Outputs from Emissions Modeling

Description of Outputs

Name	Resolution	Unit	XML Tag
Emissions (CO₂)	Technology, Region³, and Year	MtC/year	`emissions`
Emissions (non-CO₂)^1,2	Technology, Region³, and Year	Various⁴	`emissions`
Resource production emissions (CO₂)	Subresource, Region, and Year	MtC/year	`emissions`
Resource production emissions (non-CO₂)	Subresource, Region, and Year	MtC/year	`emissions`
Land use change emissions	By GLU and land type	MtC / year	`land-use-change-emission`
Change in above ground carbon	By GLU and land type	MtC / year	`above-land-use-change-emission`
Change in below ground carbon	By GLU and land type	MtC / year	`below-land-use-change-emission`
CO₂ Sequestration⁶	Technology, Region³, and Year	MtC / year	`emissions-sequestered`

Outputs are specified in the startVisitGHG⁵ and startVisitCarbonCalc methods of xml_db_outputter.cpp.

Note that the query “CO₂ emissions by region” represents gross CO₂ emissions for a region and is equal to the sum of all emissions from “CO₂ emissions by tech (excluding resource production)” and all emissions from “CO₂ emissions by resource production”. A region’s net CO₂ emissions can be calculated by adding “CO₂ emissions by region” and “LUC emissions by region”.

1: A full list of gases included in GCAM is provided on the emissions page.
2: There is a long list of standard queries that report emissions outputs. The "nonCO2 emissions by tech (excluding resource production)" and "CO2 emissions by tech (excluding resource production)" queries listed above will report all emissions except for land use change CO₂ and emissions from resource production at the technology level. The other queries filter or aggregate those outputs. For example, the "CO2 emissions by region" query aggregates emissions to the region level for fossil fuel and industrial CO₂ only.
3: Emissions are reported at the regional resolution of the sector. See Regional Resolution
4: Units vary. Fluorinated gas emissions are reported in Gg of the specific gas per year. All other emissions are reported in Tg of the specific gas per year (e.g., CH₄ emissions are reported in TgCH₄ / yr).
5: While the method is called startVisitGHG, it includes non-GHG emissions. However, land use change CO₂ emissions are not included in this method.
6: There are two emissions sequestration queries. The "CO2 sequestration by tech" query listed above will return CO₂ sequestration by technology, while "CO2 sequestration by sector" aggregates this to the sector level.