Anemission intensity (alsocarbon intensity orC.I.) is the emission rate of a givenpollutant relative to the intensity of a specific activity, or an industrial production process; for examplegrams ofcarbon dioxide released permegajoule of energy produced, or the ratio ofgreenhouse gas emissions produced togross domestic product (GDP). Emission intensities are used to derive estimates ofair pollutant or greenhouse gas emissions based on the amount of fuelcombusted, the number of animals inanimal husbandry, on industrial production levels, distances traveled or similar activity data. Emission intensities may also be used to compare the environmental impact of different fuels or activities. In some case the related termsemission factor andcarbon intensity are used interchangeably. The jargon used can be different, for different fields/industrial sectors; normally the term "carbon" excludes other pollutants, such asparticulate emissions. One commonly used figure iscarbon intensity per kilowatt-hour (CIPK), which is used to compare emissions from different sources of electrical power.

Different methodologies can be used to assess the carbon intensity of a process. Among the most used methodologies there are:

• The wholelife-cycle assessment (LCA): this includes not only the carbon emissions due to a specific process, but also those due to the production and end-of-life of materials, plants and machineries used for the considered process. This is a quite complex method, requiring a big set of variables.
• The well-to-wheels (WTW), commonly used in the Energy and Transport sectors: this is a simplified LCA considering the emissions of the process itself, the emissions due to the extraction and refining of the material (or fuel) used in the process (also "Upstream emissions"), but excluding the emissions due to the production and end-of-life of plants and machineries. This methodology is used, in the US, by theGREET model and in Europe in theJEC WTWArchived 29 June 2018 at theWayback Machine.
• WTW-LCA hybrid methods, trying to fill in the gap between the WTW and LCA methods. In example, for an Electric Vehicle, an hybrid method considering also the GHG due to the manufacturing and the end of life of the battery gives GHG emissions 10–13% higher, compared to the WTW^[1]
• Methods not considering LCA aspects but only the emissions occurring during a specific process; i.e. just the combustion of a fuel in a power plant, without considering the Upstream emissions.^[2]

Different calculation methods can lead to different results. The results can largely vary also for different geographic regions and timeframes (see, in example,how C.I. of electricity varies, for different European countries, and how varied in a few years: from 2009 to 2013 the C.I. of electricity in the European Union fell on average by 20%,^[3] So while comparing different values of Carbon Intensity it is important to correctly consider all the boundary conditions (or initial hypotheses) considered for the calculations. For example, Chinese oil fields emit between 1.5 and more than 40 g of CO_2e perMJ with about 90% of all fields emitting 1.5–13.5 g CO_2e.^[4] Such highly skewed carbon intensity patterns necessitate disaggregation of seemingly homogeneous emission activities and proper consideration of many factors for understanding.^[5]

Emission factors assume a linear relation between the intensity of the activity and the emission resulting from this activity:

Emission_pollutant = Activity * Emission Factor_pollutant

Intensities are also used in projecting possible future scenarios such as those used in theIPCC assessments, along with projected future changes in population, economic activity and energy technologies. The interrelations of these variables is treated under the so-calledKaya identity.

The level of uncertainty of the resulting estimates depends significantly on the source category and the pollutant. Some examples:

• Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from the combustion of fuel can be estimated with a high degree of certainty regardless of how the fuel is used as these emissions depend almost exclusively on thecarbon content of the fuel, which is generally known with a high degree of precision. The same is true forsulphur dioxide (SO₂), since sulphur contents of fuels are also generally well known. Both carbon and sulphur are almost completely oxidized during combustion and all carbon and sulphur atoms in the fuel will be present in theflue gases as CO₂ and SO₂ respectively.
• In contrast, the levels of other air pollutants and non-CO₂ greenhouse gas emissions from combustion depend on the precise technology applied when fuel is combusted. These emissions are basically caused by either incomplete combustion of a small fraction of the fuel (carbon monoxide,methane,non-methane volatile organic compounds) or by complicated chemical and physical processes during the combustion and in the smoke stack or tailpipe. Examples of these areparticulates, NO_x, a mixture ofnitric oxide, NO, andnitrogen dioxide, NO₂).
• Nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from agricultural soils are highly uncertain because they depend very much on both the exact conditions of the soil, the application offertilizers andmeteorological conditions.

