2017 Greenhouse Gas Inventory - reproducability of certain calculations
Andrew Tipton made this Official Information request to Ministry for the Environment
The request was partially successful.
From: Andrew Tipton
Dear Ministry for the Environment,
I am currently attempting to reproduce some of the calculations that you made in the 2017 Greenhouse Gas Inventory (published in April 2019). Some questions have arisen around the calculation of item 1.A.1.a, "Public electricity and heat generation".
Section 3.3.6 of the national inventory report indicates that the source of the activity data for this item of the Inventory is MBIE, and that "all thermal electricity generators provide figures to MBIE for the amount of coal, natural gas, and oil used for electricity generation."
The relevant fossil fuel energy consumption figures for the 2017 Inventory are set out in the "CRF tables" spreadsheet, on sheet "Table1.A(a)s1" under heading 1.A.1.a:
Liquid fuels: 41.12 TJ
Solid fuels: 5681.06 TJ
Gaseous fuels: 57120.83 TJ
The corresponding data from MBIE is contained in a series of spreadsheets available under the "Energy statistics" section of the MBIE website. [1] These spreadsheets detail the consumption of the different fuels (oil, coal, and gas) for various sectors, including "Electricity Generation". The relevant figures for the 2017 year from these spreadsheets are:
Oil consumption for electricity generation: 0.06340 PJ (63.40 TJ)
Coal consumption for electricity generation: 5.681059 PJ (5681.059 TJ)
Natural gas for electricity generation: 45.693978 PJ (45693.97 TJ)
Natural gas for co-generation: 13.881745 PJ (13881.745 TJ)
As you can clearly see, the MBIE figures for coal consumption correspond precisely with the amounts as stated in the Inventory. However, the MBIE figures for oil and natural gas consumption do *not* correspond to the amounts as stated in the Inventory.
For the gaseous fuels category, the issue of co-generation appears to complicate matters, as some co-generation is included in category 1.A.1.a whilst other co-generation is included within other categories. No explanation is provided that would account for the inconsistency between the Inventory and the MBIE oil consumption figures.
I hope you will agree that it is of the utmost importance that the public have full confidence in the figures contained within the Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Therefore, my questions to you are:
(1) What is the reason for the inconsistency between the figures provided in MfE's GHG Inventory and MBIE's energy statistics publications?
(2) Did you rely upon any additional (non-disclosed) data sources in arriving at the activity data for category 1.A.1.a of the Inventory? If so, can you please describe these additional data sources? If the data source is not currently available to the public, please provide it as part of your response.
(3) How did you determine whether or not a particular co-generation plant's "primary purpose" was to "produce electricity"? For the purposes of reproducing your results, can you please provide a list of the co-generation plants that you evaluated, together with the plant's fuel consumption and the category (such as 1.A.1.a) it was assigned to in the Inventory?
(4) The CRF tables accompanying the Inventory also state the "implied emission factors" for each fuel type. Please explain which data sources you used, and the methodology that you employed, to arrive at the specific emissions factors that were used in the calculation of category 1.A.1.a in the Inventory. If any of the data that you used is not currently available to the public, please provide that data as part of your response.
[1] https://www.mbie.govt.nz/building-and-en...
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Tipton
From: Ministerials
Ministry for the Environment
Kia ora and thank you for contacting our team.
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If you have any queries, please feel free to contact us.
Ngâ mihi nui
Executive Relations team
Ministry for the Environment – Manatû Mô Te Taiao
Email: [MFE request email] Website: www.mfe.govt.nz
23 Kate Sheppard Place, Thorndon, Wellington 6143
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From: Kim Rupp-Gregory
Ministry for the Environment
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Letter to Andrew Tipton advising of transfer 19 D 02355.pdf
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Kia ora Andrew
I’ve attached here a letter advising that the Ministry for the Environment
is transferring your request for information under the Official
Information Act 1982, made via the FYI website on 13 October 2019, to the
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
Kind regards
Kim
Kim Rupp-Gregory – Senior Advisor Executive Relations
Ministry for the Environment – Manatû Mô Te Taiao
[mobile number] Email: [1][email address] Website:
[2]www.mfe.govt.nz
23 Kate Sheppard Place, Thorndon, Wellington 6143
[3]cid:image003.jpg@01D26A65.99010DF0
[4]cid:image010.png@01D256EA.F8872C70 [5]cid:image011.png@01D256EA.F8872C70 [6]cid:image012.png@01D256EA.F8872C70
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From: Andrew Tipton
Dear Kim Rupp-Gregory,
Thanks for the attached letter. I will await a response from MBIE regarding my request.
