Discover the Acea Group online 2019 Sustainability Report

Air emissions

Atmospheric emissions from Acea plants are constantly monitored. In particular, in the waste-to-energy plants it is carried out by means of fixed and mobile stations that sample and analyse the fumes coming out of the chimneys, measuring numerous parameters that are periodically checked by internal personnel and certified by qualified external laboratories. Again in 2019, the values of the main pollutants were also significantly below the legal limits (see table no. 62). The principle of precaution still applies, as well as seeking out technological solutions with increasing performance from the emission quality viewpoint.

The waste-to-energy plants, managed according to the UNI EN ISO 14001 and OHSAS 1800:2007 standards, are registered according to the European EMAS III scheme, extended until 2021. In particular, at the San Vittore del Lazio plant persistent pollutant monitoring (POP) was conducted in 2019 to verify the current state of soil contamination levels. Other actions carried out include surveys of odorous emissions, the monitoring of diffuse and fugitive emissions, n assessment of external noise impacts and an epidemiological study on the population concerned aimed at detecting possible effects on public health. No critical issues were identified.

TABLE NO. 62 – AIR EMISSIONS FROM THE SAN VITTORE DEL LAZIO AND TERNI WASTE-TO-ENERGY PLANTS (2017-2019)

		*San Vittore del Lazio plant ^()**				Terni plant ^(*)
pollutant	m.u.	benchmark ^(**)	2017	2018	2019	benchmark ^()**	2017	2018	2019
HCl	mg/Nm³	8	0.053	0.184	0.151	8	4.002	4.499	3.580
NO_x	mg/Nm³	70	18.089	28.273	29.652	180	134.274	140.157	128.650
SO₂	mg/Nm³	40	0.014	0.006	0.003	25	0.490	0.194	0.430
HF	mg/Nm³	1	0.011	0.021	0.023	1	0.122	0.084	0.080
CO	mg/Nm³	40	1.447	1.320	0.803	25	1.018	1.084	1.140
total particles (particulate matter)	mg/Nm³	3	0.006	0.006	0.007	25	0.678	0.705	0.790
PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)	mg/Nm³	0.01	0.00001	0.00002	0.00001	0.01	0.0001	0.0001	0.0000
dioxins and furans (PCDD +PCDF)	ng/Nm³	0.1	0.0047	0.0065	0.0074	0.1	0.0173	< 0.001	0.0087
heavy metals (Sb, As, Pb, Cr, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, V)	mg /Nm³	0.5	0.0262	0.0253	0.0387	0.3	0.109	0.204	0.033

^(*) The analysis of PAH, dioxins and furans and heavy metals and their composites are four-monthly and discontinuous. The “<” symbol identifies the concentration values that are equal to or below the thresholds that the devices used by the laboratory are capable of measuring.
^(**) Reference parameters, Legislative Decree no. 46/2014, 2000/76/EC and AIA, are separate for each waste-to-energy plant.
NOTE For San Vittore del Lazio, over the years the recorded concentrations of the parameters HCl, SO2, dust and HF were close to the instrument’s detection limit. Therefore, in these measurement areas deviations are to be considered insignificant for absolute changes in concentrations and masses.

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

The international document Greenhouse Gas Protocol (or GHG Protocol) classifies greenhouse gas emissions into three types:

Scope 1 emissions: direct greenhouse gas emissions;
Scope 2 emissions: indirect greenhouse gas emissions;
Scope 3 emissions: other indirect greenhouse gas emissions.

Acea quantifies its CO₂ emissions by assessing the carbon footprint of individual macro production processes according to the guidelines of the GHG Protocol¹³⁴. Indeed, as mentioned above, it participates in the annual completion of the international questionnaire on carbon dioxide emissions, the so-called “CDP”.

Direct Scope 1 emissions mainly come from the Group’s energy plants and thermoelectric power plants. They also include emissions from the heating process, dryers, certain processes in composting plants, vehicles in the fleet (with reference to petrol and diesel engines) and lastly from sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆) losses that can occur at Areti plants and from freon gases in air conditioners.

The figure for CO₂ emitted by the waste-to-energy plants in 2019 decreased, mainly due to lower production at San Vittore del Lazio related to maintenance delays.

Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions are indirect, deriving from the consumption of electricity and also kept under control. In 2019 the increases mainly depended on Gori’s acquisition of the plants previously managed by the Campania Region.

Finally, Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions are other indirect emissions deriving from the sale of gas, the purchase of goods, services and works, from employee travel for work and commuting by employees are reported (see table no. 65 below).

With regard to Scope 3 emissions, Acea has been monitoring its suppliers for some years now, so that they are aware of the environmental impact and estimates the data relating to the movements of employees. In particular, Acea distributes a questionnaire to know emissions along the supply chain. In
2019 the questionnaire was administered to 117 suppliers¹³⁵ divided between suppliers of “goods”, “services and works”. Quantitative environmental information requested refers to: fuels consumed for any ordinary processes and uses, energy consumed in offices, fuels consumed for transport and any
consumption of refrigerant gases (see the sections on Energy consumption outside the Group and Greenhouse gas emissions and also the chapter on Suppliers). This year, 40 suppliers responded with environmental data, including 12 for “goods” and 28 for “services and works”.

Three Group plants, specifically the waste-to-energy plant in Terni and the thermoelectric plants in Montemartini and Tor di Valle, are subject to the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS). The allowances assigned under the NAP (National Allocation Plan) framework, in compared to the actual emissions registered in the three-year period 2017-2019, are shown in table no. 63.

TABLE NO. 63 – CO₂ EMISSION ALLOWANCES AS PER THE NATIONAL ALLOCATION PLAN (NAP) AND ACTUAL EMISSIONS BY PLANT (2017-2019)

	2017		2018		2019
system	(t)
	assigned by NAP	actual	assigned by NAP	actual	assigned by NAP	actual
Tor di Valle ^(*)	6,869	33,507	5.805	42,281	4,775	46,617 ^(**)
Montemartini	0	2,278	0	607	0	1,514
Terni waste-to-energy plant	0	118,653	0	114,093	0	109,369 ^(**)

^(*) As with previous years, in 2019 the applicable legislative framework allowed the Tor di Valle plant to benefit from free of charge emission allowances (4,775 t) as it serves
a remote heating network. The 2018 figure for actual emissions has been adjusted with the certified figure.
^(**) Estimated emissions, pending certification by the responsible body.

INTENSITY INDICES FOR GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

One of the monitored intensity indices for greenhouse gas emissions (see table no. 65) concerns Scope 2 carbon dioxide emissions, deriving from leaks in the electricity distribution network, in respect to the total electricity distributed. This index has improved further, changing from 0.0113 t/ MWh in 2018 to 0.0112 t/MWh in 2019, in line with the continuous decrease in relative leaks in the network (technical leaks/distributed electricity).

With regard to other atmospheric emissions, and in particular to the most significant macro-pollutants due to the main production processes of Acea Ambiente and Acea Produzione plants, see the summary data in table no. 64. They show a substantial decrease after 2017 in NO_x (nitrogen oxide) thanks to the transformation of the Tor Di Valle plant from a combined cycle to a high-efficiency plant (CAR). The other data is in line with the previous values and continues to be monitored.

TABLE NO. 64 – ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS: CO2 EMISSIONS, GREENHOUSE GAS INTENSITY INDICES AND VEHICLE EMISSIONS (2017-2019)

	2017	2018	2019
EMISSIONS	(t)
CO	6.81	6.38	7.02
NO_x	198.20	189.4	188.19
SO_x	0.42	0.16	0.33
Particles (particulate matter)	0.55	0.50	0.60

NOTE The emissions refer to the following companies.

Monitoring carried out on installations at risk¹³⁶ has shown the absence of emissions in significant quantities of substances responsible for reducing the ozone layer (for consumption see the Environmental accounts, Resources used).

TABLE NO. 65 – ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS: CO₂ EMISSIONS, GREENHOUSE GAS INTENSITY INDICES AND VEHICLE EMISSIONS (2017-2019)

CO₂EMISSIONS
SCOPE 1 EMISSIONS
FROM ENERGY PRODUCTION PLANTS
	m.u.	2017	2018	2019
CO₂ emissions from Acea Produzione thermoelectric plants	t	33,507	42,888	48,131
CO₂ emissions from Acea Ambiente waste-to-energy plants(*)	t	375,159	307,395	290,591
FROM WASTE MANAGEMENT, ENERGY DISTRIBUTION, HEATING PLANTS AND VEHICLE FLEET
^{CO₂ emissions from waste management plants(**)}	t	932	1,076	1,282
^{CO₂ emissions from water plant dryers(***)}	t	2,901	3,958	5,620
^{CO₂ emissions from heating(***)}	t	1,008	764	840
CO₂ emissions from vehicle fleet	t	9,753	9,407	8,314
^{CO₂ emissions from Areti plants (from SF6)(****)}	t	14,100	11,233	9,682
^{CO₂ emissions from refrigerants (HCFCs)(*****)}	t	-	46	0
^{TOTAL SCOPE 1 EMISSIONS(**)}	t	437,360	376,767	364.460
SCOPE 2 EMISSIONS
CO₂ emissions from location based consumption of electricity consumption (market based)(*******)	t	363,678 (214,869)	337,858 (203,841)	354,811 (228,590)
SCOPE 3 EMISSIONS
CO₂ emissions deriving from the purchase of goods/services and works(********)	t	24,134	22,805	22,303
CO₂ emissions from commuting	t	3,286	4,088	7,060
CO₂ emissions from business travel	t	152	160	288
CO₂ emissions from volumes of gas sold	t	203,085	252,987	275,580
INTENSITY INDICES FOR GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
intensity indices of the GHG emissions	m.u.	2017	2018	2019
CO₂ emissions (Scope 1 + Scope 2)/Acea Group added value	(t/k€)	0.809	0,666	0.598
^{Scope 1 CO₂ emissions/gross production(*********)}	(g/kWh)	487.7	361.7	374.6
^{Scope 2 CO₂ emissions deriving from losses on the electrical energy distribution network/distributed GWh(*********)}	(t/MWh)	0.0115	0.0113	0.0112

^(*) The 2018 figure for Terni was corrected after the ETS certification, while the 2019 figure is estimated pending certification by a third-party body.
^(**) The figure includes the emissions of the ancillary services of the waste-to-energy plants, not strictly related to the production of electricity, and since 2018 non-biogenic emissions from the combustion of locally produced biogas.
^(***) The figures for 2017 and 2018 have been restated to include Gori and to align the figures with the items in the Environmental Accounts.
^(****) These are the tonnes of equivalent CO₂ corresponding to the emissions of insulating SF6 present in Areti’s HV equipment (1 t di SF₆ equates to 23,500 t of CO₂, GHG Protocol-5th Assessment Report- AR5).
^(*****) In 2019 the replenishment of HCFC fluids in the Group’s plants was so small that it did not lead to significant CO₂ emissions.
^(******) Considering the entire Group, the total scope 1 emissions for the three-year period are as follows: 439,353 t, 378,671 t and 366,371 t.
^(*******) The indirect emissions (scope 2) include all the Companies within the NFS scope. The figures for 2017 and 2018 have been restated to include Gori. As an emission factor per unit of electricity consumed (t CO₂/MWh), for the location-based calculation the value of 0.36 was used, as per Terna’s “International comparisons” document (2018 data). For the calculation of Scope 2 emissions using the Market-Based method, the Residual Mix coefficients are respectively for 2017, 2018 and 2019: 0.465 t/MWh, 0.476 t/MWh and 0.487 (Source: AIB document “European Residual Mixes 2018”). Considering the whole Group, including the companies Umbra Acque, AdF, Publiacqua e Acque (outside the NFS scope), for the sole proprietary quota part of Acea, for the three-year period 2017-2019, di Location based CO2 emissions are equal to 415,853 t, 390,552 t and 407,086 t respectively, whereas for the Market-based emissions they are equal to 282,262 t, 272,502 t and 298,856 t.
^(********) This value, estimated, refers to suppliers of goods, services and works. The figure for 2018 was corrected. The 2019 figure is broken down as follows: 19,050 tonnes of CO₂ for suppliers of services and works and 3,253 tonnes of CO₂ for suppliers of goods.
^(*********) Since 2018, the emissions of scope 1 included in this index have been emissions from power generation plants.
^(**********) Network losses considered for Score 2 emissions and for calculating the indicator regarding the three-year period 2017-2019, are as follows: 124,479 t, 120,450 t and 118,824 t (due to the technical leakage of electricity from the network). The trend has decreased, albeit minimally, thanks to the reduction of network losses, the result of interventions, measures and efficiency improvements.
NOTE Emission factors for Scope 1 emissions are taken from the standard parameters – ISPRA data 2018, DEFRA 2018 and GHG Protocol-5th Assessment Report-AR5.

¹³⁴ See www.ghgprotocol.org for more information.
¹³⁵ The suppliers to whom the form was sent requesting data concerning the consumption of electricity and CO2 emissions (in order to quantify the Group’s Scope 3 type
emissions) were identified, as was already done in the past three years, among the most relevant in terms of turnover.
¹³⁶ This is primarily air conditioning equipment using refrigerant gases subject to the 1987 Montreal protocol, particularly chlorofluorocarbons.

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