Download PDF
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released what it describes as a 29th annual report titled:
Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks Inventory (“Report”)
The Report provides a national-level overview of annual greenhouse gas emissions from 1990-2020.
Gases that trap the heat in the atmosphere are typically denominated “greenhouse gases.” EPA lists as greenhouse gases:
- Carbon dioxide – 79%
- Methane – 11%
- Nitrous Oxide – 7%
- Fluorinated gases – 3%
The Report states that net United States greenhouse gas emissions were 5,222.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020. This is stated to be almost an 11 percent decrease in emissions from 2019. However, EPA indicates that the decline from 2019 to 2020 is principally due to the impacts of COVID-19 on both travel and economic activity. Nevertheless, the federal agency contends that it also reflects other factors such as:
- Population trends
- Energy market trends
- Technological changes such as energy efficiency improvements
- Carbon intensity of energy fuel choices
Changes to the annual Report’s format include:
- Estimate for two additional sources of methane (emissions from post-meter uses of natural gas) and emissions from flooded lands such as hydroelectric and agricultural reservoirs
- Estimate of methane emissions from large anomalous leak events (i.e., well blow-outs, etc.)
A copy of the Report can be downloaded here.
