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Introduction
This guidance note has been prepared to assist industry in the
monitoring and reporting of flare emissions for the purpose of
complying with Phase II of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
(ETS). It summarises the key findings of TUV NEL research report
2008/162(1).
Background
The EU ETS (EU Directive 2003/87/EC2) is the main environmental
legislation controlling emissions from offshore flares. The
guidelines for monitoring and reporting these emissions are set out
under Commission Decision of 18/VII/20073, otherwise referred to
as MRG2007. These guidelines are a revision of the guidelines used
during Phase 1 of the EU ETS.
The EU ETS provides a carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions trading
scheme for Europe. The main aim of the scheme is to assist
member states in achieving the targets set out under the Kyoto
Protocol. Phase 1, treated as a learning period, ran from 1 Jan
2005 until 31 Dec 2007. The current phase, Phase 2, was timed
to coincide with the Kyoto Protocol commitment period; this
commenced on 1 Jan 2008 and will run until 31 Dec 2012. Phase
3 is presently in the final planning stages and will follow Phase 2.
Offshore flaring was exempt from Phase 1 of the EU ETS due to
the perceived difficulties in achieving the associated measurement
targets. Although the monitoring and reporting guidelines have
been revised under Phase 2 to reflect some of these difficulties,
the unique conditions experienced offshore mean that the oil and
gas industry still face serious challenges in meeting the current
measurement requirements and targets in MRG2007.
(1)
50
50 to
> 500
500
September 2008
Activity Data Tiers The tier level assigned to activity data sets
the maximum permitted measurement uncertainty on the annual
quantity of gas flared (Nm3). A minimum reporting tier has been
set for each installation category (covering major source streams).
The specified tier requirements are outlined below in Table 1.
Table 1 - Activity Data Measurement Uncertainty Targets
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
17.5%
12.5%
7.5%
Reference
UNFCCC
Installation-
Activity-
A = Tier 1
E.F. of
country
specific EF
specific
0.00393 t
specific EF
derived from EF applying
B = Tier 2 a/b
CO2/m3
estimating
MRG Section
molecular
13, Annex 1
C = Tier 3
Using
weight of
ethane as a
the flare gas
(for major
conservative
stream using
source streams)
flare gas
process
proxy
modelling
category
Emission Factor
Oxidation Tiers Tier 1 uses a factor of 1.0 which assumes a fully
efficient combustion process with complete oxidation of carbon
to form CO2. Tier 2 involves the use of a country-specific factor as
reported by the UK in its latest UNFCCC inventory report.
Table 3 - Oxidation Factor Tiers
Tier 1
Tier 2
Factor
1.0
UNFCCC
A, B & C = Tier 1
country
specific factor
References
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