NGER incidental emissions and energy are small amounts that regulation 4.27 of the NGER Regulations allows a reporter to include in its report as an estimated figure. The estimate must be consistent with the general principles in section 1.13 of the Measurement Determination: transparency, comparability, accuracy and completeness.
Key points
- Regulation 4.27 allows incidental amounts to be reported as estimates
- Estimates must follow the general principles in section 1.13
- Limits apply per source, per fuel and in total
- Not available where another law requires the information
The limits
| Type | Limit |
|---|---|
| Fuel combustion emissions, in total | 12 kt CO2-e or less |
| Each individual non-combustion source | 3 kt CO2-e or less |
| All non-combustion sources, in total | 12 kt CO2-e or less |
| Energy, per fuel or energy commodity | Less than 30 TJ |
| Energy, all fuels in total | Less than 120 TJ |
For fuel combustion, total Scope 1 and total Scope 2 emissions must each be 12 kt CO2-e or less.
The condition
Incidental treatment is available only where the information is not required to be collected or provided under any other Commonwealth, state or territory law.
Why it matters
Asset-intensive operations often have many small sources alongside a few large ones. Incidental treatment lets measurement effort go to the sources that drive the total, while the estimate still has to stand up to the Measurement Determination’s principles. The Regulator recommends keeping records of the methods used and the reasons they were selected.
A separate option for small facilities
Incidental treatment is different from aggregated facility reporting. The Regulator’s guidance allows facilities to be reported as an aggregate where each emits less than 25 kt CO2-e, produces and consumes less than 100 TJ of energy, and all share one ANZSIC industry code within one state or territory.
Keeping it current
Typical candidates are minor sources at a site whose main emissions come from diesel, gas or electricity, such as small quantities of LPG used in a workshop. Each incidental source still needs to be tested against the limits every year, because a source that grows past a limit must then be estimated with a Measurement Determination method.
References & sources
Primary regulatory documents and authoritative references underpinning this answer.