECA, 2009—Addressing Uncertainty in Oil & Natural Gas Industry Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Technical Considerations and Calculation Methods. Washington: American Petroleum Institute. Available from: http://www.api.org/ehs/climate/response/upload/Addressing_Uncertainty.pdf.
