Greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands 1990-2004

Greenhouse gas emissions

The report comprises explanations of:

1. observed trends in emissions as calculated with IPCC directives;
2. a description of an assessment of key sources and their uncertainty;
3. documentation of methods, data sources and emission factors applied;
4. a description of the quality assurance system and the verification activities performed on the data.

From the inventory it can be concluded that total CO₂-equivalent emissions of the six greenhouse gases together increased in 2004 by about 2% compared to the base year (1990 and 1995 for fluorinated gases). Emissions of carbondioxide (excluding LULUCF) increased by 13% in the period 1990-2004, while methane and nitrous oxide emissions decreased by about 32% and 16%, respectively. For the fluorinated greenhouse gases, total emissions decreased by 75% in 2004 compared to 1995.

Emission trends in the 1990-2004 period

The greenhouse gas emissions presented here comply to the IPCC definition, which excludes temperature correction, CO₂ from biomass, changes in land use and forestry (LULUCF), and international bunkers (fuels for ships and air planes). In 2004 the total greenhouse gas emissions were approximately 2% higher than in the base year (1990, and 1995 for fluorinated gases), as can be observed in Figure 1. Over the 1990-2004 period, the CO₂ emissions increased by 13%, while emissions of CH₄ and N₂O decreased by 32% and 16%, respectively. The total emission of fluorinated gases has decreased since the base year (1995) by approximately 75%. Both emissions of HFC and PFC decreased by 75% and 85% respectively, while the SF₆ emission increased by 9%.

IPCC directives

The calculation of these emissions is consistent with the directives of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). According to these directives, emissions caused by combustion of biomass (wood, organic waste and biogas) are irrelevant because of their short-cyclic presence in the atmosphere. These emissions do not contribute to the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere.