About this Manual

The aggregated emissions manuals complement the NPI Industry handbooks, and are intended to enable State and Territory Governments to estimate emissions from non-industrial activities (e.g. transportation, domestic and commercial activities) and emissions from industry which are not reported because the relevant thresholds are not exceeded.

This manual provides guidance on the estimation of aggregated emissions from prescribed burning (fuel reduction, regeneration and agricultural) and wildfires. These activities can make significant contributions to regional or airshed emissions of a number of substances listed in the NEPM for the NPI, especially particulate matter, metals, carbon monoxide and 1,3-butadiene. Emissions from prescribed burning and wildfires may vary greatly from year to year due to annual variations in the total areas and fuel quantities which are burned, which in turn may be significantly affected by the climatic conditions prevailing in the preceding seasons.

First published in September 1999
National Pollutant Inventory
Environment Australia

Application of the Manual

Each of the aggregated emissions manuals provides details of:

• the NPI substances that are expected to be emitted from the relevant aggregated source type;
• the origins or sources of the emissions, and the processes that may generate them;
• the impacts of any control equipment or procedures on those emissions;
• the broad approaches that may be employed in the estimation and spatial allocation of emissions;
• details of emission factors to be used in the estimation of emissions; and
• a series of illustrative sample calculations for each estimation technique.