U.S greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 1.6% from 2010 to 2011

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Greentech Lead America: U.S. greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 1.6 percent from 2010 to 2011, according to the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks.

In 2011, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions totaled 6,702 million metric tons CO2Eq.  Greenhouse gas emissions in 2011 were 6.9 percent below 2005 levels.

The reduction in emission is attributed to multiple factors including reduced emissions from electricity generation, improvements in fuel efficiency in vehicles with reductions in miles traveled, and year-to-year changes in the prevailing weather, the report said.

In 2011, total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions were 6,702.3 Tg or million metric tons CO2 Eq. Total U.S. emissions have increased by 8.4 percent from 1990 to 2011, and emissions decreased from 2010 to 2011 by 1.6 percent (108.0 Tg CO2 Eq.).

Since 1990, U.S. emissions have increased at an average annual rate of 0.4 percent.

As the largest contributor to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuel combustion has accounted for approximately 78 percent of global warming potential (GWP) weighted emissions since 1990, from 77 percent of total GWP-weighted emissions in 1990 to 79 percent in 2011.

Emissions from this source category grew by 11.1 percent (528.7 Tg CO2 Eq.) from 1990 to 2011 and were responsible for most of the increase in national emissions during this period. From 2010 to 2011, these emissions decreased by 2.4 percent (130.9 Tg CO2 Eq.).

Historically, changes in emissions from fossil fuel combustion have been the dominant factor affecting U.S. emission trends. This is influenced by several factors including population and economic growth, energy price fluctuations, technological changes, and seasonal temperatures.

From 2008 to 2009, CO2 from fossil fuel combustion emissions experienced a decrease of 6.6 percent, the greatest decrease of any year over the course of the twenty-year period. Various factors contributed to this decrease in emissions. The continued economic downturn resulted in a 3.1 percent decrease in GDP, and a decrease in energy consumption across all sectors.

From 2009 to 2010, CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion increased by 3.6 percent, which represents one of the largest annual increases in CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion for the twenty one-year period. This increase is primarily due to an increase in economic output 2009 to 2010, where total industrial production and manufacturing output increased by 5.4 and 6.3 percent, respectively (FRB 2011).

From 2010 to 2011, CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion decreased by 2.4 percent mainly due to decrease in coal consumption, increased in natural gas consumption, a significant increase in hydropower, decrease in transportation-related energy consumption due to higher fuel costs, and relatively mild winter conditions resulting in an overall decrease in energy demand in most sectors.

editor@greentechlead.com

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