A literature review of numerous total life cycle energy sources CO₂ emissions per unit of electricity generated, conducted by theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2011, found that the CO₂ emission value, that fell within the 50thpercentile of all total life cycle emissions studies were as follows.^[6]

Note: 3.6 MJ = megajoule(s) == 1 kW·h = kilowatt-hour(s), thus 1 g/MJ = 3.6 g/kW·h.

Legend:B = Black coal (supercritical)–(new subcritical),Br = Brown coal (new subcritical),cc = combined cycle,oc = open cycle,T_L = low-temperature/closed-circuit (geothermal doublet),T_H = high-temperature/open-circuit,W_L = Light Water Reactors,W_H = Heavy Water Reactors,#Educated estimate.

The following tables show carbon intensity of GDP inmarket exchange rates (MER) andpurchasing power parities (PPP). Units aremetric tons of carbon dioxide per thousand year 2005US dollars. Data are taken from theUS Energy Information Administration.^[12] Annual data between 1980 and 2009 are averaged over three decades: 1980–89, 1990–99, and 2000–09.

In 2009 CO₂ intensity of GDP in the OECD countries reduced by 2.9% and amounted to 0.33 kCO₂/$05p in the OECD countries.^[13] ("$05p" = 2005 US dollars, using purchasing power parities). The USA posted a higher ratio of 0.41 kCO₂/$05p while Europe showed the largest drop in CO₂ intensity compared to the previous year (−3.7%). CO₂ intensity continued to be roughly higher in non-OECD countries. Despite a slight improvement, China continued to post a high CO₂ intensity (0.81 kCO₂/$05p). CO₂ intensity in Asia rose by 2% during 2009 since energy consumption continued to develop at a strong pace. Important ratios were also observed in countries in CIS and the Middle East.

Total CO₂ emissions from energy use were 5% below their 1990 level in 2007.^[14] Over the period 1990–2007, CO₂ emissions from energy use have decreased on average by 0.3%/year although the economic activity (GDP) increased by 2.3%/year. After dropping until 1994 (−1.6%/year), the CO₂ emissions have increased steadily (0.4%/year on average) until 2003 and decreased slowly again since (on average by 0.6%/year). Total CO₂ emissions per capita decreased from 8.7 t in 1990 to 7.8 t in 2007, that is to say a decrease by 10%.Almost 40% of the reduction in CO₂ intensity is due to increased use of energy carriers with lower emission factors.Total CO₂ emissions per unit of GDP, the “CO₂ intensity”, decreased more rapidly than energy intensity: by 2.3%/year and 1.4%/year, respectively, on average between 1990 and 2007.^[15]

However, while the reports from 2007 suggest that the CO₂ emissions are going down recent studies find that the global emissions are rapidly escalating. According to the Climate Change 2022 Mitigation of Climate Change report, conducted by the IPCC, it states that it 2019 the world emissions output was 59 gigatonnes.^[16] This shows that global emissions has grown rapidly, increasing by about 2.1% each year compared from the previous decade.^[16]

TheCommodity Exchange Bratislava (CEB) has calculated carbon intensity forVoluntary Emissions Reduction projects carbon intensity in 2012 to be 0.343 tn/MWh.^[17]

A 2024 report shows an increase of renewable energy production, reaching 50% of the energy mix^[18]

According to data from the European Commission, in order to achieve the EU goal of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990, EU-based energy investment has to double from the previous decade to more than €400 billion annually this decade. This includes the roughly €300 billion in yearly investment required for energy efficiency and the roughly €120 billion required for power networks and renewable energy facilities.^[19][20]

One of the most important uses of emission factors is for the reporting of nationalgreenhouse gas inventories under theUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The so-calledAnnex I Parties to the UNFCCC have to annually report their national total emissions of greenhouse gases in a formalized reporting format, defining the source categories and fuels that must be included.

