Keeping Up with the Latest Trends

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its latest national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory.  While this 463-page document makes for an easy, breezy beach read, we thought we’d touch on some of the key points…

 

• In 2008, total U.S. GHG emissions were about 6,960 Tg carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalents.  There’s some good news and bad news here.  The bad news is that since 1990, emissions have risen 14%.  The good news is that since 2007, emissions have declined 3%.  (This decline is thought to be due to the rather pricey gasoline costs we saw in 2008.  Also, electricity demand decreased in 2008, due to the increase in the cost of fuels used to generate electricity.)

 

• In 2008, total sequestration in the U.S. (what we, for lack of a better term, ‘sucked up’) was 940 Tg CO₂.  This sink represents an offset of 14% of total GHG emissions in 2008.  This sequestration came mainly from our forests – even those in urban places like Arlington, so hug a tree near you! 

 

• By source category (as established by the International Panel on Climate Change), energy-related emissions (those related to stationary and mobile energy), accounted for 86% of the country’s total emissions.  About 84% of this energy came from fossil fuels.

The report is also full of interesting source and sink trend data for specific GHG for those of you more partial to methane or nitrous oxide.  (Hydrofluorocarbons, anyone?).  It also provides detailed graphs and tables for those of you who prefer a more visual approach, and breaks emissions down by source category, as well as economic sectors. 

 

Though certainly not a quick read (okay, so maybe not bedtime story material), this report contains invaluable data and it’s certainly worth checking out the still-very-detailed executive summary. This should give you a good idea of the latest trends in GHG emissions.  Enjoy!

 

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/downloads10/US-GHG-Inventory-2010_ExecutiveSummary.pdf

Comments

[John Morrill]

Nice post, Laura!