Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks

Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks
Name	Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks
Country	United States
Agency	Environmental Protection Agency
First	1990 (base year)
Frequency	annual

Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks is an annual report produced by the Environmental Protection Agency that compiles national estimates of greenhouse gas emissions and removals by source, sector, and gas for the United States. The inventory supports international reporting under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and informs domestic policymaking involving agencies such as the Department of Energy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Department of Agriculture. It provides standardized data used by analysts at institutions including the World Resources Institute, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and Congressional Research Service.

Overview and Purpose

The report quantifies emissions of major gases—carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases—for sectors like energy, industrial processes, agriculture, land use, and waste, linking to regulatory contexts such as the Clean Air Act and programs run by the Environmental Protection Agency. It serves multiple audiences including staff at the White House's Council on Environmental Quality, researchers at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, policy analysts at the Brookings Institution and Resources for the Future, and negotiators representing the United States at Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC. The inventory underpins modeling by groups like the International Energy Agency and supports compliance frameworks similar to those in the European Union and California Air Resources Board programs.

Methodology and Data Sources

Methodology integrates activity data, emission factors, and estimation techniques aligned with guidance from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and science agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Data inputs include fuel consumption from the Energy Information Administration, production statistics from the United States Geological Survey, land-use data from the United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, and waste metrics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and United States Census Bureau. The inventory applies sector-specific methods used in industrial reporting by firms like ExxonMobil, Boeing, and Dow Chemical Company as well as municipal datasets from cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Remote sensing resources from the Landsat program and satellites operated by European Space Agency missions complement ground-based networks like the Global Atmosphere Watch and flux tower measurements coordinated by the National Ecological Observatory Network. Quality assurance draws on protocols from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and peer review processes engaging academics from institutions including Harvard University, Stanford University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

National Emissions by Gas and Sector

Reported emissions are disaggregated by gas—carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases such as hydrofluorocarbons—and by sectors including energy (stationary combustion, transportation), industrial processes (cement, chemicals), agriculture (enteric fermentation, manure management), land-use change and forestry, and waste. The energy sector incorporates data from Federal Aviation Administration flight activity, Maritime Administration shipping statistics, and Federal Highway Administration vehicle miles traveled. Industrial process estimates reference production records from corporations such as U.S. Steel and International Paper, while agricultural emissions use herd statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture and crop data tied to programs at Iowa State University and Texas A&M University. Land-use and forestry sinks draw on inventories produced by the United States Forest Service and programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program. Waste estimates utilize reporting frameworks similar to those from the World Bank and municipalities including San Francisco and Seattle.

Trends and Historical Analysis

The inventory presents time series back to 1990 to identify trends in national emissions, technological change, and sectoral shifts, contextualized alongside major events like the Kuwait Oil Fires, the 2008 Financial Crisis, and policy milestones including the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Analysts from think tanks such as the Rhodes Scholarship-affiliated scholars, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Union of Concerned Scientists use the data to examine pathways consistent with scenarios from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and models developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Historical comparisons reference international datasets curated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Energy Agency, and are used in assessments by bodies like the Government Accountability Office.

Uncertainty, Quality Assurance, and Revisions

The inventory includes quantified uncertainty ranges and applies uncertainty analysis methods recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and statistical guidance from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Quality assurance and control procedures engage peer review from academic groups at Yale University, University of California, Berkeley, and Columbia University and interagency reviews including staff from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United States Geological Survey. Revisions follow protocols comparable to those used by the World Meteorological Organization and are documented when new science, improved emission factors, or revised activity data from agencies such as the Energy Information Administration or Bureau of Transportation Statistics become available.

Policy Uses and Reporting Obligations

Beyond supporting United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change reporting and Kyoto Protocol-era commitments, the inventory informs domestic policy design and evaluation by the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, and state-level bodies such as the California Air Resources Board and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. It is used to set baselines for market mechanisms comparable to the European Union Emissions Trading System and to evaluate mitigation measures from legislation including the Clean Air Act and incentives established by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The dataset is also foundational for corporate disclosure frameworks promoted by the Securities and Exchange Commission and voluntary programs administered by organizations like the Climate Registry, the Gold Standard, and Carbon Disclosure Project.

Category:Climate change