Accounting for the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Double-Counting in Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA)

Abstract

Industrial greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reporting has been an error-prone process due to the lack of universally accepted guidelines. Challenges pertaining to industrial GHG emission quantification consist of enhancing the accuracy of estimates by reducing the risk of double-counting. Currently, GHG emissions from overall natural gas use and large-scale industrial GHG emissions are reported separately. Hence, the objective of this study is to investigate possible double-counting in Ontario’s GHG inventory. This research scrutinized natural gas emissions from large-scale emitters in Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). Quantification methods used by large-scale industrial emitters were analyzed for natural gas use data. Due to the data uncertainty, the fuzzy set theory-based Dong, Shah, and Wong (DSW) algorithm was used to estimate double-counting. Results revealed that the GHG double-counting from natural gas in the industrial sector was approximately 130,927 - 178,513 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).