Improving the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory

Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has committed to annually provide an inventory of the major U.S. anthropogenic sources and sinks of greenhouse gases as part of the global effort to address climate change. GHG inventories must be developed using detailed, comprehensive methodologies and presented in a common, consistent format. The U.S. GHG inventory serves multiple purposes, including proving a record of U.S. progress in reducing GHG emissions within the various sectors. Preparing such a large and wide-ranging inventory each year requires the support of many subject experts, data gatherers and analysts, communications specialists, and information technology specialists.

Over many years, ERG has helped and continues to help EPA develop GHG emissions estimates for natural gas and petroleum systems, wastewater treatment, coal mining, manure management, enteric fermentation, and various land use activities. EPA’s 28^th Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks shows trends in GHG emissions from 1990 to 2019. Like all recent inventories, this version includes several methodological improvements that ERG assisted with, including integration of new data sources and the incorporation of new methods—in this case emissions methods from the 2019 refinement to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidelines. ERG also supports EPA’s interactive Data Explorer platform to allow users to easily explore and download inventory data.