Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2022

"View or download the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2022 (published April 2024) report, developed by the U.S. Government to meet annual commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and also the Paris Agreement.

Read or download the entire Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2022 (PDF, 15.0 MB) or individual report chapters posted below. All data tables in the report will be available in CSV format soon.

Recommended citation: EPA (2024). Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2022 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 430R-24004. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks-1990-2022.

You may need a PDF reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA’s About PDF page to learn more."
Greenhouse Gas Emissions 

U. S. Greehouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, 1990--2020

"An emissions inventory that identifies and quantifies a country's anthropogenic1 sources and sinks of greenhouse gases is essential for addressing climate change. This Inventory adheres to both (1) a comprehensive and detailed set of methodologies for estimating national sources and sinks of anthropogenic greenhouse gases, and (2) a common and consistent format that enables Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to compare the relative contribution of different emission sources and greenhouse gases to climate change.

In 1992, the United States signed and ratified the UNFCCC. As stated in Article 2 of the UNFCCC, “The ultimate objective of this Convention and any related legal instruments that the Conference of the Parties may adopt is to achieve, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Convention, stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Such a level should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.”2

As a signatory to the UNFCCC, consistent with Article 43 and decisions at the First, Second, Fifth, and Nineteenth Conference of Parties,4 the United States is committed to submitting a national inventory of anthropogenic sources and sinks of greenhouse gases to the UNFCCC by April 15 of each year. The United States views this report, in conjunction with Common Reporting Format (CRF) reporting tables that accompany this report, as an opportunity to fulfill this annual commitment under the UNFCCC.

This executive summary provides the latest information on U.S. anthropogenic greenhouse gas emission trends from 1990 through 2020..."
Greenhouses Gases  

Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks

"EPA has prepared the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks since the early 1990s. This annual report provides a comprehensive accounting of total greenhouse gas emissions for all man-made sources in the United States. The gases covered by the Inventory include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and nitrogen trifluoride. The Inventory also calculates carbon dioxide emissions that are removed from the atmosphere by “sinks,” e.g., through the uptake of carbon and storage in forests, vegetation, and soils..."
Greenhouse gases

EPA and DOT Finalize Greenhouse Gas and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration jointly finalized standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles that would improve fuel efficiency and cut carbon pollution to reduce the impacts of climate change, while bolstering energy security and spurring manufacturing innovation.

The final phase two program promotes a new generation of cleaner, more fuel efficient trucks by encouraging the development and deployment of new and advanced cost-effective technologies. The product of four years of extensive testing and research, the vehicle and engine performance standards would cover model years 2018-2027 for certain trailers and model years 2021-2027 for semi-trucks, large pickup trucks, vans, and all types and sizes of buses and work trucks..."Fuel efficiency heavy duty engines

EPA Publishes 21st Annual U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its 21^st annual Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks (GHG Inventory), today, which presents a national-level overview of annual greenhouse gas emissions since 1990. The inventory shows a nine percent drop in emissions since 2005, and a one percent increase in greenhouse gas emissions in 2014 from 2013 levels.

Total U.S. greenhouse emissions were 6,108 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2014. By sector, power plants were the largest source of emissions, accounting for 30 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas pollution. The transportation sector was the second largest source, at 26 percent. Industry and manufacturing was the third largest source, at 21 percent. As noted in the draft inventory released in February 2016, a one percent increase in total national greenhouse gas emissions between 2013 and 2014 was driven by increased fuel use –in the residential and commercial sectors, largely due to increased demand for heat that winter, and in the transportation sector..." 
Greenhouse Gas

Rapid, affordable energy transformation possible NOAA, CIRES study: Wind, sun could eclipse fossil fuels for electric power by 2030

"The United States could slash greenhouse gas emissions from power production by up to 78 percent below 1990 levels within 15 years while meeting increased demand, according to a new study by NOAA and University of Colorado Boulder researchers.

