Compilation and application of Japanese inventories for energy consumption and air pollutant emissions using input-output tables.

Preparing emission inventories is essential to the assessment and management of our environment. In this study, Japanese air pollutant emissions, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions categorized by approximately 400 sectors (as classified by Japanese input-output tables in 1995) were estimated, and the contributions of each sector to the total amounts were analyzed. The air pollutants examined were nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), and suspended particulate matter (SPM). Consumptions of about 20 fossil fuels and five other fuels were estimated according to sector. Air pollutant emission factors for stationary sources were calculated from the results of a survey on air pollution prevention in Japan. Pollutant emissions from mobile sources were estimated taking into consideration vehicle types, traveling speeds, and distances. This work also counted energy supply and emissions from seven nonfossil fuel sources, including nonthermal electric power, and CO2 emissions from limestone (for example, during cement production). The total energy consumption in 1995 was concluded to be 18.3 EJ, and the annual total emissions of CO2, NOx, SOx, and SPM were, respectively, 343 Mt-C, 3.51 Mt, 1.87 Mt, and 0.32 Mt. An input-output analysis of the emission inventories was used to calculate the amounts of energy consumption and emissions induced in each sector by the economic final demand.