Estimating local greenhouse gas emissions—A case study on a Portuguese municipality

Abstract This paper describes the study that led to the development of a carbon dioxide emissions matrix for the Oeiras municipality, one of the largest Portuguese municipalities, located in the metropolitan area of Lisbon. This matrix takes into account the greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, due to an increase of electricity demand in buildings as well as solid and liquid wastes treatment, from the domestic and services sectors. Using emission factors that were calculated from the relationship between the electricity produced and amount of treated wastes, the GHG emissions in the Oeiras municipality, were estimated for a time series of 6 years (1998–2003). The obtained results showed that the electricity sector accounts for about 75% of the municipal emissions in 2003. This study was developed in order to obtain tools to base options and actions to be undertaken by local authorities such as energy planning and also public information.