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Systematic error and uncertain carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. power plants.
Jeffrey C Quick1, Eric Marland2
1a Energy and Minerals Program , Utah Geological Survey , Salt Lake City , UT , USA.
Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995)
|February 9, 2019
Summary
Discrepancies in U.S. power plant carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reported by EIA and EPA
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Atmospheric Science
- Energy Policy
Background:
- U.S. power plant carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are reported by two agencies: the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Air Markets Division (CAMD).
- Discrepancies exist between these reported CO2 emission tallies, indicating uncertainty in the data.
- These uncertainties stem from systematic and random measurement errors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and correct systematic errors in CO2 emission tallies from U.S. power plants.
- To quantify the impact of these errors on emission data accuracy.
- To assess the effectiveness of corrections and understand remaining uncertainties.
Main Methods:
- Systematic errors in EIA and CAMD CO2 emission data for 1065 U.S. power plants (2013) were identified and corrected.
- Corrections for EIA data included emission factor error, acid-gas sorbent consumption, and biogenic fuel combustion.
- Corrections for CAMD data involved accounting for unreported unit emissions.
Main Results:
- Systematic errors were corrected for a significant portion of the studied power plants.
- Corrections demonstrated effectiveness in reducing discrepancies between EIA and CAMD tallies.
- Approximately 11% of plants had uncorrectable systematic errors, leading to >20% differences in tallies due to issues like missing units or identification errors.
- Random measurement error persisted even after systematic error correction.
Conclusions:
- Understanding and correcting systematic errors in CO2 emission data is crucial for improving accuracy.
- Persistent random errors highlight limitations in current measurement and reporting protocols.
- Accurate CO2 emission inventories are vital for informing atmospheric models and emission reduction policies.
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