In the meantime, it would be most helpful if you were able to briefly outline the division of responsibilities between MfE and MBIE for the preparation of the energy portion of the GHG Inventory. Does MBIE just send you the final numbers for inclusion in the report? How much analysis/validation of the MBIE-reported data do you undertake?
Kind regards,
Andrew Tipton
From: Kim Rupp-Gregory
Ministry for the Environment
Hi Andrew
Nigel may be able to help you with your query.
Thank you
Kim
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From: Nigel Searles
Ministry for the Environment
Hi Andrew,
As described in the NIR:
“New Zealand uses a hybrid (centralised/distributed) approach to management for the inventory programme. Management and coordination of the inventory programme, as well as compilation, publication and submission of the inventory, are carried out by the inventory agency (MfE) in a centralised manner. Sector-specific work, which includes obtaining and processing activity data, estimating emissions, preparing sectoral CRF tables and writing sectoral inventory chapters, is carried out by designated government agencies across New Zealand.”
https://www.mfe.govt.nz/sites/default/fi...
Specifically, there are checks of the sectoral information including emissions data that MBIE provides to MfE, and any errors detected may result in changes to the calculations done by MBIE. This is described in the annex A6.1: https://www.mfe.govt.nz/sites/default/fi...
Information from all of the emissions sectors also get aggregated and summarised in a set of analyses, however this does not change sectoral data.
Regards,
Nigel
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From: Andrew Tipton
Dear Nigel,
Thanks very much for your clarification.
Cheers
Andrew Tipton
From: Ministerial Services
Ref: 1920-0672
Dear Andrew,
On behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment I
acknowledge your email of 13^th October requesting under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following:
“I hope you will agree that it is of the utmost importance that the public
have full confidence in the figures contained within the Greenhouse Gas
Inventory. Therefore, my questions to you are:
(1) What is the reason for the inconsistency between the figures provided
in MfE's GHG Inventory and MBIE's energy statistics publications?
(2) Did you rely upon any additional (non-disclosed) data sources in
arriving at the activity data for category 1.A.1.a of the Inventory? If
so, can you please describe these additional data sources? If the data
source is not currently available to the public, please provide it as part
of your response.
(3) How did you determine whether or not a particular co-generation
plant's "primary purpose" was to "produce electricity"? For the purposes
of reproducing your results, can you please provide a list of the
co-generation plants that you evaluated, together with the plant's fuel
consumption and the category (such as 1.A.1.a) it was assigned to in the
Inventory?
(4) The CRF tables accompanying the Inventory also state the "implied
emission factors" for each fuel type. Please explain which data sources
you used, and the methodology that you employed, to arrive at the specific
emissions factors that were used in the calculation of category 1.A.1.a in
the Inventory. If any of the data that you used is not currently
available to the public, please provide that data as part of your
response.
[1]
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/building-and-en...
Your request is being processed in accordance with the Act and a response
will be sent to you in due course. If you have any enquiries regarding
your request feel free to contact us via email [1][email address] or
using the contact details below.
Nâku noa, nâ,
Katie Wellington
MANAGER, MINISTERIAL SERVICES
Corporate, Governance and Information
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Level 4, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140
[2]mbie-logo
[3]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services
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3. http://www.govt.nz/
From: *OIA
Dear Andrew Tipton
Attached is a response to your Official Information Act 1982 request.
Regards
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
[1]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services
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1. http://www.govt.nz/
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