The carbon dioxide emission factor for combustion of Swedish peat

The Swedish carbon dioxide emission factor for combustion of energy peat has been reviewed. Three-year-old peat analyses from two Swedish peat producers indicated a notably lower emission factor than 107.3 g CO2/MJ which is the value used in Sweden's National Emission Inventory Report 2003 submitted under the United Nations Convention on Climate Change. New calculations based on both the old analyses and complementing data were performed in order to calculate an emission factor representative to the entire Swedish production of energy peat. Assuming a water content of 45-50 % (good estimate for moisture content of Swedish energy peat) the calculated emission factor was approximately 105 -108 g CO2/MJ (standard deviation: 4.8 g CO2/MJ). Hence it could not be concluded that the emission factor is notably lower than the value used in Sweden's National Emission Inventory Report 2003. However, since the emission factor is dependent on the moisture content, peat with a significantly lower moisture content should also be associated with a lower emission factor.