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Lesson 1 - Emissions Inventory Overview

1.5 - How are emissions from sources estimated?

EIs contain ESTIMATES of emission rates from each source for the chosen list of pollutants.
Examples:

1,000 tons/year NOx from a gas plant:	50 tons/day CO from on-road vehicles in Phoenix:	10 pounds/year Hg from a small power plant:

Estimating emission rates for each source you choose to include in your inventory is the final goal of your EI work. It is also very important to document the information you used to make your estimate and the source of that information. (More on this in the QA\QC Lesson.)

Basic estimating equation:
    E = EF x A

    E = Emission Rate
    EF = Emission Factor
    A = Activity

Example: Wood Burning stoves
    EF = 34.6 pounds PM10 emitted per ton of wood burned
    A = 1,000 tons of wood burned in woodstoves every year
    E = 34,600 pounds PM10 emitted from woodstoves every year.

TEISS provides EFs for many types of sources. You will need to collect data on A for each of your sources, to enter into TEISS.

LESSON 1.5 Exercise: Emissions Calculations for Burn Barrels

For example, you do a survey to estimate how much home garbage is burned in burn barrels on your reservation. There are 5,000 homes on the reservation, you get back 500 surveys. From the surveys you find that 100 homes burn their garbage in burn barrels. The EPA estimates that each American produces 4.5 pounds of garbage a day. Your tribal housing office tells you that there is an average of 4 people living in each reservation home.

You look at the TEISS calculator and see that it asks for tons of municipal refuse burned. You want to estimate how much pollution is released by people burning garbage in burn barrels on your reservation each year.

» LESSON 1.5 Exercise Solution

End of Lesson 1.5

Lesson 1.4

Lesson 1.6