Title
Receive a presentation of the 2023-2024 Chatham County Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Abstract
Introduction & Background: Greenhouse gases trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. Higher concentrations of these gases trap more heat from the sun, slowing its release back into space. Chatham County uses a data model to perform a greenhouse gas inventory periodically.
Discussion & Analysis: This inventory uses a data model to estimate the greenhouse gas released due to various activities that occur within the County. Some of these greenhouse gas impacts are inside Chatham County, such as vehicle emissions. Others are due to activities within Chatham, such as the emissions from generating electricity. This inventory looks at five major sectors, estimating the impact of each. These sectors are Energy (Residential, Commercial, and Industrial), Transportation, Solid Waste, Agriculture, and Internal Government Operations. The inventory also estimates the ability of the environment within the County to absorb the greenhouse gases created. This is known as a “carbon sink” because the greenhouse gases are typically reported as carbon dioxide equivalent, or the relative impact of the gases as compared to carbon dioxide.
The inventory model shows which sectors have the highest impact on the overall greenhouse gas emissions in the County. Using this data can help direct policy decisions as the County works to reduce its emissions.
Previous inventories were done for 2010, 2015, and 2019-2020. Comparisons will be shown for the different sectors’ emissions and overall emissions for each of these reports. However, only the 2019-2020 inventory used substantially the same model for calculating emissions as the current inventory, so direct comparisons to 2010 and 2015 emissions are not as useful.
How does this relate to the Comprehensive Plan: The greenhouse gas inventory relates to the Resiliency Big Idea to Become a Carbon Negative County.
Budgetary Impact: There is no budgetary impact to receiving this report
Recommendation/Motion: Receive the presentation of the 2023-2024 Chatham County Greenhouse Gas Inventory.