Air emissions monitoring systems in European Union The main database on the Emissions Trading System at the EU level is the Union Registry, which serves to guarantee accurate accounting for all allowances issued under the EU ETS [9]. The European Union Transaction Log (EUTL) [11] automatically checks, records, and authorizes all transactions that take place between accounts in the Union Registry. The EEA publishes the information from the EUTL on verified emissions, allowances, and surrendered units in the EU ETS in aggregated form by country, by sector, and by year [8]. Data on the annual verified emissions from installations are available in early April each year for the previous year [4].
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission created and maintains EDGAR [3], a global database of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. Using global statistics and a standardized IPCC methodology, EDGAR provides independent emission estimates 7 compared to those published by European Member States or by Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). [12]
And here is a summary of the methodology followed when estimating, evaluating the quality of, and disseminating Eurostat's quarterly greenhouse gas emission reports [5]. Through a joint task team, Eurostat's work on quarterly estimates of greenhouse gas emissions is internationally coordinated with the IMF, OECD, IEA, and UNSD. It is possible to describe the method used to obtain the quarterly estimates as an econometric statistical methodology, which is frequently used for quarterly national accounts. The annual air emissions accounts (AEA) that Eurostat obtains from European national statistics institutes serve as the foundation for the quarterly estimates of greenhouse gas emissions that Eurostat produces. In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 691/20112, European national statistics institutes calculate AEA and submit annual estimates to Eurostat 21 months following the reference year. The annual AEA from Eurostat is a multi-dimensional data cube with hundreds of data points for each time period and geographic entity. The five dimensions of the annual AEA from Eurostat are as follows: Geo – geopolitical entity (reporting)
Time – reference year
Airpol – 7 air pollutants and 6 greenhouse gases (13 substances plus groupings) –the six greenhouse gases, all expressed in CO2-equivalents, are CO2, N2O, CH4, HFC, PFC, and NF3_SF6. In addition, the gases N2O and CH4 are also available in their simple mass weight, i.e. not converted into CO2-equivalents.
Nace_r2 – classification of economic activities NACE Rev. 2 (including households’ activities) – NACE A*64 plus three classes of households’ activities – this leads in total to 67 distinct classes at the most detailed level; in addition to several sub-totals and totals.
Unit – unit of measure – tonnes and thousand tonnes [7].
Eurostat applies a standard method for the majority of AEA data points of greenhouse gas emissions to produce the quarterly estimates [6]. The standard method can be characterized as an econometric-statistical approach, commonly applied for quarterly national accounts. [13]
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