The greenhouse effect is the way in which heat becomes trapped close to the Earth’s surface due to greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases trap the heat in a blanket-like manner, keeping the planet warmer than it would be without them. Over the last 150 years, human activity has played a significant role in the increase of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere [ref].
The inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks has estimated the largest sources of national greenhouse gas emissions that are associated with human activities across the United States.
According to the study, the 6 primary sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States are:
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Industry: 24% of greenhouse gas emissions come from industry, according to the study. These emissions primarily come from the burning of fossil fuels for energy as well as chemical reactions necessary for the production of raw materials and goods.
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Transportation: The transportation industry is responsible for 27% of 2020 greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions come from the burning of fossil fuel to power trains, cars, trucks and planes. Over 90% of the fuel that is used in the transportation sector is petroleum based and this includes diesel and gasoline.
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Residential and Commercial: 13% of greenhouse gas emissions come from homes and businesses due to the burning of fossil fuels, the handling of waste and the use of certain products.
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Agriculture: 11% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the agricultural industry and can be attributed to livestock, rice production and soils.
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Forestry and Land Use: This accounts for 13% of greenhouse gas emissions. Land areas act like a sink, absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and are a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.
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Electric Power: The study found that 25% of greenhouse gas emissions from 2020 came from electricity production. 60% of electricity in the US comes from burning fossil fuels, mostly from natural gas and coal.
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1. Industry and Greenhouse Gases
The industry sector produces a variety of materials and goods every day. The greenhouse gases emitted during this kind of production are split into 1) direct emissions from the facility and 2) indirect emissions that happen offsite but are associated with the facility itself.
The direct emissions from the facility are produced due to the burning of fossil fuels, from leaks and through chemical reactions. Direct industrial greenhouse gas emissions accounted for 24% of US greenhouse gas emissions, the 3rd largest.
Indirect emissions are produced by the burning of these fossil fuels at a facility or plant for the purpose of electricity. But including both direct and indirect emissions, industry’s share of greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 was 30% – the largest contributor of any sector.
Many organizations within the industry sector are seeking to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and when it comes to reporting, the terms “scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions” are often used. On the road to net zero, many companies are looking at these 3 different scopes to measure and assess emissions.
The 3 scopes help categories the different kinds of emissions a company produces through its operations and in its wider value chain. The scopes come from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol – the most used greenhouse gas accounting standard in the world. By developing a full greenhouse gas emissions inventory, and incorporating the scopes, companies are able to better understand their value chain emissions and focus on mitigation and reduction opportunities.
Scope 1 Greenhouse Emissions
This covers emissions from sources that a company directly owns or controls. An example would be the burning of fuel for fleet vehicle operations.
Scope 2 Greenhouse Emissions
These are the emissions that a company indirectly causes, such as when the energy it purchases and uses is produced. An example of this would be emissions from the generation of the electricity used to power machinery.
Scope 3 Greenhouse Emissions
These are emissions that are not produced by the company itself and aren’t a result of activities from company assets. However, it refers to the emissions that the company is indirectly responsible for. An example would be when an organization uses and disposes of products from suppliers.
Technology is leading the way in the industry sector, with advancements in emission tracking and monitoring solutions. GHGSat provides cutting-edge emission monitoring solutions, designed to deliver actionable metrics and insights critical to environmental, production and financial decision-making. Emission intelligence empowers carbon intensive industries and governments to achieve their emission reduction goals.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Industry
There are a variety of ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the industry sector including:
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Emissions Monitoring and Intelligence for Mitigation and Management: With pioneering sensor innovation, GHGSat is at the forefront of emissions detection technology, making it possible to locate individual sources and to detect ever smaller emissions.
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Actionable Intelligence: GHGSat’s proprietary satellite technology adapted to aircraft accurately detects and measures methane emissions to individual sources. Our patented instrument, GHGSat-AV, can operate at different altitudes, trading spatial resolution for coverage to meet specific survey requirements. Combine DATA.AIR services with DATA.SAT, our high-resolution satellite emissions monitoring and Emissions Analytics to deliver actionable emissions intelligence.
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Coal Mining Monitoring: GHGSat’s custom fleet of high-resolution satellites, detects and measures emissions from individual industrial facilities with accuracy. This allows industry leaders to monitor gas emissions from coal mines and identify opportunities for safer and cleaner operations.
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Energy Efficiency: Making use of more efficient industry technologies and identifying ways for manufacturers to use less energy to heat and light plants, factories and equipment.
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Recycling: Producing products for industry from recycled or renewable materials rather than from raw materials.
