Assessment of carbon dioxide emission factors from power generation in Burkina Faso

Power generation is the second largest source of greenhouse gases (GHGs), particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), in Burkina Faso's energy sector. When preparing the National Communications on Climate Change, Burkina Faso uses the default emission factors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to estimate emissions from power generation. This study presents an assessment of CO2 emission factors from power generation for 2018 in Burkina Faso and an assessment of the contribution of renewable energy to the reduction of CO2 emissions. The national electricity company of Burkina Faso was chosen as the scope for this study. The estimation of emission factors for combustion is based on an analysis of fuels which are characterised in terms of molecular composition, density and water content. For CO2, the emission factor is 76 903 kg/TJ for the combustion of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) and 73 525 kg/TJ for that of Distillate Diesel Oil (DDO). Using these emission factors, the CO2 emissions attributable to power generation in 2018 were estimated at almost 580 Gg. The CO2 emission factor for thermal power generation was estimated at 0.663 kg/kWh and that of the electricity generation mix at 0.569 kg/kWh. Finally, the use of 14.25% renewable energy in electricity generation avoided 16.7% of CO2 emissions in 2018. The emission factor of electricity production decreases with the increase in the share of renewable energy in the energy mix.