In February 2005, the Kyoto Protocol came into force. This meant that all contractual obligations were binding for Germany. These essentially covered two areas: the implementation of the emission reduction commitment and the regular and correct reporting of national greenhouse gas emissions and sink activities.

In this project with the long title "Provision of energy data for stationary combustion plants to fulfil the reporting obligations under the National Inventory of Greenhouse Gases (NIR 2006) and the report on the determination of allocated amounts under the Kyoto Protocol", the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) in the fulfilment of its emissions reporting obligations.

By the end of 2006, the final and binding inventory report of Kyoto greenhouse gases (NIR) for the period from 1990 and the "report on the determination of assigned amounts" in accordance with Articles 3.7 and 3.8 of the Protocol and Article 3 of the Council Decision 2002/358/EC to be submitted.

The emission reduction target compared to the base year was previously specified in relative terms for the individual Member States of the European Union in this 'burden sharing agreement'. With the "Report on the Determination of Allocated Amounts", the reduction targets for the individual EU Member States were set in absolute amounts. The decisive factor here was the year 1990 as the base year for the greenhouse gases CO2, CH4 and N2O.

Providing the figures for the activity rates of stationary combustion plants for the year 1990 involved extensive data research and calculations. The data required by the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its committees (IPCC) by the end of 2006. Compliance with these requirements for determining the basic data and reporting emissions was a prerequisite for Germany's participation in the flexible mechanisms, e.g. international emissions trading.

The objectives of the project were

  1. Review of the data for stationary combustion plants for the year 1990 as a basis for the emission inventories and the report on the determination of the allocated quantities: The data for activity rates as the basis for emissions for the stationary combustion plants sector for the base year 1990 do not currently meet the requirements of the IPCC (set out in the IPCC quality requirements). The data for the year 1990 had to be checked, documented and, if necessary, completed or corrected. This applied in particular to the data from the new federal states and the former GDR for the year 1990. Due to the historical circumstances, the data situation for the area of the new federal states for the year 1990 was incomplete. In addition, the documentation of the basic data for the year 1990 on stationary furnaces for the whole of Germany was to be revised and completed.
  2. Supplementing the data for the "Balance of Emission Causes" for the years 1999-2004: The data on the activity rates in stationary combustion plants were to be supplemented in the UBA model "Balance of Emission Causes" for the years 1999-2004. The quality requirements of the IPCC had to be taken into account. The data on activity rates from stationary combustion plants, taking particular account of the main source groups, were to be prepared in such a way that their quality met the reporting requirements of the IPCC, UN/ECE and the EU. The energy balance of the Federal Republic of Germany and other statistics served as a basis.

As a result of the project, the Federal Environment Agency should be able to fulfil the international reporting obligations in the area of stationary combustion plants with an updated and quality-checked database.