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Last reviewed on November 2, 2011 at 10:06

Documentation of California's Greenhouse Gas Inventory (First Edition - Last updated on 11/19/2007)

♦ Category: Waste

IPCC: 4D1 - Wastewater Treatment and Discharge - Domestic Wastewater Treatment and Discharge
Sector: Industrial : Waste Water Treatment : Domestic Waste Water

♦ Activity: California population -

♦ Greenhouse gas: Nitrous oxide ( N2O )

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► Year 1990 —

● Greenhouse gas emission estimate —

Amount: 2,663 tonnes of N2O Emitted (825,638 tonnes CO2 Eq.)
Basis: Calculation
Calculation: ([California Population] * [Fraction using wastewater treatment plants] * [Wastewater treatment plants emission factor]) + (([California Population]*[Protein Consumption Rate]*[Fraction of nitrogen in protein]*[Non-consumption protein factor]) - ([California Population] * [Fraction using wastewater treatment plants] * [Wastewater treatment plants emission factor] * [Molecular weight ratio of N2 to N2O]) - [Sewage sludge N not entering aquatic environment]) * [Effluent water emission factor] * [Molecular weight ratio of N2O to N2]
Reference: USEPA (2007). Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2005. United States Environmental Protection Agency. EPA 430-R-07-002. Chapter 8: Waste. April 15, 2007. Washington DC. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usgginv_archive.html

● Activity level used in calculations —

Activity: California population = 29,828,000 person
Basis: data
Reference: CDOF (2007). California Department of Finance, California Demographic Research Unit: Population Estimates and Projections. Accessed online at: http://www.dof.ca.gov/HTML/DEMOGRAP/ReportsPapers/ReportsPapers.php

● Parameters and Constants used in calculations —

Parameter: Effluent water emission factor = 5.000E-03 g / g
Reference: USEPA (2007). Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2005. United States Environmental Protection Agency. EPA 430-R-07-002. Chapter 8: Waste. April 15, 2007. Washington DC. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usgginv_archive.html
Parameter: Fraction of nitrogen in protein = 0.16 g / g
Reference: USEPA (2007). Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2005. United States Environmental Protection Agency. EPA 430-R-07-002. Chapter 8: Waste. April 15, 2007. Washington DC. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usgginv_archive.html
Parameter: Fraction using wastewater treatment plants = 0.75
Reference: USEPA (2007). Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2005. United States Environmental Protection Agency. EPA 430-R-07-002. Chapter 8: Waste. April 15, 2007. Washington DC. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usgginv_archive.html
Parameter: Non-consumption protein factor = 1.75
Reference: USEPA (2007). Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2005. United States Environmental Protection Agency. EPA 430-R-07-002. Chapter 8: Waste. April 15, 2007. Washington DC. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usgginv_archive.html
Parameter: Protein consumption rate = 39,237 g / person
Reference: USEPA (2007). Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2005. United States Environmental Protection Agency. EPA 430-R-07-002. Chapter 8: Waste. April 15, 2007. Washington DC. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usgginv_archive.html
Parameter: Sewage sludge N not entering aquatic environment = 0 g
Reference: ARB (2009). Technical Support Document for California’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and 1990 Emissions Level. California Air Resources Board. (March 2009). Available online at: http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/inventory/doc/methods_v1/ghg_inventory_technical_support_document.pdf
Parameter: Wastewater treatment plants emission factor = 4 g / person
Reference: USEPA (2007). Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2005. United States Environmental Protection Agency. EPA 430-R-07-002. Chapter 8: Waste. April 15, 2007. Washington DC. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usgginv_archive.html
Constant: Molecular weight ratio of N2 to N2O = 0.636483023
Reference: IUPAC (2006). ATOMIC WEIGHTS OF THE ELEMENTS 2005 (IUPAC TECHNICAL REPORT). Pure Appl. Chem., Vol. 78, No. 11, pp. 2051–2066, 2006.
Constant: Molecular weight ratio of N2O to N2 = 1.571133815
Reference: IUPAC (2006). ATOMIC WEIGHTS OF THE ELEMENTS 2005 (IUPAC TECHNICAL REPORT). Pure Appl. Chem., Vol. 78, No. 11, pp. 2051–2066, 2006.
Constant: Global warming potential of N2O = 310
Reference: IPCC (1996). Second Assessment Report. Climate Change 1995: WG I - The Science of Climate Change. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; J.T. Houghton, L.G. Meira Filho, B.A. Callander, N. Harris, A. Kattenberg, and K. Maskell (eds.); Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, U.K.

● Greenhouse gas emitted per unit activity —

Amount: 89.3 g of N2O per person
27,680 g (i.e. 27.68 kg) of CO2eq. per person