Title
Presentation of the 2019-2020 Chatham County Greenhouse Gas Inventory Results
Abstract
Action Requested: Receive the presentation.
Introduction & Background: Greenhouse gases are those natural and man-made emissions which contribute to global warming. A greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory is a report consisting of GHG emission sources in a given community and the associated emissions quantified using standardized methods. This data can then be used by the community to understand and identify opportunities for action with the goal of reducing emissions and mitigating global warming.
This GHG inventory compiles emissions data from both internal county government operations and the county as a whole for calendar years 2019 and 2020. The aggregation of known emission sources for which data can be gathered creates a model that is useful for seeing the relative contribution of different sectors of the community to the overall emissions for the county. It can also be useful for comparing the emissions of the county during different time periods, but only if the modeling method and data sources are consistent. The inventory is not an absolute measure of emissions, since there are emissions sources that are difficult to quantify and have to be either ignored or calculated based on regional averages.
Discussion & Analysis: The current inventory shows that transportation is still the largest contributor to GHG emissions in the county, representing just over 40% of the total. This is followed by industrial (~21%), residential (~20%), and commercial (~9%) energy usage, though the combined energy sector contribution is larger than transportation. The other sectors modeled were agriculture, solid waste, and internal government operations, which combined were approximately 8% of the total.
Chatham County has had previous inventories done for the years 2010 and 2015. These were completed by graduate students from Duke University and University of North Carol...
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