Europe: Improve biomass emission factors

[pierresegonne]

Description

There were some concerns raised regarding the new biomass regional emission factors in the EU.

1. There is not enough power plant data to compute regional averages
2. A lot of biomass is not reported in the ETS registry

TODO

• [ ] Investigate if it's possible to find a more comprehensive source for biomass in the EU
• [ ] Run the numbers to see if it would indeed improve the accuracy of biomass emissions
• [ ] If yes, replace

Misc

• Tweeter thread #1 (FR)
• Tweeter thread #2 (FR)

FYI @mathilde-daugy

[AdrienAvril]

I'm not a data scientist, but I do have an extensive background in bioenergy LCA (esp in RED II framework), please contact me by mail if needed (not a github daily user) : adrien AT adapt.sh

[Stefhis974]

The issue is not only that there is not enough biomass power plant unit but the methodology used is simply wrong. You cannot establish a proper life cycle inventory for biomass power plant via the EU ETS that only reports emissions at the plant. The EU ETS CO2 emissions you are refering to and using for your calculation are coming from fossil energy burnt into a plant that can as well burnn biomass. Nothing to do with life cycle inventory. This is a big mistake. Regards

[ghost]

Hi Stéphane, we understand that the methodology developed doesn’t yield the right level of accuracy for biomass. This methodology is based on the following steps:

1. Collect allocations and emission data for the power plants listed on ENTSO-E
2. If allocations are not null, it is assumed that the installation is a CHP plant. Verified emissions then have to be split between heat emissions and electricity emissions. We have discussed and vetted this methodology with Mirko Schäfer. Our understanding is that heat emissions can be estimated from annual allocations based on the heat benchmark.
3. Once heat emissions are estimated, we can compute electricity emissions as the difference between total emissions and heat emissions.
4. Emission factors are then computed by dividing estimated electricity emissions by annual power production.

Our analysis shows that there are few power plants for biomass and that the estimation of heat emissions is difficult based on the knowledge that we have. As of today, we have not found another source that enables us to compute these regional factors. We would very much value and welcome your input in terms of methodology. Our priority is to increase the level of our data accuracy and therefore we are open to suggestions in order to reach that goal. Please let us know if you have any suggestion, and we will be sure to implement it.

[Stefhis974]

Dear Mathilde,

Thank you for your message. I believe you are making some important mistake here. If allocations are not null, it is not because the installation is a CHP plant but rather because it is a co-combustion plant or a waste to power plant. CHP means that you do valorize heat and power at the same time. Nothing to do with how the energy is generated and whether or not the carbon balance of the energy used can be neutral. Co-combustion means that to feed the power plant, one can use biomass and fossil energy. Part of municipal waste can also be used. In the ENTSO-E data base or the EU ETS database, only emissions at the power plant are reported with the assumption that it is 0 for biomass. Thus if a so called “biomass” plant emissions are not null, it means that the unit is burning fossil fuels in a co-combustion mode. It then may be a CHP plant or not. But this late point do not affect the fact that the plant emit or not CO2.

I believe that the methodology that you use cannot deliver proper life cycle emissions inventory for biomass power plant since the data that you use simply to not contain the upstream life cycle biomass emissions. The only way to take into account upstream to the biomass power plant emissions is to use values from literature as Electricity map was doing previously using the IPCC emissions factor.

Let me know if this is clear enough. A specific call can be set up as well.

Best regards.

Stéphane His

[ghost]

Hi Stéphane,

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer. This makes a lot of sense. Would you have documentation on why the emissions for a biomass PP are 0 in the EU-ETS registry? This would be most helpful to update our own documentation.

[Stefhis974]

Dear Mathilde,

See the following link https://emissions-euets.com/carbon-market-glossary/976-biomass or article 38 of the EU ETS monitoring regulation that can be found at the following link https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiK0sjxxcT7AhV9UaQEHWdLBmoQFnoECAkQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Feur-lex.europa.eu%2Flegal-content%2FEN%2FTXT%2FPDF%2F%3Furi%3DCELEX%3A32018R2066%26rid%3D1&usg=AOvVaw0K6tlPfUpf89QXHJKu3deU COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2018/ 2066

It is stated the following :

Article 38 Biomass source streams

1.The operator may determine the activity data of a biomass source stream without using tiers and providing analytical evidence regarding the biomass content, where that source stream consists exclusively of biomass and the operator can ensure that it is not contaminated with other materials or fuels.

2.The emission factor of biomass shall be zero. The emission factor of each fuel or material shall be calculated and reported as the preliminary emission factor, determined in accordance with Article 30, multiplied by the fossil fraction of the fuel or material.

3.Peat, xylite and fossil fractions of mixed fuels or materials shall not be considered biomass.

4.Where the biomass fraction of mixed fuels or materials is equal or higher than 97 %, or where, due to the amount of the emissions associated with the fossil fraction of the fuel or material, it qualifies as a de minimis source stream, the competent authority may allow the operator to apply no-tier methodologies, including the energy balance method, for determining activity data and relevant calculation factors.

De : Mathilde Daugy @.> Envoyé : mercredi 23 novembre 2022 12:16 À : electricitymaps/electricitymaps-contrib @.> Cc : Stefhis974 @.>; Comment @.> Objet : Re: [electricitymaps/electricitymaps-contrib] Investigation biomass emission factors (Issue #4777)

Hi Stéphane,

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer. This makes a lot of sense. Would you have documentation on why the emissions for a biomass PP are 0 in the EU-ETS registry? This would be most helpful to update our own documentation.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/electricitymaps/electricitymaps-contrib/issues/4777#issuecomment-1324690732 , or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/A4J47JBITWSECH5FL3ZYMVDWJXHFNANCNFSM6AAAAAASDD7N4M . You are receiving this because you commented. https://github.com/notifications/beacon/A4J47JHAD3CJB4XUESY72VLWJXHFNA5CNFSM6AAAAAASDD7N4OWGG33NNVSW45C7OR4XAZNMJFZXG5LFINXW23LFNZ2KUY3PNVWWK3TUL5UWJTSO6UWSY.gif Message ID: @. @.> >

[pierresegonne]

Update:

The biomass emission factors have been reverted to use the IPCC 2014 (which are the default otherwise used).

We will keep the issue open as it would still be relevant to improve the accuracy of biomass emission factors in Europe.

[Stefhis974]

Pierre

Thank you for the update. As a possible source of data, you may use the JEC reference study made jointly by the Joint Research Center of the EU Commission, EUCAR and CONCAWE. Somme information about the study can be found here https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC121213. The upstream emissions for various path can be found here https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC119036 . More specifically you can download the upstream EU reference data for biomass power plant in the attached xls files. Values for electricity produced by biogas can also be found.

I hope this help.

Best regards.
Stéphane His

[asfi30]

Here is a link to most fuels Co2 emmisions. https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/co2-emission-fuels-d_1085.html It is based on molecular weight of Carbon and burning. In any case there are 3 main principals for biomass electricity production.

1. Direct burning of the biomass
2. Making the biomass to Methane (natural gas CNG) CH4 by decay
3. Making the biomass to Ethanol C2H5OH (which is alcоhlol ) by fermentation. Then typical cogeneration plant is 40% electricity poduction 45% heat production and 15% transformation loses. However very often all Co2 emissions are accounted to the electricity production. Sometimes emissions from biomass are being artificially decreased by using Land Usage and Land Usage and Land Change simply due to photosynthesis, which is the only natural process to absorb Co2. In case of direct burning of biomass you can simply take the biomass as Unknown with carbon intensity of 700gco2eq/kwh, because of the dust, Nox, and fine particles etc being trown away.