Terms and definitions
In the article on reduced carbondioxide emissions some terms and words are used, that will be explained and defined here.
Definition and explanation of terms
Emission of greenhouse gases
Emission figures for 2005 presented in this article are provisional and based on, for instance, data of the Energy Supply in the Netherlands, published by Statistics Netherlands and on provisional production figures. Definitive figures for 2005 will be released in the spring of 2007 in the Environmental Balance, StatLine, the Environmental Compendium and on the website of the Emission Registration.
Emission figures are the result of close cooperation between various institutions participating in the Emission Registration, which registers emissions of polluting substances into air, water and soil and the release of waste matter. A large number of institutions are involved in the Emission Registration, for instance, Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (MNP), the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food quality, the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, SenterNovem (Waste Management) and TNO Built Environment and Geosciences.
CO2 equivalents
The effect of the various greenhouse gases is measured by converting them into so-called CO2 equivalents. One CO2 equivalent equals the effect of the emission of 1 kilogram of CO2. The emission of 1 kilogram of N2O equals 310 CO2 equivalents and emission of 1 kilogram of CH4 equals 21 CO2 equivalents.
All (chloro)fluorocarbon (CFC) gases have a high CO2 equivalent, but because CFC emissions are relatively small, their contribution to the nationwide total is marginal.
1990
The emission level of greenhouse gases in the base year 1990, as laid down in the Kyoto Protocol is 214.3 billion CO2 equivalents (the emissions of CO2, CH4 and N2O in 1990 and of F-gases in 1995).
In compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, emissions of greenhouse gases in the Netherlands must be reduced by 6 percent over the period 2008–2012, relative to base year 1990. This commitment can partly be realised abroad by Joint Implementation, Clean Development Mechanism and Emissions Trading.
IPCC Directives
The calculation of these emissions is consistent with the directives of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the so-called Kyoto Protocol. 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. On the other hand, N2O emissions caused by biogenic processes in surface water are taken into account.
Renewable energy sources
Renewable energy is defined as energy obtained from primary, essentially inexhaustible, sources and converted to secondary, usable sources (Source: Protocol Renewable Energy, SenterNovem, 2004).
Combustion of biomass
If a certain amount of electricity or heat is produced by biomass combustion, a considerably larger amount of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere than if the same amount of energy were produced by combustion of fossil fuels. This is mainly due to efficiency of the combustion process and the oxidation state of the carbon in the fuel.
