PLANYC 2030 - Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory: 2007 Emissions Data

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	2007 Emissions Data As a coastal city, New York is particularly susceptible to the effects of global climate change. Scientists have stated, over the course of this century New York City will experience the direct effects of global warming, including increased temperatures, rising sea level, higher risk of severe floods and storms, as well as depletion of crucial natural resources. While there are some steps New York City can take to adapt to warmer temperatures, the greatest urgency is to prevent further climate change by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases.

By 2030, in a business-as-usual scenario, Citywide CO₂e emissions are projected to increase by 27% to approximately 74 million metric tons per year. The following figure shows Citywide CO₂e emissions with compound annual growth rates (CAGR) for combustion vehicles, electricity, and heating fuels.

New York Citywide CO2e emissions, showing compound annual growth rates for combustion vehicles, electricity and heating fuels. A 0.95% CAGR assumes business-as-usual conditions.

New York Citywide CO2e emissions, showing compound annual growth rates for combustion vehicles, electricity and heating fuels. A 0.95% CAGR assumes business-as-usual conditions.

New York has set the goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. This target was selected because it was determined to be aggressive yet achievable. Strategies by which the City plans to achieve this goal are outlined in PlaNYC. The figure below represents the challenge New York faces.

By 2030, Emissions are projected to increase by 27% in a business-as-usual scenario, New York must first overcome this rise before it can begin to make progress on reducing emissions below 2005 levels.

By 2030, Emissions are projected to increase by 27% in a business-as-usual scenario, New York must first overcome this rise before it can begin to make progress on reducing emissions below 2005 levels.

The operation of New York City’s homes, buildings, transportation systems, and vehicles, together with decomposition of solid waste resulted in the net emission of approximately 58.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2005. The following figures give a break-down of Citywide emissions by sector and source.

Buildings: New York City is the most densely populated city in the country. Because of the density and smaller-than-average dwelling unit size, less energy is needed to heat, light, cool, and power New York’s buildings than in other U.S. cities, when considered on a per capita basis. New York also has an extensive public transit system, allowing New Yorkers to own cars at far below the national level. Because of this, 79% of CO₂e emissions came from New York’s buildings in 2005. In comparison, nationally 32% of emissions resulted from the operation of buildings. The figures below represent the emissions from buildings by sector and source.

Transportation: Fossil fuels used to power cars, trucks, and mass transit in New York City resulted in the emissions of approximately 13.6 million metric tons of CO₂e in 2005, representing 23% of total emissions. As shown in the figure below, New York’s extensive mass transit system is estimated to transport approximately 40% of all people traveling by motorized transportation on a typical weekday (excluding heavy trucks), while only resulting in 11% of transportation CO₂e emissions, and 3% of overall emissions. Total trips by auto, while transporting 55% of people traveling in the City by motorized transportation, account for 78% of transportation emissions, and 18% of overall CO₂e. These data point clearly to greenhouse gas reductions possible as a result of increased use of mass transit.

Solid Waste: The majority of New York’s solid waste is disposed of in managed landfills, which are estimated to capture 75% of the methane that is generated through decomposition of organic matter. Due to this methane capture, New York’s solid waste disposal resulted in net CO₂e emissions of approximately -1.5 million metric tons in 2005. Although emissions from long-haul transport are included in the City government inventory, they have also been counted toward the Citywide total to ensure as accurate an account as possible. When emissions from long-haul transport are included with solid waste emissions, the net total is -1.2 million metric tons. The figure below illustrates the impact of this combination of methane capture and carbon sequestration.

