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Consumption-Based Greenhouse Gas Inventories for Northeastern States
Citation:
Ingwersen, Wesley W. AND B. Young. Consumption-Based Greenhouse Gas Inventories for Northeastern States. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-23/319, 2024.
Impact/Purpose:
To describe the methods and present the results consumption-based greenhouse gas inventories for selected U.S. states including Maine and make the underlying models available. Many U.S. states compile regular annual greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories which are used as a benchmark in measuring progress toward emissions reduction goals. These traditional inventories cover GHG emissions occurring within the state’s political boundaries. From a consumer perspective there are emissions that occur during the production and delivery the goods and services that their residents, businesses and government consumes that might occur out of state. A Consumption-Based Emissions Inventory (CBEI) is an accounting method that can be applied to a region, including a state, that counts emissions associated with all goods and services consumed by a state, regardless of their origin.
Description:
Many U.S. states compile regular annual greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories which are used as a benchmark in measuring progress toward emissions reduction goals. These traditional inventories cover GHG emissions occurring within the state’s political boundaries. From a consumer perspective there are emissions that occur during the production and delivery the goods and services that their residents, businesses and government consumes that might occur out of state. A Consumption-Based Emissions Inventory (CBEI) is an accounting method that can be applied to a region, including a state, that counts emissions associated with all goods and services consumed by a state, regardless of their origin. CBEIs require new tools to estimate emissions associated with goods and services consumed. The Northeast Waste Management Officials Association (NEWMOA), an organization of state officials in the Northeastern U.S., approached the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) seeking assistance with performing CBEIs of GHGs for states in their region. USEPA recently developed a set of models that enable tracking the environmental flows, including GHG emissions, associated with the consumption of goods and services at the state-level. The authors of this report leveraged the USEEIO State models and the import emission factors along with state GHG emission inventories either provided by the state or by USEPA to prepare CBEIs for 8 Northeastern U.S. states. The states include Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. CBEIs were prepared for each state for years 2012-2020. This report provides more background on CBEIs and the models used here, a detailed methods section, and chapters on results for all Northeast states, as well as chapter that provides a deeper exploration of the CBEI for Maine. Key findings include: (1) consumption-based GHG emissions from the Northeastern states are 40-60% greater than territorial emissions; (2) manufactured goods are the largest category contributing to the states’ consumption-based emissions, and the emissions from this category are largely from commodities made outside the state; (3) all states in the region have a trade emissions deficit that is about 50% as large as their consumption-based emissions; (4) the emissions embodied within imports are primarily from the rest of the U.S., followed by those occurring in the rest of the world; (5) increases in the consumption of goods and services from 2012-2019 have negated the reduction in overall emissions per a dollar. In Maine, the purchase of manufactured goods, personal transportation and residential heating and cooking are the largest contributors to consumption-based emissions. Among manufactured goods it is clear that food, petroleum products (mainly gasoline and diesel), chemicals, and vehicles are the largest contributors. For categories like clothing, computers, and furniture, the majority of the emissions are associated with imported goods. Imported clothing and leather goods have an emissions intensity 5 times higher than those domestically produced. Similarly, the emissions intensity of imported furniture is 4 times greater than domestic furniture. The accuracy of these CBEIs are limited by the assumptions and data gaps in the underlying models, but they can be instructive in providing states with direction on important GHG emission sources and their locations that can potentially serve as a benchmark in efforts to reduce emissions that take into account a consumption perspective. In association with this report, an expert-user tool is provided that can be used to prepare a summary CBEI for any of the 50 U.S. states.
URLs/Downloads:
CONSUMPTION_BASED GREENHOUSE GAS INVENTORIES FOR NORTHEASTERN STATES__.PDF (PDF, 69 pp, 3647 KB, about PDF)Addendum 1 - Consumption-Based Inventory Summary Results for Other States (PDF, 1 pp, 34 KB, about PDF)