Carbon Monoxide Emissions

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  • Learn more about how to use this interactive exhibit
  • Save the complete indicator as a printer-friendly PDF
  • Download this image
  • Download data for this exhibit

Hover your mouse over the display to reveal data.

  • Learn more about how to use this interactive exhibit
  • Save the complete indicator as a printer-friendly PDF
  • Download this image
  • Download data for this exhibit
  • Show a locator map for this exhibit
    Boundaries of EPA Regions, color-coded.

Click the legend to turn layers on or off. Hover your mouse over the display to reveal data.

  • Introduction
    • Carbon monoxide (CO) gas forms primarily when carbon fuels are not burned completely. Mobile sources account for the majority of CO emissions. These sources include both on-road vehicles (e.g., cars, trucks, motorcycles) and nonroad vehicles and engines (e.g., farm equipment, construction equipment, aircraft, marine vessels). Consequently, high concentrations of CO generally occur in areas with heavy traffic congestion. In cities, as much as 95 percent of all CO emissions may come from motor vehicle exhaust (U.S. EPA, 2008). Other sources of CO emissions include industrial processes, non-transportation fuel combustion, and natural sources, such as forest wildfires. The CO Concentrations indicator describes health hazards associated with inhaling CO.

      This indicator presents CO emissions from traditionally inventoried anthropogenic source categories: (1) “Fuel combustion,” which includes emissions from coal-, gas-, and oil-fired power plants and industrial, commercial, and institutional sources, as well as residential heaters (e.g., wood-burning stoves) and boilers; (2) “Other industrial processes,” which includes chemical production, petroleum refining, metals production, and industrial processes other than fuel combustion; (3) “On-road vehicles,” which includes cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles; and (4) “Nonroad vehicles and engines,” such as farm and construction equipment, lawnmowers, chainsaws, boats, ships, snowmobiles, and aircraft. The indicator also includes estimates of biogenic and forest wildfire CO emissions in 2014. Biogenic emissions were estimated using the Biogenic Emissions Inventory System Model, Version 3.61, with data from the Biogenic Emissions Landcover Database, Version 4.1, and 2014 annual meteorological data. The emissions trends indicator excludes CO estimates of prescribed burning, forest wildfires, and other miscellaneous sources because those data were either not readily available in the 1990 inventory or are small contributors to the total inventory and because the emissions from prescribed burning and forest wildfires are highly variable over time.

      CO emissions data are tracked by the National Emissions Inventory (NEI). The NEI is a composite of data from many different sources, with CO data coming primarily from EPA models as well as from state, tribal, and local air quality management agencies. Different data sources use different data collection methods, and many of the emissions data are based on estimates rather than actual measurements. For mobile sources, the data are based on mobile source models for on-road and nonroad vehicles, often using state-supplied model inputs (U.S. EPA, 2018a). Emissions from forest wildfires in 2002 through 2014 come primarily from an estimation process that bases fire activity and location on satellite detection (U.S. EPA, 2018a). For most fuel combustion sources and industrial sources, emissions are from the state, local, and tribal air quality management agencies and are estimated primarily using emission factors.

      NEI data have been compiled since 1990 and cover all 50 states and their counties, D.C., the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands, and some of the territories of federally recognized American Indian nations. Data are presented for 1990, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, and 2014. With the exception of 1993, the NEI data are published on a triennial cycle, thus an annual trend is not readily available. The NEI data are the basis of the national and regional air pollutant emission trends shown in this indicator (U.S. EPA, 2018c).

  • What the Data Show
    • Nationwide estimated anthropogenic CO emissions have decreased 68 percent between 1990 and 2014, the most recent year for which aggregate NEI emissions estimates are available (Exhibit 1). Almost the entire emissions reduction is attributed to decreased emissions from on-road mobile sources. In 2014, mobile sources (both on-road and nonroad sources combined) accounted for 82 percent of the nation's total anthropogenic CO emissions. The CO emissions reductions are reflected in corresponding reductions in ambient concentrations (the CO Concentrations indicator).

      This indicator focuses on trends in CO emissions from anthropogenic sources. However, CO emissions from biogenic sources and forest wildfires were estimated for 2014 to provide a sense of the relative contributions of natural versus anthropogenic emissions (Exhibit 2). Nationally, biogenic emissions from vegetation and soils were estimated to contribute approximately 9 percent and forest wildfires to contribute 15 percent to the CO emissions from all sources during 2014.

      Net estimated anthropogenic CO emissions declined in all EPA Regions between 1990 and 2014 (Exhibit 3). The largest net decrease (18.3 million tons) occurred in Region 5, and the smallest decrease (3.5 million tons) occurred in Region 8.

  • Limitations
      • CO emissions estimates through the NEI are provided only for the triennial years starting with 1990 and continuing through 2014, with the exception of 1993.
      • CO emissions from “miscellaneous sources,” including forest wildfires and prescribed burning, are not included in the total anthropogenic emissions. Yearly fluctuations in forest wildfire emissions have the potential to mask trends in anthropogenic emissions and therefore have been excluded from this indicator's exhibits.
      • The emissions data for CO are largely based on estimates that employ emission factors generated from empirical and engineering studies, rather than on actual measurements of CO emissions. Although these estimates are generated using well-established approaches, including extensively reviewed mobile source models, the estimates have uncertainties inherent in the emission factors and emissions models used to represent sources for which emissions have not been directly measured.
      • The methodology for estimating emissions is continually reviewed and is subject to revision. Trend data prior to any revisions must be considered in the context of those changes.
      • Not all states and local air quality mangement agencies provide the same data or level of detail for a given year.
      • NEI emissions from on-road mobile sources prior to 2002 were estimated using the MOBILE model, and 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, and 2014 emissions for this source category were estimated using different versions of the MOVES model which applied different methods. Therefore, the outputs may not be directly comparable across years; the change in model is reflected as part of the trend shown.
  • Data Sources
    • Summary data in this indicator were provided by EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, based on forest wildfire, biogenic, and anthropogenic CO emissions data in the NEI. The most recent data are taken from Version 2 of the 2014 NEI (U.S. EPA, 2018b). These and earlier emissions data can be accessed from EPA’s emission inventory website (https://www.epa.gov/air-emissions-inventories). The MOVES data used for 2002 and 2005 are not available through the 2002 and 2005 NEI website, but these data can be accessed from EPA’s emission modeling website (https://www.epa.gov/air-emissions-modeling). This indicator aggregates NEI data by source type (anthropogenic, biogenic, or forest wildfire), source category, and EPA Region.

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