Highlights
- The state has made tremendous progress in reducing its GHG emissions, such as the fuels combustion of the biogenic materials subsector, which declined by a significant amount of 11 percent compared to 2019. However, there are a few sub-sectors and activities where GHG emissions have generally risen. From 2008 to 2020, statewide included GHG emissions decreased by 22.9 percent, and GHG emissions increased by 1.3-times in these sub-sectors included in the figure above during the same period. In addition to the use of substitutes for ODS and landfills, GHG emissions from fuel combustion activities for non-specified residential sub-sectors have also risen significantly across time (up four-times compared to the 2008 level, or up 8.6% year-over-year). GHG emissions associated with landscape (the use of nitrogen fertilizer on turf) from the commercial and residential sectors have risen gradually in line with population growth (+13.8% since 2000).
- GHG emissions from fuel combustion of biogenic materials (including biofuels and other biogenic energy sources) for on-road transportation declined significantly over the year. However, it has been rapidly increasing in the long-term, up 145 percent in 2020 compared to 2008. This is not necessarily bad as emissions from biogenic materials do not permanently and irreversibly increase the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases.43 Specifically, these emissions, which are not part of the included emissions inventory, result from combustion of biodiesel, ethanol, and renewable diesel. While these fuel sources result in some greenhouse gas emissions, it would be an improvement if these fuels could displace gasoline combustion, though not as much as electrifying transportation.
43 The transformation of biomass (and its embodied “biogenic” carbon) into products represents, in effect, a removal of CO2 via its continued storage in the product over a period of time.
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