Thus the evaluation of whether or not the countries have achieved their reduction targets is based on the official reports by the countries that are signatories to the UNFCCC ('United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change'). If they report reduced emissions they're sitting pretty; if not, they are pilloried.
This could change soon. Pollutant analyses by Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, - at the Jungfraujoch research station at 3580 metres above sea level, among others - using a special gas chromatograph mass spectrometer called 'MEDUSA' not only enables the emission levels of more than 50 halogenated GHG to be quickly and precisely evaluated; they also make it possible to identify the emission sources regionally, thanks to atmospheric and meteorological computer models. The sobering result: Western Europe emits around twice as much HFC-23 as officially reported. A corresponding study was recently published in the journal 'Geophysical Research Letters'.
"Our results show that these types of measurements really are suitable for checking compliance with international agreements on air pollution control", says Empa researcher Stefan Reimann from the 'Air Pollution/Environmental Technology' laboratory. It is true that the Kyoto Protocol did not specify any independent control mechanisms; this could, however, be of central importance in subsequent agreements with binding emission targets.
The usual suspects?
The suspicion that some countries have not been overly precise in reporting their GHG emissions has been around for some time; projections from measurements of the world-wide AGAGE network ('Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment') showed significantly higher readings than officially reported. Reimann: "It was assumed that, above all, China and some developing countries did not correctly report their emissions levels."
For example emissions of HFC-23, with an atmospheric half life of approximately 270 years an extremely long-lived GHG - and with a global warming potential 15,000 times greater than CO2 a particularly potent one. HFC-23 is produced as a by-product in the manufacture of chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22), which is used as a cooling and foaming agent and in Teflon production. The advantage of HFC-23 is that it is almost exclusively emitted by HCFC-22 manufacturers. And there were just six of them in Western Europe in 2008. Reimann: "That means we exactly know our point sources." Read the full report here.
Source: Physorg.com.
