Climate Change
National Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data
Related Links
Natural Gas Systems
- Overview of Updates to the Natural Gas Sector Emissions Calculations for the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2011 (PDF) ( 3 pp., 64 KB)
- On February 27, 2013 EPA held a technical webinar on natural gas systems in the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) and the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks (Inventory). View speaker presentations and learn more about the webinar.
- On September 13-14, 2012, EPA held a stakeholder workshop on key aspects of the estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from the natural gas sector in the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks. View speaker presentations and learn more about the workshop.
EPA develops an annual report called the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks (Inventory). This report tracks total annual U.S. emissions and removals by source, economic sector, and greenhouse gas going back to 1990. EPA uses national energy data, data on national agricultural activities, and other national statistics to provide a comprehensive accounting of total greenhouse gas emissions for all man-made sources in the United States. The most recent Inventory report is available for download at the bottom of this page.
For an overview of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States based on information from the Inventory including graphs of U.S. emissions by gas and source, click on the links below:
INVENTORY OF U.S. GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND SINKS: 1990-2011
(April 2013)
The Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks tracks the national trend in greenhouse gas emissions and removals back to 1990. The key findings of the 1990-2011 U.S. Inventory include:
- In 2011, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions totaled 6,702 million metric tons CO2 Eq.
- U.S. emissions decreased by 1.6 percent from 2010 to 2011. Recent trends can be 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.
- Greenhouse gas emissions in 2011 were 6.9 percent below 2005 levels.
Read or download the entire Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2011 (PDF, 503 pp., 14.10 MB). For faster access, individual report sections are posted below, for example the Executive Summary (PDF, 26 pp., 2.13 MB).
Individual sections of the draft report are also available for download:
Upfront (PDF) (6 pp., 462 KB) - Includes title page, acknowledgments and preface.
Table of Contents (PDF) (16 pp., 808 KB) - Contains the main inventory document's table of contents as well as the list of tables, figures, and boxes.
Executive Summary (PDF) (26 pp., 2.13 MB) - Provides a broad overview of all U.S. greenhouse gas emission sources and sinks, introduces key concepts and discusses the primary drivers for changes in emissions. All material in the Executive Summary is drawn from the following chapters.
Introduction (PDF) (22 pp., 1.06 MB) - Includes background information on greenhouse gas emission inventories, an introduction to climate change, a discussion of methodological issues and plans for QA/QC and an uncertainty analysis.
Trends in Greenhouse Gas Emissions (PDF) (32 pp., 3.13 MB) - Provides an overview of emission trends and discusses the primary drivers for changes in emissions.
Energy (PDF) (82 pp., 3.96 MB) - Discusses and quantifies energy related emissions of all greenhouse gases resulting from stationary and mobile source activities including fuel combustion and fugitive fuel emissions.
Industrial Processes (PDF) (96 pp., 3.29 MB) - Addresses emissions from industrial processes not directly related to energy activities.
Solvent and Other Product Use (PDF) (6 pp., 669 KB) - Addresses emissions resulting from the use of solvents and evaporative emissions of greenhouse gases arising from other types of product use.
Agriculture (PDF) (42 pp., 2.85 MB) - Addresses anthropogenic emissions from agricultural activities (not including fuel combustion and sewage emissions, which are addressed in the Energy and Waste chapters).
Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (PDF) (74 pp., 4.03 MB) - Addresses emissions and removals from forest and land-use change activities, primarily carbon dioxide.
Waste (PDF) (32 pp., 1.50 MB) - Addresses emissions from waste management activities.
Other (PDF) (2 pp., 307 KB) - Addresses emissions from the "Other" IPCC sector.
Recalculations and Improvements (PDF) (6 pp., 754 KB) - Includes an overview of changes in this year's report, including historical data, methodology and other changes relative to the 1990-2010 report.
References (PDF) (61 pp., 1.10 MB) - Contains the list of references used in the main inventory document.
All Annexes (PDF) (431 pp., 10.35 MB) - Supplementary information, data tables, detailed emission calculations and methodological discussions.
Annex Introduction and TOC (PDF) (1 pp., 209 KB) - Contains the table of contents for the Annex.
Annex 1 (PDF) (28 pp., 1.07 MB) - Key Category Analysis.
Annex 2 (PDF) (95 pp., 2.00 MB) - Methodology and Data for Estimating CO2 Emissions from Fossil Fuel Combustion.
Annex 3 (PDF) (249 pp., 6.95 MB) - Methodological Descriptions for Additional Source or Sink Categories.
Annex 4 (PDF) (10 pp., 388 KB) - IPCC Reference Approach for Estimating CO2 Emissions from Fossil Fuel Combustion.
Annex 5 (PDF) (2 pp., 222 KB) - Assessment of the Sources and Sinks of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Not Included.
Annex 6 (PDF) (24 pp., 645 KB) - Additional Information.
Annex 7 (PDF) (22 pp., 548 KB) - Uncertainty.
CRF Tables (Zip) (8.18 MB) - Common reporting format (CRF) tables, which present standardized summary information consistent with United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) inventory reporting requirements.