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NARSTO Workshop on Innovative Methods for Emission Inventory Development and Evaluation University of Texas, Austin October 14-17, 2003 |
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Poster 17: Development of the API Compendium for Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Karin Ritter
American Petroleum Institute (API), Washington, DC 20005
Susann Nordrum
ChevronTexaco, San Ramon, CA 94583-4289
Theresa Shires
URS Corporation, Austin, TX 78729
Understanding the sources and quantities of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is critical to developing an emissions inventory that accurately represents a facility´s operations. In response to continued interest by its member companies about consistency in GHG emissions estimation, the American Petroleum Institute (API) developed a Compendium of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimation Methodologies for the Oil and Gas Industry. The Compendium is a result of more than a year long effort by API to screen, evaluate and document a range of calculation techniques and emission factors that could be useful for developing GHG emissions inventories.
In developing the Compendium, API reached out to sibling organizations and reviewed their guidance documents, along with emerging national and international protocols and internal company GHG estimation protocols. This paper provides a brief overview of the Compendium development and introduces the technical approach and techniques for estimating carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions. It also discusses the process undertaken to compare and reconcile different estimation methodologies used by other organizations.
Through this work, API is expanding the dialogue among the global oil and gas industry and pursuing consistency in GHG emissions estimation to ensure comparability and the eventual fungibility of emission reductions. Findings from the pilot phase distribution of the Compendium are addressed in this paper, as well as enhancements planned for the 2003 update of the document.