The section Emission Modeling and Environmental Geography (EMMI) at the Department of Environmental Science is responsible for preparing the official Danish national emission inventories on behalf of DCE - Danish Centre for Environment and Energy, Aarhus University.
The section also develops emission projections to be used for evaluating potential effects of local, national and international policies. Research is carried out to improve and quality control the emission inventories, and to develop strategies and methodologies to mitigate adverse impacts on society.
The work includes the preparation of the annual official Danish inventories of emissions to the atmosphere. Separate inventories are prepared for greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and F-gases (HFCs, PFCs and SF6) and for air pollutants: sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), ammonia (NH3), particulate matter, heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The emission inventories are reported to the international conventions of the United Nations; emissions of greenhouse gases to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the appertaining Kyoto Protocol, and emissions of air pollutants to the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). Furthermore, greenhouse gas emissions are reported to the EU. The EU, as well as the individual Member States, is party to the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol.
Besides preparing emission inventories, the research area covers a range of research and development activities, which aim to improve the quality of the inventories. Models have been developed for the projection of atmospheric emissions of air pollutants including SO2, NOx, NMVOC, NH3 and particulate matter and of greenhouse gases including CO2, CH4, and N2O. Finally, methods have been developed for detailed mapping of national emissions down to 1 km X 1 km grid cells for all substances and sources included in the inventories. This mapping is an important input to atmospheric dispersion models.
DCE - National Centre for Environment and Energy participates in several national and international projects regarding emission inventories, and in international negotiations regarding atmospheric emissions. DCE participates in the Danish delegation in the negotiations under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol, and itrepresents Denmark on the Task Force on Emission Inventories and Projections (TFEIP) under the CLRTAP. In addition, DCE also participates in EU negotiations in connection with meetings of the Working Group 1 (WG1) under the EU Climate Change Committee.
Information about the Danish emission inventories (emission developments, emission factors, the status of reduction, etc.) is available on the website of emission inventories, which further includes links to official emission reports.
