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Dynamic Systems Model for Evaluating Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Accordance with USEPA CFR PART 98 Subpart W

Received: 5 June 2023     Accepted: 4 July 2023     Published: 17 July 2023
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Abstract

The oil industry has a relevant role in the generation of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) in its various segments, among them the Exploration and Production of Oil and Natural Gas (E&P). There are several methodologies for GHG inventories, each with different degrees of uncertainty, which makes the quantification of emissions complex, given the large number of variables to be analyzed. According to the Compendium of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Methodologies for the Oil and Gas Industry of the American Petroleum Institute (API), all GHG emissions should be calculated as a product of an "activity factor" by an appropriate "emission factor". That is, the amount of fuel used, considering how it is used. The product between the activity data and the emission factors provides an estimate of the GHG emissions associated with the company's activities. Based on this premise, this paper presents a model developed in System Dynamics (SD) for the preparation of inventories of CO2 and CH4 emissions, the main GHG emitted by the oil industry. The model was developed to meet the requirements of "Subpart W" of the United States Environmental and Protection Agency (USEPA) CFR Part 98, which states that oil and gas E&P facilities that emit at least 25 x 103 t CO2e/year, must report their estimates of total annual GHG emissions, annual individualized emissions of each GHG, and annual individualized emissions of each GHG broken down by source type expressed in metric tons of CO2e. The proposed model goes beyond the USEPA requirements in that it also allows estimation of emissions of CO2, of CH4 and their equivalence in CO2e from specific sources and groups of sources, generating an estimate of the emissions profile over the entire lifetime of the inventoried facility.

Published in American Journal of Environmental Protection (Volume 12, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajep.20231204.12
Page(s) 92-108
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Systems Dynamics, Greenhouse Gases, Global Warming, Oil and Natural Gas

References
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    Marcelo Cruz dos Santos, Claudinei de Souza Guimarães, Amarildo da Cruz Fernandes. (2023). Dynamic Systems Model for Evaluating Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Accordance with USEPA CFR PART 98 Subpart W. American Journal of Environmental Protection, 12(4), 92-108. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20231204.12

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    ACS Style

    Marcelo Cruz dos Santos; Claudinei de Souza Guimarães; Amarildo da Cruz Fernandes. Dynamic Systems Model for Evaluating Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Accordance with USEPA CFR PART 98 Subpart W. Am. J. Environ. Prot. 2023, 12(4), 92-108. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20231204.12

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    AMA Style

    Marcelo Cruz dos Santos, Claudinei de Souza Guimarães, Amarildo da Cruz Fernandes. Dynamic Systems Model for Evaluating Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Accordance with USEPA CFR PART 98 Subpart W. Am J Environ Prot. 2023;12(4):92-108. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20231204.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajep.20231204.12,
      author = {Marcelo Cruz dos Santos and Claudinei de Souza Guimarães and Amarildo da Cruz Fernandes},
      title = {Dynamic Systems Model for Evaluating Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Accordance with USEPA CFR PART 98 Subpart W},
      journal = {American Journal of Environmental Protection},
      volume = {12},
      number = {4},
      pages = {92-108},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajep.20231204.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20231204.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajep.20231204.12},
      abstract = {The oil industry has a relevant role in the generation of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) in its various segments, among them the Exploration and Production of Oil and Natural Gas (E&P). There are several methodologies for GHG inventories, each with different degrees of uncertainty, which makes the quantification of emissions complex, given the large number of variables to be analyzed. According to the Compendium of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Methodologies for the Oil and Gas Industry of the American Petroleum Institute (API), all GHG emissions should be calculated as a product of an "activity factor" by an appropriate "emission factor". That is, the amount of fuel used, considering how it is used. The product between the activity data and the emission factors provides an estimate of the GHG emissions associated with the company's activities. Based on this premise, this paper presents a model developed in System Dynamics (SD) for the preparation of inventories of CO2 and CH4 emissions, the main GHG emitted by the oil industry. The model was developed to meet the requirements of "Subpart W" of the United States Environmental and Protection Agency (USEPA) CFR Part 98, which states that oil and gas E&P facilities that emit at least 25 x 103 t CO2e/year, must report their estimates of total annual GHG emissions, annual individualized emissions of each GHG, and annual individualized emissions of each GHG broken down by source type expressed in metric tons of CO2e. The proposed model goes beyond the USEPA requirements in that it also allows estimation of emissions of CO2, of CH4 and their equivalence in CO2e from specific sources and groups of sources, generating an estimate of the emissions profile over the entire lifetime of the inventoried facility.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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    AB  - The oil industry has a relevant role in the generation of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) in its various segments, among them the Exploration and Production of Oil and Natural Gas (E&P). There are several methodologies for GHG inventories, each with different degrees of uncertainty, which makes the quantification of emissions complex, given the large number of variables to be analyzed. According to the Compendium of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Methodologies for the Oil and Gas Industry of the American Petroleum Institute (API), all GHG emissions should be calculated as a product of an "activity factor" by an appropriate "emission factor". That is, the amount of fuel used, considering how it is used. The product between the activity data and the emission factors provides an estimate of the GHG emissions associated with the company's activities. Based on this premise, this paper presents a model developed in System Dynamics (SD) for the preparation of inventories of CO2 and CH4 emissions, the main GHG emitted by the oil industry. The model was developed to meet the requirements of "Subpart W" of the United States Environmental and Protection Agency (USEPA) CFR Part 98, which states that oil and gas E&P facilities that emit at least 25 x 103 t CO2e/year, must report their estimates of total annual GHG emissions, annual individualized emissions of each GHG, and annual individualized emissions of each GHG broken down by source type expressed in metric tons of CO2e. The proposed model goes beyond the USEPA requirements in that it also allows estimation of emissions of CO2, of CH4 and their equivalence in CO2e from specific sources and groups of sources, generating an estimate of the emissions profile over the entire lifetime of the inventoried facility.
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Author Information
  • Polytechnic School, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

  • Polytechnic School, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

  • Polytechnic School, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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