About GID-Power Emission Database >

The GID-Power Emission Database (GPED) provides CO₂ and air pollutant emissions as well as underlying information of global fossil fuel- and biomass-burning power-generating plants. GPED is based on the integration of different global and regional power plant database such as World Electric Power Plants (WEPP) database (S&P Global Platts, 2020), Global Energy Monitor (https://globalenergymonitor.org/), eGRID (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2018), Electric Power Industry Statistic Compilation (China Electricity Council, 2017), and ICPD (Lu et al., 2012 and 2013). We compiled, combined, and harmonized the available data related to power-generating units burning coal, natural gas, oil, biomass or other fuels from database described above, and filled data gaps with modelled emissions.

The GPED provides up-to-date elementary information and high-resolution emissions from global power plants, which includes plant-level, national, and regional capacity and age information, as well as anthropogenic emissions of CO₂ and various air pollutants (SO₂, NO_x, primary PM, VOCs, CO, black carbon, and organic carbon). For elementary information which is obtained from collaborators’ database and restricted by user’s license (e.g., WEPP), we provide cross-links to the original database. Users can purchase the relevant database and merge with GPED to get complete information at plant level.

The GPED v1.0 encompasses global generating plants that burn coal, oil, natural gas, biomass, or other fuels with their emissions of CO₂, SO₂, NO_x and primary PM_2.5 as of 2010. The GPED v1.0 is based on the WEPP database (S&P Global Platts, 2020) to compile the basic operational information of generators, and replaced basic information and also added emissions data for plants operating in the U.S., China and India using the more comprehensive and reliable data contained in the regional databases eGRID (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2018), CPED (Liu et al., 2015; Tong et al., 2018) and ICPD (Lu et al., 2012 and 2013), respectively. The GPED v1.0 dataset provides number of units, fuel types, and emissions in 2010 for each power plant. It also provides capacity, age distribution, technology penetration, and fuel quality by country and by region.

The GPED v1.1 includes a consistent time series of emissions and underlying information for global fossil fuel- and biomass-fired power plants by integrating several global and regional databases. Compared to GPED v1.0, data from Global Energy Monitor and Electric Power Industry Statistic Compilation (China Electricity Council, 2017) were supplemented. Capacity, age structure, and CO₂ emissions of global power plants in 2019 are provided at this moment. Emissions of air pollutants and emissions for other years will be available once they are finished.

The GID team will timely update air pollutants and carbon dioxide emission inventory and continuously provide high-quality data products by integrating more high-resolution local datasets. If you are looking for more detailed emissions and potential collaboration, please contact us.

If you have any questions, please contact gid@tsinghua.edu.cn.

Related references

S&P Global Platts., World Electric Power Plant Database, 2020, available from https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/products-services/electric-power.

Global Energy monitor., 2020, available from https://globalenergymonitor.org/.

United States Environmental Protection Agency., The Emissions and Generation Resource Integrated Database, 2018, available from https://www.epa.gov/egrid.

Liu, F., Q. Zhang, D. Tong, B. Zheng, M. Li, H. Huo and K. He (2015), High-resolution inventory of technologies, activities, and emissions of coal-fired power plants in China from 1990 to 2010, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 13299-13317.

Tong, D., Q. Zhang, F. Liu, G. Geng, Y. Zheng, T. Xue, C. Hong, R. Wu, Y. Qin, H. Zhao, L. Yan and K. He (2018), Current Emissions and Future Mitigation Pathways of Coal-Fired Power Plants in China from 2010 to 2030, Environ. Sci. Technol., 52, 12905-12914.

Lu, Z and D. Streets (2012), Increase in NO_x emissions from Indian thermal power plants during 1996-2010: unit-based inventories and multisatellite observations, Environ. Sci. Technol., 46, 7463-7470.

Lu, Z., D. Streets, B. Foy and N. Krotkov (2013), Ozone Monitoring Instrument observations of interannual increases in SO₂ emissions from Indian coal-fired power plants during 2005-2012, Environ. Sci. Technol., 47, 13993-14000.

China Electricity Council, Electric Power Industry Statistic Compilation, 2017.

Development History >

The development of GID-Power Emission Database started in 2018 and we keep tracking and updating infrastructure changes and related emissions periodically. Two versions of GPED have been developed now by iterative update.

• In January 2018, GPED v1.0 product was released publicly. This online dataset provides basic information of global fossil-fuel- and biomass-burning power-generating units and related CO₂, SO₂, NO_x and primary PM_2.5 emissions in 2010 with different aggregated levels (region-level data for unit information, technology penetration, fuel quality, emission factor and emissions of coal-, gas- and oil-fired power units, country-level data for emissions, and plant-level for capacity and related emissions).
• In February 2021, GPED v1.1 product is released. Now GPED v1.1 provides basic information of global fossil-fuel- and biomass-burning power-generating units and related CO₂ emissions in 2019 with different aggregated levels (global summary data for number of plants, total capacity and CO₂ emissions, region-level and country-level data for capacity, age and CO₂ emissions, and plant-level data). Emissions of air pollutants and emissions for other years will be available once they are finished.

Readme >

• All GPED products are restricted to non-commercial purposes. Any uses of GPED products by business organizations are regarded as commercial purposes which need prior authorization.
• Any papers, reports or products using the GPED data should cite the related publications and websites of GID completely, please see HOW TO CITE.

Data Download >

GPED v1.1

Global Summary v1.1

GPED v1.0

How to cite >

Using GPED product should cite GID website (http://gidmodel.org.cn/) and the following paper:

Tong, D., Q. Zhang, S. J. Davis, F. Liu, B. Zheng, G. Geng, T. Xue, M. Li, C. Hong, Z. Lu, D. G. Streets, D. Guan and K. He (2018), Targeted emission reductions from global super-polluting power plant units, Nat. Sustain., 1, 59-68.