Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Industrial Process Heat (NPS:IGHG, NES:IGHG)

Important definitions

• Industrial process heat is defined as the thermal energy used in industrial processes, including manufacturing and processing of raw materials, or to grow plants (or other photosynthesising organisms) indoors.  

• Heat devices are defined as a device that produces industrial process heat (i.e. boiler, furnace or engine or other combustion device) but does not include a device that is not used for the primary purpose of generating heat (i.e. if a device is used for generating energy, it is not regulated by the NES:IGHG).

• Fossil fuels include – coal, diesel, liquid petroleum gas, oil, peat, plastic and used oil (or any derivative of these) but does not include biogas or biomass.

• The regulations affect industries that use fossil fuels in heat devices to generate industrial process heat, that produce greenhouse gas emissions. This may include for example:

• including in the manufacturing of products (metals, chemicals etc)
• processing of raw materials (milk into milk powder, wood pulp into paper, woolscour, fellmongery etc.
• horticulture when industrial heat is used to grow plants or other photosynthesising organisms indoors. Examples of process heat use include converting milk into powder and wood pulp into paper, and producing metals and chemicals (eg, methanol).

• The regulations do not apply to emissions from non-fossil fuels used in industrial processes (such as wood, solar), electricity generation, or industries using fossil fuel-fired heat devices to heat space and water heating in commercial buildings.

• Back up heat devices, which are a heat device which produces industrial process heat, operate for 400 hours or less each year and are only used when heat is required but cannot be produced by another heat device at the site (because of maintenance, an unexpected event or there is a temporary spike in demand) are not regulated.

• Heat devices being used in low-emission sites are also not regulated. Low-emissions sites are defined as a site that emits less than 500 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel burning heat devices (not including back up device).

• High-emission sites are sites that emit more than 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gases from a heat device per year. These require an additional level of information provided, where resource consent is triggered.

• Emission Impossible have provided a free calculator to help determine whether sites are considered low emission sites.

• How the regulations apply depends on whether the heat device is new or existing, what fuel it burns and what heat rate it burns at. See the decision tree below for how the regulations apply.