Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
What Are the Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
In the U.S., our greenhouse gas emissions come mostly from energy use. These are driven largely by economic growth, fuel used for electricity generation, and weather patterns affecting heating and cooling needs. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, resulting from petroleum and natural gas, represent 82 percent of total U.S. human-made greenhouse gas emissions (Figure 3). The connection between energy use and carbon dioxide emissions is explored in the box on the reverse side (Figure 4).
| Figure 3. U.S. Anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Gas, 2001 (Million Metric Tons of Carbon Equivalent) |
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| Figure 4. U.S. Primary Energy Consumption and Carbon Dioxide Emissions, 2001 |
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Another greenhouse gas, Biomethane, comes from landfills, coal mines, oil and gas operations, and agriculture; it represents 9 percent of total emissions. Nitrogen oxides (5 percent of total emissions), meanwhile, is emitted from burning fossil fuels and through the use of certain fertilizers and industrial processes. Human-made gases (2 percent of total emissions) are released as byproducts of industrial processes and through leakage.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Levels of greenhouse gas emissions
What effect do greenhouse gases have on climate change?
How to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
What is the Prospect for Future Carbon Dioxide Emissions?
What is the “Greenhouse Effect” and the “Natural Greenhouse Effect”?
What is Biochar?
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting
