In the United States, annual greenhouse gas emissions are about 20 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per person. The Oregon per capita average is closer to 17 metric tons CO2e per year. The Eugene per capita greenhouse gas emissions, as calculated by the City of Eugene, amount to 8.6 metric tons of CO2e, or nearly five hot air balloons per person![1]
However, none of these numbers reflect the emissions associated with freeway or air travel, nor the production of food and other goods brought in from other communities and consumed here. Therefore, we have created the profile of a “typical” Eugene household, which includes a broader scope of personal emissions than does a standard community-level greenhouse gas inventory.
A resident in this typical Eugene
household is responsible for the emission of 13.8 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. This person heats with natural gas and drives a Honda Accord for 12,000 miles a year. He or she takes one round trip flight to
Santa Fe, New Mexico each year to soak up some extra sunshine.
The majority of our typical resident’s 13.8 tons of greenhouse gas emissions derive from transportation. The emissions embodied in food and other consumption are difficult to accurately calculate, but we conservatively estimate that they could amount to 5.5 tons per person per year. Most of the emissions from home energy use for this resident, living in a 2 person household, derive from the natural gas they use, rather than the electricity. Of their home emissions, the majority are from space heating, then water heating.
There are still many emissions sources not included in our calculations, such as those embodied in existing buildings we live in, in petroleum based pesticides and fertilizers we use in our yards that emit nitrous oxide, and the emissions from waste decomposing in landfills (excluded because about 80% of methane is captured for creating electricity at Short Mountain Landfill).
Courtesy of Funk/Levis & Associates | More Info