The study used a sophisticated mathematical model to evaluate future cost, demand, generation and transmission scenarios. It found that with improvements in transmission infrastructure, weather-driven renewable resources could supply most of the nation’s electricity at costs similar to today’s..."
Energy Conservation

IPCC: Greenhouse gas e missions accelerate despite reduction efforts

"A new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows that global emissions of greenhouse gases have risen to unprecedented levels despite a growing

number of policies to reduce climate change . Emissions grew more quickly between 2000 and 2010

than in each of the three previous decades.." Climate control

Cars, Trucks, and Climate: EPA Regulation of Greenhouse Gases from Mobile Sources

"On February 18, 2014, President Obama directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to develop a second round of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and fuel economy standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks. The standards, which will affect trucks beginning with the 2019 model year, are to be proposed by March 2015 and finalized a year later..."
Greenhouse gases and automobiles

EPA Greenhouse Gas Permitting Requirements Maintain Focus on Largest Emitters

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that it will not revise greenhouse gas (GHG) permitting thresholds under the Clean Air Act. Today’s final rule is part of EPA’s common-sense, phased-in approach to GHG permitting under the Clean Air Act, announced in 2010 and recently upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The final rule maintains a focus on the nation’s largest emitters that account for nearly 70 percent of the total GHG pollution from stationary sources, while shielding smaller emitters from permitting requirements. EPA is also finalizing a provision that allows companies to set plant-wide emissions limits for GHGs, streamlining the permitting process, increasing flexibilities and reducing permitting burdens on state and local authorities and large industrial emitters..."

2010 Greenhouse Gas Emissions

"For the first time, comprehensive greenhouse gas (GHG) data reported directly from large facilities and suppliers across the country are now easily accessible to the public through EPA’s GHG Reporting Program. The 2010 GHG data released today includes public information from facilities in nine industry groups that directly emit large quantities of GHGs, as well as suppliers of certain fossil fuels.,,"
Greenhouse gases database

Deforestation and Greenhouse Gases

"Human activities produce large amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs), primarily carbon dioxide (CO2),and thus contribute to global warming. The use of fossil fuels is the primary source of CO2 emissions, but the removal of trees from forested land has also contributed.

Mature forests, having absorbed CO2 from the atmosphere while growing, store carbon in wood, leaves, and soil. That carbon is released when people clear forested land and destroy the wood. From 2000 to 2005, the loss of forests, primarily in tropical developing countries, accounted for approximately 12 percent of global GHG emissions..."

What are greenhouse gases and how much are emitted by the United States?
"Greenhouse gases trap heat from the sun and warm the planet's surface. Of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, 87% are related to energy consumption. From 1990 to 2009, greenhouse gas emissions in the United States have grown by about 0.04% per year. The United States accounts for about 20% of the world's total energy-related carbon dioxide."

2011 U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report
"An emissions inventory that identifies and quantifies a country's primary anthropogenic sources and sinks of greenhouse gases is essential for addressing climate change. This inventory adheres to both (1) a comprehensive and detailed set of methodologies for estimating sources and sinks of anthropogenic greenhouse gases, and (2) a common and consistent mechanism that enables Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to compare the relative contribution of different emission sources and greenhouse gases to climate change...

This chapter summarizes the latest information on U.S. anthropogenic greenhouse gas emission trends from 1990 through 2009. To ensure that the U.S. emissions inventory is comparable to those of other UNFCCC Parties, the estimates presented here were calculated using methodologies consistent with those recommended in the Revised
1996 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC/UNEP/OECD/IEA 1997), the IPCC Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC 2000), and the IPCC Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (IPCC 2003). Additionally, the U.S. emission inventory has continued to incorporate new
methodologies and data from the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC 2006). The structure of this report is consistent with the UNFCCC guidelines for inventory reporting. For most source categories, the IPCC methodologies were expanded, resulting in a more comprehensive and detailed estimate of emissions..."

Emission of Greenhouse Gases in the United States,2009
"This report—the eighteenth annual report—presents the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest estimates of emissions for carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other greenhouse gases."

DOT, EPA Propose the Nation’s First Greenhouse Gas and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Trucks and Buses
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today announced the first national standards to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and buses. This comprehensive national program is projected to reduce GHG emissions by about 250 million metric tons and save 500 million barrels of oil over the lives of the vehicles produced within the program’s first five years....

EPA and DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are proposing new standards for three categories of heavy trucks: combination tractors, heavy-duty pickups and vans, and vocational vehicles. The categories were established to address specific challenges for manufacturers in each area. For combination tractors, the agencies are proposing engine and vehicle standards that begin in the 2014 model year and achieve up to a 20 percent reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fuel consumption by 2018 model year..."

EPA Sets Thresholds for Greenhouse Gas Permitting Requirements/Small businesses and farms will be shielded
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a final rule to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the largest stationary sources, while shielding millions of small sources of GHGs from Clean Air Act permitting requirements. The phased-in, common-sense approach will address facilities like power plants and oil refineries that are responsible for 70 percent of the greenhouse gases from stationary sources that threaten American’s health and welfare.

