Local Emissions Inventory

Borough Emissions

As of May 2008, the BLUER Committee completed the first milestone of the 5-step ICLEI Climate Protection Plan: A Borough-wide greenhouse gas inventory. We chose a baseline year of 2005. While this inventory took us approximately a year to complete, it was very worthwhile. It tells us where our emissions are coming from, and it will help us understand what we need to do to reduce our emissions.

In 2005, we estimate that we emitted 221,583 tons of CO2* into the air! As you can see from the chart below, almost half of this pollution comes from electricity. Much of the remainder comes out of the tailpipes of our cars and trucks, from natural gas used to cook, heat water and heat our homes, and from heating oil.

CO2 Emissions by Source

(Click on chart to expand)

The remainder of the charts on the right show emissions by sector-with businesses and industry producing more than half of the emissions, and residents producing a very large portion, as well. Click on any of the graphics to see a larger chart.

Simply put, this inventory tells us that if we conserve energy in our homes and buildings, we can make a big impact on our greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, we need to make fewer trips in the car and drive more conservatively whenever we possibly can. For more information on what you can do now, click here: REDUCE

*We converted all greenhouse gases into CO2 equivalents.