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Awareness and Training: Making organizations aware of the right steps to mitigate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
GHGSat operates in many markets worldwide, such as oil & gas, providing actionable greenhouse gas emissions data and insights.
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2. Transportation and Greenhouse Gases
According to data from the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks 2020, the transportation sector makes up 27% of greenhouse gas emissions. The sector includes the movement of people and goods via transportation such as cars, trains, trucks and related vehicles.
Carbon dioxide emissions in the transportation sector account for 38% of energy-related emissions in the US – the largest emissions of any sector. The large amount of carbon dioxide generated in the sector is due to the combustion of petroleum based products that are used in internal combustion engines.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector
There are a variety of ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the transportation sector including:
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Improving Fuel Efficiency: Using advanced technologies, design and materials, fuel efficient vehicles are being developed. With the consistent development of hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles, the emissions in the transportation can be reduced.
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Fuel Switching: Using fuels or energy that emit less carbon dioxide including biofuels, renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar, hydrogen or fossil fuels that are less carbon dioxide intensive.
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Reducing Travel: Making use of urban planning to reduce travel mileage, construct better bike paths and sidewalks to increase lower-emission transportation and implement zoning for mixed areas so that homes, stores, schools and businesses are in closer proximity in order to reduce the need for driving further than necessary.
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Optimizing Operational Practices: Adopting operations or practices that minimize the use of fuel. This can be done by reducing the average taxi time for aircrafts, reducing engine-idling, sensible driving practices and improved transportation planning such as better weather routing.
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3. Residential and Commercial Greenhouse Gases
This sector includes commercial businesses and homes and excludes industrial and agricultural ventures. The greenhouse gases from this sector are direct and indirect. Direct emissions include fossil fuel combustion for cooking, heating, waste management and leaks while indirect emissions occur offsite but are still associated with electricity generation from homes and businesses.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in residential and commercial properties
There are a variety of ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the residential band commercial sector including:
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Waste Management: Efficient waste management is about reducing the amount of solid waste sent to landfills. This is because solid waste that decomposes in landfills creates has which is mostly made up of methane and carbon dioxide. There are a variety of ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from waste including waste reduction programs, recycling and landfill methane capture programs.
Waste Management Technology is necessary to quantify emissions from landfills and dumpsites frequently, where GHGSat’s unique satellite emissions monitoring service can help. Satellites have a unique vantage point as they can monitor an entire site multiple times, year-round. GHGSat provides accurate, timely, and persistent coverage – anywhere in the world – at lower cost than on-the-ground readings. Emissions intelligence on a site can help operational decisions such as evaluating the opportunity to install a gas collection system or assess its performance if one is in place.
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Wastewater Treatment: Wastewater and drinking water make up 2% of energy use in the US. Creating more energy-efficient water and wastewater systems. By using energy efficiency practices in wastewater and water, we can save 15% – 30% in residential and commercial energy use.
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Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Management: Commonly used refrigeration in businesses and homes are made up of hydrochlorofluorocarbon, an o-zone depleting gas. There have been advancements in refrigeration and air conditioning technology that can help residential and commercial properties reduce these emissions in this sector.
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Green Building: “Green building” allows for existing and new buildings to use less energy in order to accomplish the same functions. Techniques used in green buildings include more energy-efficient cooling and heating, ventilation and energy efficient lighting and electronics.
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4. Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions
In 2020, greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture economic sector accounted for 11% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Agricultural activities include livestock and crop production for food and these activities contribute to greenhouse gas emissions in a variety of ways.
Agriculture is a major source of methane, a greenhouse gas 84 times more potent than CO2 over 20 years [ref]. Cattle farming (beef production) is responsible for 3.7% of all emissions, with the world’s 1.4 billion cows each burping up to 500 liters of CH4 per day, due to a digestive process known as ‘enteric fermentation.’ Livestock such as cattle produce methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, as part of their digestive process, known as enteric fermentation while the management of livestock manure contributes to methane and nitrous oxide emissions, with manure management accounting for 12% of greenhouse gas emissions from the sector in the US. Other management activities in the sector such as the management of soils, leads to increased nitrogen in the soil which results in nitrous oxide emissions. Other agricultural activities lead to nitrous oxide emissions including the application of synthetic fertilizers and irrigation practices.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture
There are a variety of ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the agricultural sector including:
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Advanced Emission Tracking Technology: Until now, practical solutions for measuring emissions have been elusive: ground-based monitoring is labour intensive, and can only scan small areas. GHGSat has shown that satellites can monitor thousands of sites, every day, at a low cost and so support immediate climate action for climate control. On March 2nd, 2022, high-resolution satellites owned and operated by GHGSat, the environmental data company, detected methane (CH4) emissions coming from an agricultural area in California’s Joaquin Valley. Analysis later confirmed the source as being feedlots 6 miles (10km) southeast of Bakersfield. This highlights the importance of tracking greenhouse gas emissions from cattle farming, and the ability to do so even from space.