“After extensive study, debate and hundreds of thousands of public comments, EPA has set common-sense thresholds for greenhouse gases that will spark clean technology innovation and protect small businesses and farms,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “There is no denying our responsibility to protect the planet for our children and grandchildren. It’s long past time we unleashed our American ingenuity and started building the efficient, prosperous clean energy economy of the future.”

EPA’s phased-in approach will start in January 2011, when Clean Air Act permitting requirements for GHGs will kick in for large facilities that are already obtaining Clean Air Act permits for other pollutants. Those facilities will be required to include GHGs in their permit if they increase these emissions by at least 75,000 tons per year (tpy)..."

How Policies to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Could Affect Employment
"Human activities around the world are producing increasingly larger quantities of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide resulting from the use of fossil fuels and from deforestation. Because of concerns that the accumulation of such gases in the atmosphere will result in a variety of environmental changes over time that would have serious and costly effects, policies to reduce
those emissions are being considered. Such policies would impose costs on the U.S. economy and affect patterns of employment throughout the country.

Adopting policies aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases would shift the demand for goods and services away from fossil fuels and products that require substantial amounts of those fuels
to make or to use and toward alternative forms of energy and products that require lesser amounts of fossil fuels. Employment patterns would shift to mirror those changes in demand. Changes in employment in specific industries would reflect the amounts of greenhouse gases they emit
(through production and use of their output) and the difficulty of reducing their emissions of
those gases..."

Administrator Jackson Sends Letter to Senators
"U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson issued a letter responding to a letter sent to her the evening of February 19 by eight U.S. Senators asking about the agency’s plans for 2010.

In the letter, the administrator outlines several of the decisions she has made for 2010-2011:

No facility will be required to address greenhouse gas emissions in Clean Air Act permitting of new construction or modifications before 2011.

For the first half of 2011, only facilities that already must apply for Clean Air Act permits as a result of their non-greenhouse gas emissions will need to address their greenhouse gas emissions in their permit applications.

EPA is also considering a modification to the rule announced in September requiring large facilities emitting more than 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year to obtain permits demonstrating they are using the best practices and technologies to minimize GHG emissions. EPA is considering raising that threshold substantially to reflect input provided during the public comment process.

EPA does not intend to subject smaller facilities to Clean Air Act permitting for greenhouse gas emissions any sooner than 2016."

Cars and Climate: What Can EPA Do to Control Greenhouse Gases from Mobile Sources?
"As Congress considers legislation to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to climate change, attention has focused on “cap-and-trade” legislation. Such legislation would set a national cap on GHG emissions, with allowances (permits) to emit limited amounts of the gases distributed or auctioned to affected parties. Recently, there has also been discussion of taxes on greenhouse-gas-emitting substances (generally referred to as a “carbon tax”), which proponents argue would provide greater transparency and a clearer price signal.

Enacting greenhouse gas controls is not simply a choice between cap-and-trade and carbon tax options, however. A third set of options, using the more traditional regulatory approaches of the Clean Air Act (CAA), is available. Unlike a cap-and-trade system or a carbon tax, regulation under the Clean Air Act does not require new Congressional action. The ability to limit GHG missions already exists under various CAA authorities that Congress has enacted, a point underlined by the Supreme Court in an April 2007 decision (Massachusetts v. EPA).

Thus, controlling GHGs could follow a two-track approach, with Congress and the
Administration pursuing new legal authority (for cap-and-trade, carbon tax, or whatever) at the same time that the Administration, through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), exercises existing authority under the Clean Air Act to begin regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. The Administration has made clear that its preference would be for Congress to address the climate issue through new legislation. Nevertheless, it is moving forward on several fronts to define how the Clean Air Act might be used..."

Greenhouse Gases Threaten Public Health and the Environment
"After a thorough examination of the scientific evidence and careful consideration of public comments, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today [12/07/09] that greenhouse gases (GHGs) threaten the public health and welfare of the American people. EPA also finds that GHG emissions from on-road vehicles contribute to that threat.

GHGs are the primary driver of climate change, which can lead to hotter, longer heat waves that threaten the health of the sick, poor or elderly; increases in ground-level ozone pollution linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses; as well as other threats to the health and welfare of Americans..."