Participation Moves Beyond Electric Utility Industry

The 1998 reporting cycle is officially closed and we have completed a preliminary analysis of the 156 reports received. While the participation of electric utilities remains strong, we are seeing a steady increase in the number of reports from non-utilities. In our first year, all but 9 percent of reporters were electric utilities; this year 27 percent of our reporters were non-utilities.

Although the number of reporters from other industries remained relatively small, reports were received from key companies in those industries: General Motors and Volvo represented the automotive industry; BP America represented the petroleum refining industry; from the chemical industry, Johnson & Johnson and The Dow Chemical Company submitted reports; Noranda Aluminum and an operating division of Alcan represented the metals industry; reports from the coal mining industry included Peabody and Consol; and IBM represented the electronic equipment sector.

One hundred forty-five reporters (93 percent) submitted information on projects they have undertaken to reduce emissions or sequester carbon, providing information on 1,232 projects, an increase of 19 percent over last year. The emissions reduced and carbon sequestered reported for these projects totalled about 141 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 1997.

Projects involving electricity supply remained the most commonly reported activity. The 383 electricity generation, transmission, distribution and cogeneration projects reported accounted for 31 percent of the total. Of the 299 carbon sequestration projects reported, nearly 90 represented prorated shares in four forestry projects sponsored by the UtiliTree Carbon Company.


Projects involving energy end use (276), methane (100), transportation (62), and halogenated substances (30) were also reported. Of the remaining 82 other projects, 46 entailed fly ash reuse, materials recycling, or waste reduction.



Of the 49 reporters that submitted information on emissions and emission reductions on a company-wide basis, 41 reported reductions of direct emissions (i.e., from sources they own) totalling 120 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

June 1, 1999 Deadline for Reporting

The closing date for submitting reports containing data on activities through 1998 for inclusion in the 1999 version of the Public Use Database is one month earlier than last year.



SF6 Spells Opportunity

Electric utilities use sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) as an insulator for circuit breakers, switch gear, and other electrical equipment. Although emissions of this gas are quite small, SF6 has a global warming potential (GWP) of 23,900. Increasingly, our reporters are recognizing this as an opportunity: each pound of SF6 emissions avoided offsets nearly 12 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. For 1996, we received reports on just two projects involving SF6. For 1997, eight electric utilities reported reductions in SF6 totaling more than 53 metric tons between 1991 and 1997, equivalent to 1.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

Merely by adopting more vigilant maintenance practices to identify and repair leaks from, or replace, breakers and other equipment using SF6, Dusquesne Light Company, GPU, Inc., NIPSCO Industries, Tucson Electric Power Company , and Texas Utilities Electric Company reduced emissions by a reported 21 metric tons in 1997. This is enough SF6 to offset emissions of over 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is the amount that would be emitted by burning about 260,000 short tons of coal.
Minnesota Power replaced five leaky, high-maintenance circuit breakers in 1997 with a model designed to use less SF6, reducing emissions by an estimated 1.3 metric tons.
City Utilities of Springfield purchased equipment for capturing and reusing SF6 when servicing circuit breakers. Previously, the gas was vented to the atmosphere when the units were opened. Use of this equipment avoided emissions of a reported 0.6 metric tons of SF6 in 1997.
Baltimore Gas and Electric Company reduced SF6 emissions by discontinuing its use as a tracer gas for tests at one of its power plants.

Hot off the Presses

EIA recently released Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 1997, a national inventory of greenhouse gas emissions. To obtain a copy, contact the National Energy Information Center (NEIC), Energy Information Administration, EI-30, Forrestal Building, Washington, DC, 20585, 202/586-8800 or infoctr@eia.doe.gov. This report is also available via EIA's web page at http://www.eia.gov/oiaf/1605/1605a.html.

Internet Links of Potential Interest

  • GAO Review of EIA-1605(b) Program
    The United States General Accounting Office (GAO) has completed a review of the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program. This page links to a scanned copy of the cover letter and a hand-coded HTML version of the report that were presented to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) at the conclusion of the GAO review. http://www.eia.gov/oiaf/1605/gao/gao.html
  • The Fourth Session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 2-13, 1998
    For information about the proceedings, access the following site:
    http://cop4.unfccc.de/
  • Credit for Voluntary Early Action Act (Senate Bill 2617)
    Introduced by Senator John Chafee (R-RI), this bills seeks to provide regulatory credit for voluntary early action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and includes a provision addressing 1605(b) reporting. Congress will likely not deal with this bill until its next session. To download a copy, access the Library of Congress's homepage:
    http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas2.html
  • The Pew Center on Global Climate Change
    This site contains the newly released report Analysis of Early Action Crediting Proposals.
    http://www.pewclimate.org/home.html


Welcome New Reporters

During this reporting cycle, 13 new reporters submitted 1605(b) reports containing data on emission reduction activities occurring in 1997. Thanks to all of them for their participation in this year's Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Asheville Landfill Gas, LLC
BP America
Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders
Central and Southwest Corporation
City of Fairfield Wastewater Division
Environmentally Correct Concepts
Iredell Landfill Gas, LLC
Motorola Austin
Nevada Power Company
Nexstar Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Platte River Power Authority
South Carolina Electric & Gas Company


For More Information About Voluntary Reporting...

Voice: 1-800-803-5182 or 202-586-0688 Fax: (202) 586-3045
E-mail: infoghg@eia.doe.gov
Internet: http://www.eia.gov/oiaf/1605/frntend.html
FTP: ftp://ftp.eia.doe.gov/pub/oiaf/1605/cdrom
Mailing Address: Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program,
U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, EI-81,
1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20585.