Quantification of high temporal and spatial scale GHG emissions from electricity generation: method and case study

Abstract

This paper presents a method to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of an electrical grid user via generator data using hourly timesteps. This method allows energy modellers to more accurately calculate GHG emissions on an hourly basis. This is an improvement over current method that calculate on an annual basis which may lead to significantly different emission calculations for buildings with temporal electrical load variations. The proposed methodology is relevant for any mixed electrical grid and is demonstrated using Ontario data. A case study of a university building is utilized to show the difference between annual and hourly emission calculations. Furthermore, this paper discusses the use of a federal, provincial, and municipal geographic frame of reference when segmenting the electrical grid. The current case study demonstrates an increase in GHG emissions costs of 53% when comparing annual versus hourly methods at the provincial level.