Emissions Intensity

Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar told the Lok Sabha on December 2 that India has submitted its INDCs which envisages reduction of carbon intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. He said India is a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). All parties to UNFCC have been requested to submit their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) towards addressing climate change, and India too apprised the UNFCC of its INDCs.

An emission intensity is the average emission rate of a given pollutant from a given source relative to the intensity of a specific activity; for example grams of carbon dioxide released per megajoule of energy produced, or the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions produced to gross domestic product (GDP). Emission intensities are used to derive estimates of air pollutant or greenhouse gas emissions based on the amount of fuel combusted, the number of animals in animal husbandry, on industrial production levels, distances traveled or similar activity data.

Emission intensities may also be used to compare the environmental impact of different fuels or activities. The related terms emission factor and carbon intensity are often used interchangeably, but "factors" exclude aggregate activities such as GDP, and "carbon" excludes other pollutants. One commonly used figure is carbon intensity per kilowatt, or CIPK, which is used to compare different sources of electrical power.

The distinction between absolute emissions and emissions intensity is fairly simple in concept, but may be confusing in practice. “Absolute emissions” is the common measure of emissions that is used by protocols and measuring standards. Emissions are quantified for some entity, for example a company, university, city, or country, and reported – usually in terms of tonnes of carbon dioxide. For example, if Ace Manufacturing Company reports that it produced one million tons of CO2 in 2003, it is reporting its absolute emissions.

Whereas absolute emissions quantifies the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced, emissions intensity reports the amount of emissions per some unit of economic output. This can be done for a company relative to the company’s total profits, or in terms of units of a good produced. For a country, emissions intensity might be calculated as tonnes of carbon dioxide relative to that country’s gross national product, according to GreenBiz.