Global Warming and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Global Warming and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Overall, emissions of CO2 increased by 0.3% to 6.8 tons per person in the United States. Emissions of greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide, which account for 17% of total greenhouse gas emissions, declined by 0.6%.

Emissions from the industrial sector declined 1.3% even though the U.S. economy grew 3.9% in 1998. However, CO2 emissions from transportation grew by 2.4% while CO2 emissions of regulated utilities expanded by 3.2% as a result of a hotter than normal summer.

Overall, 1999 U.S. greenhouse gas emissions were about 10.7 percent higher than 1990 emissions, which are estimated at 1,655 million metric tons carbon equivalent. The 1.1-percent average annual growth in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 1999 compares with average growth rates of 1.0 percent for the U.S. population, 1.5 percent for energy consumption, 2.2 percent for electric power generation, and 3.1 percent for real GDP

Table ES2. U.S. Emissions of Greenhouse Gases, Based on Global Warming Potential, 1990-1999

(Million Metric Tons Carbon Equivalent)

Gas 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 P1999

Carbon Dioxide 1,351 1,338 1,365 1,397 1,422 1,435 1,484 1,505 1,507 1,527

Methane 182 183 183 178 179 179 173 172 168 165

Nitrous Oxide 99 101 103 103 111 106 105 104 103 103

HFCs, PFCs, and SF6 24 22 24 24 25 29 33 35 40 38

Total 1,655 1,644 1,675 1,702 1,737 1,748 1,796 1,816 1,818 1,833

P = preliminary data.Note: Data in this table are revised from the data contained in the previous EIA report, Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 1998, DOE/EIA-0573(98) (Washington, DC, October 1999).Sources: Emissions: Estimates presented in this report. Global Warming Potentials: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996).

Energy End-Use Sector Sources of U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions, 1990-1999

Sector Million Metric Tons Carbon Equivalent PercentChange

1990 1999 1990-1999 1998-1999

Transportation 431.8 496.1 14.9% 2.9%

Industrial 454.8 481.2 5.8% 0.2%

Commercial 207.7 243.5 17.2% -0.4%

Residential 254.2 290.1 14.1% 0.4%

Note: Electric utility emissions are distributed across sectors.

Total carbon dioxide emissions from the residential sector increased by 0.4 percent in 1999 (Table 6). Year-to-year, residential sector emissions are heavily influenced by weather. For example, in 1996, a relatively cold year, carbon dioxide emissions from the residential sector grew by 5.9 percent over 1995. In 1997, they declined by 0.