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Table 2 Anthropogenic Emissions of Carbon Dioxide (excluding land use change and forestry)
"UNEP report" adapted from Second Compilation and Synthesis Report of first national communications submitted by Parties to the Climate Change Convention, Doc. FCCC/CP/1996/12 and Add.1 and Add.2, Climate Change Secretariat "1997 report" taken from information submitted by countries in the Second National Report 1996/1997. Canadian projected 2000 figure based upon NRCan December 96 update and Canada’s Energy Outlook 1996 - 2020, April 1997, NRCan. Figure does not include possible changes from Ontario Hydro mid-1997 decision to remove nuclear facilities from service for some years.Canada has ratified the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), whereby signatory countries agreed to undertake measures to stabilize emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. In support of the FCCC, the Canadian and provincial governments in 1995 approved a National Action Program on Climate Change (NAPCC). A key component of the NAPCC is the Voluntary Challenge and Registry (VCR). As indicated earlier, the Canadian natural gas industry endorsed the VCR when it was announced in 1994 and in 1995, CGA concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Minister of Natural Resources Canada which recognized natural gas as the lowest carbon content fossil fuel. The MOU also outlined steps to be undertaken by the CGA and its members in support of the VCR. Under the MOU, companies undertake cost-effective measures to reduce emissions and regularly report progress. This activity is a continuing undertaking of member companies. Plans and annual updates are filed with the VCR office and available on the Internet at www.vcr-m yr. ca. Greenhouse Gases The most important greenhouse gas, in terms of volume and impact, is water vapour. However, because it is so naturally ubiquitous, no specific commitments have been made to reduce water vapour from anthropogenic sources, and water vapour is not considered in any of the data in this report. Other anthropogenic greenhouse gases are of concern because their concentrations in the atmosphere are increasing, and these increases may be contributing to climate change. The greenhouse gases created from natural gas-related activities, induding end use combustion, are carbon dioxide (COD, methane (CH4), and, to a lesser extent, nitrous oxide (N20). Based upon their global warming potentials over a 100-year time horizon, methane is estimated to be about 21 times more active than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, but the quantity of methane in the atmosphere is much less than that of carbon dioxide. Nitrous oxide is over three hundred times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, but its concentration in the atmosphere is minuscule in comparison to carbon dioxide. Table 2 indicates the emissions inventory and projected carbon dioxide emissions from selected countries. Projections to 2000 depend upon assumptions made concerning a number of variables including economic growth, and have been subjected to continuing revision in the light of experience. The "% increase" figures shown in Table 2 are from country forecasts compiled roughly one to two years apart.Smog Other emissions associated with fossil fuel usage, such as oxides of nitrogen (NOx), are not generally considered to be greenhouse gases but they can be major contributors to smog, which occurs primarily in urban areas. The bulk of anthropogenic NOx emissions are from conventionally fuelled vehicle exhaust and coal-fired electric power stations. Natural gas, which is 95% methane, contains no nitrogen, but oxides of nitrogen are formed during the high temperature combustion of methane when nitrogen in air reacts with oxygen. For Canada, NOx emissions from natural gas (using 1990 figures) were 16% of the total anthropogenic NOx emissions. 46% of this NOx attributable to natural gas is from the production and processing sector.In absolute terms, the amount of NOx from the natural gas cycle is minuscule in comparison to greenhouse gas emissions (0.2%, using 1995 figures: 370 Kt NOx in relation to 171,000 Kt GHG |
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