EPA Releases Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data from Large Facilities

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): The U.S. EPA released its sixth year of Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program data, detailing greenhouse gas pollution trends and emissions broken down by industrial sector, geographic region and individual facilities. In 2015, reported emissions from large industrial sources, representing approximately 50 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, were 4.9 percent lower than 2014, and 8.2 percent lower than 2011. “Under the President’s Climate Action Plan, EPA is taking steps to ensure a safer future for our children and grandchildren,” said Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is supporting this by providing high-quality, long-term data for the largest emitters, and contributing important details on greenhouse gas emissions trends. The program is showing us that the trend is moving in the right direction.”

More than 8,000 large facilities reported their direct greenhouse gas emissions from 2015 to EPA. The data from these facilities show that in 2015:

Power plants remained the largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, with nearly 1,500 facilities emitting approximately 2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, roughly 30 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas pollution in 2015. Power plant emissions in 2015 declined by 6.2 percent as compared to 2014, and by 11.3 percent since 2011.

Petroleum and natural gas systems were the second largest stationary source of emissions, reporting 231 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Reported emissions for 2015 were 1.6 percent lower than 2014, but 4.1 percent higher than 2011.

Reported emissions from other large sources in the industrial and waste sectors were a combined 852 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2015, down 1.6 percent from 2014. Most sectors reported emissions reductions, with large declines in reported emissions from the iron and steel sector and the production of fluorinated chemicals.

Under President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, EPA is taking significant steps to address carbon pollution from the power, transportation, and industrial sectors, while improving energy efficiency in homes, businesses and factories.

Courtesy: This article originally ran in the November 2016 issue of Waste Advantage Magazine. View