Inventory Management and Archiving Swiss System/Procedures

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Inventory Management and Archiving Swiss
System/Procedures
UNFCCC Workshop on National Systems, 11-12 April
2005, Bonn

• Paul Filliger
• Swiss Federal Agency for the Environment,
  Forests and Landscape
• Economics and Climate Section
• CH-3003 Berne
• (paul.filliger_at_buwal.admin.ch)

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Overview

• Todays inventory management system
• and problems
• Future inventory management system
• Design, data collection, preparation, import
• Emission calculation, uncertainties
• Reports, History of data handling
• Documentation / Archiving
• Data, methods, decisions/reasons
• Remaining problems / Conclusion

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Todays Inventory Management System
EXCEL datasheets
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Internal Greenhouse Gas Files
IPCC categories
Energy Consump.
Emission factors
Emissions
Comments
relevant cells linked to CRF
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Advantage of old system

• Simple and stupid, and it works

Problems

• System has grown to a vast, almost un-manageable
  size (gt100 tables, thousands of links)
• Modifications possible, but very error sensitive
• Yearly up-date is hard work
• Knowledge about structure is concentrated to the
  developers head

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Design of future Inventory Management System
Reporting Obligations
Expert Information
UNFCCC CRF Tables
Energy Transport Industry Agriculture
Waste
MESAP Information System
UNECE/EMEP
Excel Importer
Excel Analyst
CalQlator
nationalRequire-ments
ACCESS
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Data Collection 1

• Input derived from
• Data surveys
• Emission measurements
• Calculations and modeling
• Literature studies and assumptions

Data compilation per source category
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Data Collection 2

• Compilation files includes
• List of treated air pollutants (climate air)
• Definitions and description of model /
  calculation
• Time series of activity data (incl. projections)
• Emission factors
• References

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Data preparation

• Definition of import format
• Automatic plausibility checks
• Unit conversion (SI)
• Documentation

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Data import in System

• User Defined Data Views
• Automatic import or copy/paste
• User-guided plausibility checks

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Emission Calculation

• Activity rate Emission Factor
• Equation editor
• Visualization of calculation result

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Implementation of uncertainty information
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Compile Reports

• MS Excel Environment
• Hot-Links to Database
• Shift inventory year
• Data link to former database versions for
  recalculation

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History of Data handling
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Archiving of data

• Inventory database integrated in governmental
  data processing system (closed environment with
  high security demands)
• Backups and security on high standard (shadowed
  disks, daily backups, two different servers at
  two different locations, daily update of virus
  software etc.)
• Archiving of data is not a problem

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Archiving/Documentation of methods

• Two pillar strategy
• 1) All methods should be documented (or at least
  referenced) in the MESAP information systemi)
  through documentation in compilation filesii)
  through calculation procedures in the CalQlator
• A comprehensive (reader friendly) overview is
  given in the National Inventory Report (NIR)
  (Annexes for details)

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Archiving of background information(incl.
decisions/reasons)

• Includes all soft data, which are indirectly
  linked to data in EMIS or NIR, e.g. - Annual
  reports from industry (activity data)- Reports
  about methods (referenced in EMIS, NIR)- Reasons
  of selection of methods, activity data-
  Documentation of decisions made during inventory
  preparation

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Remaining problems

• Archiving of background information, mainly
  decisions / reasons
• Inclusion of LULUCF data in EMISLand use change
  data is different in structure from emission data

Conclusion
Inventory preparation and production will remain
a step by step improving process which will
(probably) never find the final top-level
product. Pragmatic, country-adapted solutions
are needed.