Commercial, GHG Emissions, Industrial, Regulation, Sourcing Renewables  -  April 18, 2016

EPA: Industrial, manufacturing sector created 21% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions

 The industrial and manufacturing sector represented the third-largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2014, according to a new report from the U.S. EPA. 

Emissions from the sector accounted for 21% of total U.S. greenhouse gas pollution in 2014, behind the transportation sector at 26%. Power plants were the largest source of emissions at 30%. 

The report, the EPA's 21st annual Inventory of the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, presents a national-level overview of annual greenhouse gas emissions since 1990. The inventory shows a 9% drop in emissions since 2005, but a 1% increase in greenhouse gas emissions in 2014 from 2013 levels.

The EPA attributed the 2013 to 2014 increase to increased fuel use in the residential and commercial sectors, largely due to increased demand for heat that winter, and in the transportation sector. In a news release announcing the report's findings, the EPA said greenhouse gases are the primary driver of climate change. and noted efforts from President Barack Obama's administration to curb emissions across a wide range of sectors, including cutting pollution from U.S. power plants; reducing emissions and increasing fuel efficiency for cars and heavy-duty trucks; reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry through regulatory and voluntary efforts, including the newly launched methane challenge program; and increasing energy efficiency through the Energy Star program.

The EPA continued: 

National GHG emissions are going down over the long term, but minor variability year-to-year is to be expected. Over the last decade, there has been tremendous momentum in the energy sector toward low-carbon solutions. Today, the U.S. is generating three times as much wind power, and 30 times as much solar power, as when President Obama took office. The cost of renewable energy is getting cheaper, and growth in the U.S. energy efficiency sector is creating thousands of new jobs and opportunities.

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