Terna is an electricity utility that operates solely in electricity transmission: it does not own thermoelectric plants, that are among the principal sources of greenhouse gas emissions. This explains why the company is not subject to obligations to reduce emissions according to Kyoto targets, nor to emission trading schemes of any type.
Nonetheless, Terna voluntarily focuses on the goal of monitoring and controlling its emissions, thus contributing to a solution for the problem of climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions linked to the company’s activities derive from:
- direct consumption of energy sources: petrol and diesel for cars, diesel for generators and heating, methane for heating;
- indirect consumption of energy sources: consumption of electricity for offices and station facilities;
- losses of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6): this greenhouse gas is used in station equipment for its high insulating capacity.
Losses of SF6 are the principal direct source of greenhouse gas emission by Terna. From 2008 to 2010, the amount present in Terna’s plants grew by 43 tons (+13.6%): a trend which will continue in the next few years for technical reasons related to the higher insulating performance of the gas and to a lower space occupation of the stations built with equipment containing SF6. The result will be an increasing trend in the absolute values of SF6 gas losses. Terna is committed to limiting the percentage of losses in relation to the quantity of gas installed. In 2010 the incidence of losses was equal to 0.73%
| TOTAL DIRECT AND INDIRECT EMISSIONS OF GREENHOUSE GASES - Tons of CO2 equivalent (1) |
2010 |
2009 |
2008 |
| Gasoline for vehicles |
|
|
|
| Gasoline for vehicles (2) |
493 |
483 |
626 |
| Gas oil for vehicles (3) |
5,520 |
5,368 |
5,462 |
| Gas oil for generating sets and heating |
954 |
983 |
853 |
| Methane for heating |
408 |
344 |
271 |
| Leakagei SF6 |
63,223 |
71,828 |
81,499 |
| Total direct emissions |
70,597 |
79,007 |
88,710 |
| |
|
|
|
| Indirect emissions |
|
|
|
| Electricity |
81,700 |
75,680 |
80,350 |
| Total emissionis |
152,297 |
154,687 |
169,061 |
(1) The conversion of direct consumption into emissions of CO2 equivalent is made using the parameters specified by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG) Initiative. For indirect consumption of electricity, the conversion is made taking into account the weight of thermoelectric production in total Italian electricity in 2010. The reference for the breakdown of the production mix is the “Monthly report on the electricity system” for December 2010, which is available online at www.terna.it. The GWh produced by the photovoltaic plants sold to TerraFirma did not entail CO2 emissions.
(2) The 2008 values include the emissions of Terna Partecipações. For Italy alone total direct emissions in 2008 amounted 87,890 tons of CO2 equivalent, while total indirect emissions amounted to 79,484 tons of CO2 equivalent.
(3) The emissions shown in the table regard the consumption the vehicles of Terna’s fleet that during the period in question refueled at least once according to the fuel documents. Only operating vehicles, and not managerial ones, are considered. The CO2 data for 2009 and 2008 were reclassified in light of the new boundary of data recording.