Last updated on 29 Aug 2019 09:29 (cf. Authors)
Short Description
| NFR-Code | Name of category | Method | AD | EF | Key Category | State of reporting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11.B | Forest Fires | CS, T2 | CS | D | not included in key category analysis |
Category 11.B – Forest fires include emissions from forest fires occurring naturally or caused by humans.
In Germany’s forests prescribed burning is not applied. Therefore, all forest fires are categorized as wildfires. - Note that emissions reported here are not accounted for the national totals.
Methods
For calculating the emissions of wildfires a country specific Tier2 approach was used. The mass of carbon emitted M(C) was calculated using the adapted equation follows the methodology of Seiler and Crutzen (1980) [4].
(1)where:
0.45 = average fraction of carbon in fuel wood;
A = forest area burnt in [m²];
B = mean above-ground biomass of fuel material per unit area in [kg/m²];
β = burning efficiency (fraction burnt) of the above-ground biomass.
The data on forest areas burnt for the period 1990 to 2016 have been taken from the German forest fire statistic (BLE, 2017) [1] managed by the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food. The mean above-ground biomass was derived for each year by linear extrapolation and interpolation between the German National Forest Inventorys of 1987, 2002, 2012 (Bundeswaldinventuren 1987, 2002, 2012) and the inventory study 2008 (Inventurstudie 2008). Pursuant to König (2007) [3], 80% of the forest fires in Germany are surface fires and 20% crown fires. In accordance to the IPCC Good Practice Guidance for LULUCF (2003) a burning efficiency of 0.15 was used for surface fires and an efficiency of 0.45 was used for crown fires.
The emissions for the pollutants were calculated by multiplying the mass of carbon with the respective emission factors from table 3-3 (EMEP/EEA, 2013) [2].
For the calculation of particulate emissions (TSP, PM10 and PM2.5) the burnt biomass was multiplied with the respective emission factors from table 3-5 (EMEP/EEA, 2013). Those particulate emission factors have been estimated by averaging the emission factors from the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA, 1996) [5] methodology, since no better information is available. Those emission factors are assumed to be the same for all types of forest.
The Guidebook does not indicate whether EFs have considered the condensable component (with or without).
As a first estimate black carbon emissions are reported the first time.
Activity data
The data on forest areas burnt for the period 1990 to 2017 are based on the German forest fire statistic (BLE, 2018) managed by the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food.
Table 1: Area of forest burnt, in [ha]| 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,606 | 920 | 4,908 | 1,493 | 1,114 | 592 | 1,381 | 599 | 397 | 415 | 581 | 122 | 122 | 1,315 |
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
| 274 | 183 | 482 | 256 | 539 | 757 | 522 | 214 | 269 | 199 | 120 | 526 | 283 | 395 |
Emission factors
For the year 2017 the estimated emission factors from table 2 were applied.
Table 2: Emission factors applied for 2017| Pollutant | EF2017 [kg/ha forest area burnt] |
|---|---|
| NOx | 145.47 |
| CO | 5,188.55 |
| NMVOC | 458.24 |
| SOx | 34.91 |
| NH3 | 39.28 |
| TSP | 824.35 |
| PM10 | 533.40 |
| PM2.5 | 436.42 |
| BC | 39.28 |