Greenhouse gases emitted as a result of government operations are a subset of Citywide emissions, representing approximately 7% of the Citywide total. As seen in the Citywide inventory, energy used in buildings is by far the greatest source of CO₂e emissions. Actions implemented by City government from 1995 to 2006 have avoided the emissions of 446,000 metric tons of CO₂e. Planned actions, to be implemented between 2007 to 2017 are projected to avoid the emission of 404,000 metric tons of CO₂e. In fiscal year 2006, activities associated with the direct operation of New York City’s government resulted in a total release of approximately 3.8 million metric tons of CO₂e. As shown in the figure below, the production of electricity and steam and the combustion of natural gas and fuel oil used in buildings owned and leased by the City of New York resulted in the majority of emissions in 2006. Buildings were responsible for the emission of approximately 2.4 million metric tons of CO₂e. Emissions of CO₂e generated by the operation of water pollution control plants, water supply, and wastewater transport systems operated by the Department of Environmental Protection made up 17 percent of emissions with the release of 655,000 metric tons of CO₂e. Gasoline and diesel fuel used by City vehicles (including school buses and DSNY contracted long-haul trucks and trains) accounted for the third largest contribution of emissions at 18 percent, producing 653,000 metric tons of CO₂e.

Buildings: Energy use in buildings is the largest contributing sector to the greenhouse gas emissions inventory from all City sources. Collectively, energy use in the form of electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, steam, and coal to heat, cool, power, and light City government buildings accounted for 64% of emissions in the base year, producing approximately 2.4 million metric tons of CO₂e. The following figures break down the energy use in City government buildings by agency and energy source.

Water and Sewer Sector: The facilities that make up the wastewater treatment and water and sewer systems that serve a municipality are often the buildings that use the greatest amount of energy; therefore, they are removed from the buildings sector for more specific examination. DEP-operated water pollution control plants, water supply, and wastewater transport systems, together with methane generated by the wastewater treatment process that escapes into the atmosphere, combined to produce 17 percent of emissions from City operations in 2006. A total of approximately 655,000 metric tons of CO₂e were emitted by this sector in 2006. As illustrated, indirect emissions from electricity consumption dominated the greenhouse gas emissions from the water and sewage sector in 2006, responsible for 48 percent of emissions. A significant percentage of the methane generated during sewage treatment was either flared or captured and used for energy as part of the treatment process.

Solid Waste Sector: It is estimated that during Fiscal Year 2006, approximately 194,000 metric tons of solid waste were generated from New York City government employees and sent to landfills. Waste contributes to greenhouse gas emissions through the release of methane gas as the waste decomposes. Due in large part to this level of methane capture, total greenhouse gas emissions generated from the decomposition of City employees’ waste in 2006 was a net negative of approximately -55,000 metric tons of CO₂e. The adjacent figure illustrates the percentage of methane generated and the amount of carbon that is sequestered in the landfill.

Streetlights and Traffic Signals Sector: Electricity consumption from New York City streetlights, traffic lights, and illuminated pedestrian signals accounted for 3.7 percent of government greenhouse gas emissions in Fiscal Year 2006, resulting in the release of 144,000 metric tons of CO₂e. As noted in the Reduction Measures section of this report, this sector has seen the greatest percentage reduction in CO₂e over the 11-year period from 1995 to 2006 due to the Citywide installation of light emitting diodes (LED) traffic and pedestrian signals. The adjacent figure illustrates this 26 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Reduction Measures to Date: New York City has already begun implementing measures that contribute to reducing the City government’s greenhouse gas emissions. These measures include, among others, energy reduction programs, street tree-planting programs, conversion of streetlights to more efficient technologies, landfill methane recovery, use of alternative fuel vehicles, and solid waste recycling. The figure below illustrates each measure’s contribution to the total annual avoidance of 446,000 metric tons of CO₂e emissions. These measures demonstrate the progressive policies of the past ten years and point toward the fact that with more concentrated effort New York will be able to achieve even more substantial reductions in the future. For a full description of reduction measures, please reference the Inventory of New York City Greenhouse Gas Emissions (in PDF) report.

Future Planned Reduction Measures: Measures planned to be implemented between 2006 and 2017 are projected to result in the avoided emission or reduction of 404,000 metric tons of CO₂e each year by 2017. These measures include only those which are known to become implemented during this period, either through existing local law, contract, or other agreement. By 2017, these measures are expected to result in only a small reduction of CO₂e levels below 2006 of 0.3 percent. As the sum of total reductions is approximately 404,000 tons of CO₂e per year, it is apparent that without these measures emissions would have increased by almost 10 percent. The figure below illustrates the projected reductions by share. For a full description of reduction measures, please reference the Inventory of New York City Greenhouse Gas Emissions (in PDF) report.