Energy and Carbon Emissions Inventories Database
The Energy and Carbon Emissions Inventory Database (ECDB) is a spreadsheet program designed to display the energy use, carbon emissions, and resulting energy and carbon intensities of the world and of the top 26 carbon-emitting nations (representing 80% of global emissions).
Energy data have traditionally been reported by organizations in different units, using different energy equivalences for hydroelectric and nuclear power, and in/excluding different sources of energy. Degree of coverage and accounting methods also differ for international inventories of carbon (CO2) emissions. These important inventory uncertainties go often unnoticed and can reduce the accuracy of scientific research based on them and could make policies less effective. ECDB aims to allow direct comparison of original reported energy and carbon emissions of all major international inventories and also allows harmonized comparisons across inventories in terms of categories covered as well as statistical accounting convention adopted.
FAST FACTS
- ECDB clarifies the differences and helps to reconcile discrepancies among major international energy and carbon emissions inventories.
- ECDB was compiled by IIASA, covering the period 1971 to 2007, and made freely accessible on the Internet in 2009.
- A regular update of the data base is planned.
About ECDB
Set out in simple spreadsheet form, ECDB consolidates energy and carbon emission inventories and allows users to view all inventories in consistent units side-by-side. Users can thus compare original data and also harmonize different inventories using consistent accounting frameworks.
Energy statistical data from the four international energy statistics are integrated into ECDB, including: the International Energy Agency (IEA), the US Energy Information Administration (EIA),British Petroleum (BP), and the United Nations (UN).
ECDB integrates five carbon dioxide emission inventory datasets: The IEA Sectoral Approach and Reference Approaches, the EIA, the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC); carbon emissions inventory based on UN energy statistics), and the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR).
How ECDB works
ECDB has three main functions.
- It converts all reported energy and carbon dioxide emission quantities into International System of Units (SI) values, allowing for direct comparison between original inventory data.
- It allows consistent accounting conventions to be applied across all inventory data (that use different ones in their original values). For energy data, primary energy equivalences for hydroelectric, nuclear, and renewable sources, and in-/exclusion of traditional (non-commercial) biomass, and modern renewable energy forms can be harmonized across inventories. For CO2 emission reports, inventories can be harmonized to include comparable sources of emissions: fossil fuel use, natural gas flaring, cement manufacture, traditional biomass burning, combustion of municipal wastes, and lastly also emission from various types of land-use changes.
- ECDB also displays both energy and carbon intensities for the various combinations of energy and carbon emission accounting frameworks chosen (original, or various user-specified harmonization criteria).
Background
Both scientific research as well as policy depend critically on accurate data on energy uses and emissions. ECDB is the first publically available tool that documents the uncertainties in energy and carbon emission statistics and inventories and allows to reconcile at least partly different inventory data. It was developed for the purposes of model calibration and for an assessment of potential impacts of uncertain emission inventory data on carbon markets.
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