Air emissions accounts

 

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

 

Source and methods of data collection

The data source for air emission accounts is the data compilation of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition.

The air emission accounts are one of the several physical modules of Eurostat’s programme of environmental economic accounts. They are covered by Regulation (EU) No 691/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2011 on European environmental economic accounts.

Air emission accounts record physical flows of gaseous or particulate materials ("air emissions"), which occur as a result of economic activity (production activities of business entities and activities of private households), as explained in the European System of National Accounts (ESA). They are based on the residence principle.

A basis for air emissions accounting according to economic activities (National Classification of Activities, 2007 version), i.e. according to the residence principle, are data obtained from:

1) Reports on greenhouse gas emissions inventory on the territory of the Republic of Croatia according to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol,

2) Informational report on air pollutants inventory on the territory of the Republic of Croatia according to the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) and the Directive on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants,

3) Physical energy flow accounts (PEFA questionnaire).

Differences between air emission accounts and data from official national air emission inventories are reported through bridging items. The difference is caused by implementation of two methodological concepts: residence principle and territorial principle. In accordance with the definition of system boundaries within economy based on the residence principle, air emission accounts at the national level exclude emissions produced by non-residents (e.g., tourists and international carriers), but include emissions produced by resident units abroad. The main source for the calculation of bridging items is the physical energy flow account.

The data in the national inventories are presented according to five main sectors (Energy, Industrial Processes, Solvent and Other Product Use, Agriculture,  LULUCF and Waste). Emissions by economic activities are calculated by using certain national data (official data of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, data on activities and emissions of direct and indirect greenhouse gases, data from the Environmental Pollution Register, data from the energy balance, data on fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) and data taken over from reports on air emissions of pollutants), which help in linking the source data categories and standard economic classifications.

 

Definitions

Air emissions are physical flows of gaseous or particulate materials from economy (production or consumption processes) that pollute the atmosphere. Air emissions include emissions of greenhouse gases CO2, N2O, CH4, HFC, PFC and SF6 NF3, as well as emissions of air pollutants NOX, SOX, NH3, NMHOS, CO, PM2.5 and PM10.

 

Abbreviations

 

CH4             methane

CO              carbon monoxide

CO2             carbon dioxide

EU               European Union

Eurostat       Statistical Office of the European Union

Gg               gigagram (1 gigagram = 1 kilotonne)

HFC             hydrofluorocarbon

LULUCF       Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry

Mg              megagram (1 megagram = 1 tonne)

NH3             ammonia

N2O             nitrous oxide

NMVOC       non-methane volatile organic compounds

NOx             nitrogen oxides

PFC             perfluorocarbons

PM2.5           particulate matter (less than or equal to a nominal 2.5 microns)

PM10            particulate matter (less than or equal to a nominal 10 microns)

SF6 NF3       sulphur hexafluoride and nitrogen trifluoride

SOx             sulphur oxides

t                  tonne