The UNFCCC has accepted theRevised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories,^[21] developed and published by theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as the emission estimation methods that must be used by the parties to the convention to ensure transparency, completeness, consistency, comparability and accuracy of the national greenhouse gas inventories.^[22] These IPCC Guidelines are the primary source for default emission factors. Recently IPCC has published the2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. These and many more greenhouse gas emission factors can be found on IPCC's Emission Factor Database.^[23] Commercially applicable organisational greenhouse gas emission factors can be found on the search engine, EmissionFactors.com.^[24]

Particularly for non-CO_2e emissions, there is often a high degree of uncertainty associated with these emission factors when applied to individual countries. In general, the use of country-specific emission factors would provide more accurate estimates of emissions than the use of the default emission factors. According to the IPCC, if an activity is a major source of emissions for a country ('key source'), it is 'good practice' to develop a country-specific emission factor for that activity.

TheUnited Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the EUNational Emission Ceilings Directive (2016) require countries to produce annual National Air Pollution Emission Inventories under the provisions of theConvention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP).

TheEuropean Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) Task Force of theEuropean Environment Agency has developed methods to estimate emissions and the associated emission factors for air pollutants, which have been published in the EMEP/CORINAIR Emission Inventory Guidebook^[25][26] on Emission Inventories and Projections TFEIP.^[27]

Coal, being mostly carbon, emits a lot of CO₂ when burnt: it has a high CO₂ emission intensity. Natural gas, being methane (CH₄), has 4 hydrogen atoms to burn for each one of carbon and thus has medium CO₂ emission intensity.

• 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
• Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (reference manual).
• IPCC Emission Factor Database
• National Inventory Report: Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks in Canada^{[permanent dead link]}.
• United Kingdom's emission factor database.

• AP 42, Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission FactorsUS Environmental Protection Agency
• EMEP/CORIMAIR 2007 Emission Inventory Guidebook.
• Fugitive emissions leaks from ethylene and other chemical plants.

In an August 31, 2018 article by Masnadi et al. which was published byScience, the authors used "open-source oil-sector CI modeling tools" to "model well-to-refinery carbon intensity (CI) of all major active oil fields globally—and to identify major drivers of these emissions."^[28] They compared 90 countries with the highest crude oil footprint.^[28][29] TheScience study, which was conducted byStanford University found thatCanadiancrude oil is the "fourth-most greenhouse gas (GHG) intensive in the world" behindAlgeria,Venezuela andCameroon.^[30][31]

Because oil deposits differ in carbon intensity, and because a substantial share of known oil reserves must remain unextracted to keep global warming below 2 °C or to limit overshooting of the 1.5 °C target,^[32][33]the question of which oil deposits should be phased out is of significant importance. A 2026 study by Renaud Coulomb, Fanny Henriet et Léo Reitzmann^[34] published in theReview of Economic Studies quantifies the additional emissions and economic costs associated with the historical extraction of high–carbon-intensity oil deposits. The study shows that accounting for heterogeneity in the carbon intensity of oil deposits could have reduced cumulative emissions by about 11 GtCO₂-equivalent between 1992 and 2018, without changing global oil demand, by avoiding the extraction of higher-carbon intensity deposits. These results imply the existence of a substantial supply-side ecological debt for major producers of high-carbon-intensity oil (e.g., Algeria, Canada, Venezuela). Looking forward, the study estimates that avoiding these high-carbon intensity deposits could avoid approximately 9.3 gigatonnes of CO₂-equivalent emissions, valued at US$1.9 trillion, along a future demand pathway consistent with achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

• Washington Post article with an example of change in carbon intensity
• A Note On Variations in UK Grid Electricity CO_2e Intensity with Time
• IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios
• Statistical Energy Review 2012
• World Energy Council:Odyssee Database
• International Energy Agency: CO2 emissions from fuel combustionArchived 2018-03-31 at theWayback Machine
• Electricity carbon intensity in European Member States: Impacts on GHG emissions of electric vehicles
• A hybrid LCA-WTW method to assess the carbon footprint of electric vehicles
• Carbon emissions intensity from different regionsArchived 6 January 2018 at theWayback Machine

• Air pollution emissions
• Atmospheric dispersion modeling
• Industrial emissions control
• Environmental engineering
• Energy economics
• Greenhouse gas emissions

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