IPCC Emissions Guidelines

IPCC guidelines published in 2006 (Eggleston H.S. et al. 2006)1 and 2019 (Buendia et al. 2019)2 break emissions down into the following five major sectors:

E-1 - Energy

Emissions from the production and consumption of energy. This encompasses electricity generation, heating, transportation, and energy use in buildings and industries. Fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas are the primary sources of emissions in this sector.

E-2 - Industrial Processes and Product Use

Emissions from industrial activities and the use of products. This includes chemical production, metal processing, cement manufacturing, and other industrial processes that release greenhouse gases. It also includes emissions from the use of products like refrigerants and other chemical products.

E-3 - Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use

Emissions and removals from agriculture, deforestation, reforestation, afforestation, and other land use activities. This sector includes emissions from livestock, soil management, rice production, and the burning of agricultural residues. It also covers carbon sequestration in forests and other vegetation.

E-4 - Waste

Emissions from waste management and treatment. This sector covers landfill operations, wastewater treatment, waste incineration, and composting. Methane and nitrous oxide are the primary greenhouse gases emitted from waste management activities.

E-5 - Other

This category includes any emissions that do not fit into the other four sectors.

  1. Eggleston H.S., Buendia L., Miwa K., Ngara T., and Tanabe K. 2006. “2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.” IGES, Japan. https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/index.html. ↩

  2. Buendia, Eduardo, Kiyoto Tanabe, Andrej Kranjc, Baasansuren Jamsranjav, Maya Fukuda, Sekai Ngarize, Akira Osako, Yurii Pyrozhenko, Pavel Shermanau, and Sandro Federici. 2019. “2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.” ↩