GID-Power
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, NOx, 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.
Construction of the GID-Power Emission Database >
The GPED is developed by using multisource data fusion technologies, which is firstly obtained from the WEPP database to compile unit-based information of power generators in service and out of service for the historical time series, providing information on the physical address, specific fuel type, installed capacity, start year of operation, and retirement year of global power-generating units. Next, another database of GEM database is integrated to fill the missing unit information of physical address, installed capacity, status, and starting year of operation by mapping with the WEPP databases. Further, the GPED combines and harmonizes the more comprehensive and reliable data contained in regional databases, such as the eGRID and ICPD. As for the geographical locations (exact latitudes and longitudes) of power plants, a semi-supervised object detection model based on YOLOv7 for image search is developed to identifying the power plants, and then map to the GPED list by physical address and capacity size. Automatic (i.e., Connecting Text and Images, CLIP) and manual cross check (i.e., Google Earth) is finally conducted for verifying the exact locations of power plants. The GPED will be updated and improved as more and better data become available.
Estimates of unit-based emissions >
Unit information related to the estimates of CO2 and air pollutant emissions from above-mentioned global and regional data sets is integrated. Where available, we directly adopt unit-based emissions from existing databases. For unit-level emissions for remaining power units contained in the GPED, the estimates of emissions depend on modeled unit-based activity rates and emission factors. Unit-level activity rates are estimated by a function of installed capacity, electric efficiency, and annual operating hours, with the constraint of country-level fuel consumption from the International Energy Agency (IEA). CO2 emission factors are quantified according to guidelines from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The unabated air pollutant emission factors unavailable from existing databases are derived in various ways. The unabated SO2 emission factors of coal and oil-fired power units and the unabated PM emission factors of coal power units are estimated by a mass balance approach based on the sulfur content and ash content of fuels. The remaining unabated air pollutant emission factors are collected from USEPA AP-42, EMEP, and literature. Emission factors for SO2, NOx, and PM can be substantially reduced by the installation and operation of end-of-pipe control technologies, primarily determined by environmental policies varying by country, fuel type, and past decades. Annual end-of-pipe control technologies are estimated by developing the technology evolution model, which reflects the effect of environmental policies.
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 NOx 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, NOx and primary PM2.5 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 was 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.
- In September 2023, GPED v1.2 product is released. Now GPED v1.2 provides basic information and related CO2 emissions of global fossil-fuel- and biomass-burning power-generating units in 1990-2020 with different aggregated levels (global summary data for total capacity and CO2 emissions, region-level and country-level data for capacity, age and CO2 emissions, and plant-level data). It is noted that cross-checked satellite images for power plants with a total capacity ≥100 MW (accounting for 81.6% of total global capacity) is also accessible. Emissions of air pollutants for corresponding 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
| Region | Data Year | Number of Plants | Total Capacity (GW) | Coal CO2 (Mt) | Oil CO2 (Mt) | Gas CO2 (Mt) | Biomass CO2 (Mt) | Other CO2 (Mt) | Total CO2 (Mt) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World | 2019 | 34224 | 4128 | 9654 | 548 | 3078 | 509 | 147 | 13936 |
| Region- and country-level | By region | By country |
| Plant-level | Plant |
| Grid-level | Grid_CO2 |
GPED v1.0
| Region- and country-level | By region | By Country |
| Plant-level | Plant |
| Grid-level | Grid_CO2 | Grid_SO2 | Grid_NOx | Grid_PM2.5 |
How to cite >
Using GPED product should cite GID website (http://gidmodel.org.cn/) and the following paper:
Qin, X., D. Tong, F. Liu, R. Wu, B. Zheng, Y. Zheng, J. Liu, R. Xu, C. Chen, L. Yan and Q. Zhang (2022), Global and regional drivers of power plant CO2 emissions over the last three decades revealed from unit-based database, Earth’s Future., 10, 1–18.
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.