Carbon Emissions Factors Update

Description

Updating the carbon emissions factors (CEFs) underlying the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory. CEFs describe the fraction of carbon which is emitted when fuels are burned. This is to ensure that the Inventory uses the most robust and up to date carbon emissions factors (CEFs) in calculating GHG emissions from the combustion of fuel in the UK. Carbon Emissions Factors (CEFs), are a coefficient which is used to derive the weight of carbon produced when a given weight, of a fuel is burned or the fraction of carbon emitted from burning fuels, and have the units kt/mt fuel consumed. The CEFs come from an assessment provided predominantly by industry and market sources for fuels accounted for in the Inventory. The evidence behind the UK-CEFs which are not covered by EU-ETS have not been reviewed since 2004 and this work seeks to fills this gap. You may wish to refer to the report "Review of UK-specific GHG Emission Factors & Update of IPCC Default Emission Factors" Tenderers may find it useful to refer to the government's 2016 Greenhouse Gas Reporting Conversion Factors and government guidance for EU-ETS sources on Carbon Emissions Factors. The UK's GHG Inventory is the main method by which the UK tracks progress towards the emissions reductions targets it is committed to, as a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement, and under the UK's Climate Change Act. It is therefore important to ensure that the UK's GHG Inventory is as scientifically accurate as possible, and is based on the most up to date scientific research. The UK's continued compliance with international inventory reporting guidelines shows its commitment and ambition to reduce the impacts of climate change. In order to meet the project's aim this review will either justify, or create a plan to update, a specified sub-set of CEFs for certain fuels used in the UK's official GHG Inventory. The outputs of this work will be used as the basis for GHG emissions estimates, within the UK Inventory. Ideally the results will be incorporated into the 2018 Inventory submission.