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Livestock Management: Using feed additives or supplements to reduce methane emissions in livestock and improving pasture quality. The latter is done to increase animal productivity, which can reduce the amount of methane emitted per unit of animal product while increased productivity in livestock can be introduced through improved breeding practices.
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Manure Management: Methane emissions can be reduced by handling manure as a solid or depositing it on pasture as opposed to storing it in a liquid-based system; however, this may increase nitrous oxide emissions. Manure can also be stored in anaerobic lagoons in order to optimize methane production and capture it to use as the energy substitute for fossil fuel.
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Crop Management: The agriculture sector can adjust methods for managing growing crops and land. For example, draining water from wetlands rice soils to reduce methane emissions and monitoring nitrogen application when it comes to fertilizing crops to ensure no over-application occurs.
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5. Forestry and Land Use Greenhouse Gases
Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and they store some of this as below ground and above ground biomass. Dead organic matter and soil also stores some of the carbon from these plants depending on the way the soil is managed as well as other environmental conditions such as climate. As biological sequestration takes carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and stores it in carbon pools – it has become known as a carbon sink.
Emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and methane can occur due to the management of lands in their current state or as lands are converted for other uses. In addition, using biological feedstocks for the purpose of electricity generation, as inputs to processes that create liquid fuels, or as building materials can lead to emissions or sequestration.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the forestry and land use sector
There are a variety of ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the forestry and land use sector including:
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Improved Land Management: This includes planting after human-induced forest changes or disturbances in order to accelerate vegetation and lessen soil carbon losses.
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Change in Land Usage: By using land in a different way increases carbon storage and avoiding land degradation maintains carbon storage. Lessening the conversion of forest land to other land uses including croplands or grasslands as well as afforestation.
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6. Electricity Production and Greenhouse Gases
The electricity sector includes the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. The greenhouse gas most prominent in this sector is carbon dioxide however methane and nitrous oxide are also emitted in the sector. The greenhouse gases are released through the combustion of fossil fuels used to create electricity. Most of the carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation is due to coal burned across the globe. This fossil fuel is the primary fuel source for electricity generation in the world. In fact, in 2019, 37% of the world’s electricity was created from burning coal. In 2021 it was reported that about 4,108 billion kilowatthours (kWh) (or about 4.11 trillion kWh) of electricity were generated at utility-scale electricity generation facilities in the US. Around 61% of this electricity generation was from fossil fuels—coal, natural gas, petroleum, and other gases. While 19% came from nuclear energy, and around 20% was due to renewable energy sources [ref]. Electricity is used across sectors and electricity production in the industrial sector accounts for a large share of greenhouse gas emissions in the US. As a highly industrialized country, the US industrial sector accounted for 35% of US end-use energy consumption and 33% of the total US energy consumption.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in electricity production
There are a variety of ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the electricity production sector including:
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Precision Emissions Intelligence: GHGSat’s precision emissions intelligence service analyses trends and emission patterns to better inform business decisions, streamline operations and uncover mitigation opportunities.
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Renewable Energy: Increasing total electricity generated from hydro, geothermal, wind and solar sources as well as certain biofuel sources.
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This includes planting after human-induced forest changes or disturbances in order to accelerate vegetation and lessen soil carbon losses.
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Increased Efficiency in Fossil Fuel Plants & Fuel Switching: Increased efficiency of existing fossil fuel plants through advanced technologies and changing generation from higher emitting to lower emitting plants.
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Nuclear Energy: Using nuclear energy to generate electricity as opposed to the combustion of fossil fuels. Extending the life cycle of nuclear plants and creating new nuclear generating capacity.
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Carbon Capture and Sequestration: Capturing carbon dioxide as a byproduct of combustion before it is able to enter the atmosphere.
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Technology in the fight against climate change
Technology plays a significant role in the mitigation, management and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions across industries and sectors.
With leading-edge emission monitoring solutions, we deliver actionable metrics and insights critical to environmental, production and financial decision-making.
GHGSat’s emission intelligence empowers carbon intensive industries, sectors and governments to achieve their emission reduction goals.
GHGSat launched a free version of their emissions intelligence platform, SPECTRA. This subscription includes the highest resolution methane concentration map available online free, as well as access to a gallery of satellite methane measurements samples from GHGSat.
Explore accurate emissions data like never before.
