For reporting year (RY) 2016, over 8,100 facilities and suppliers reported to the greenhouse gas reporting program. Among these reporters,

• 7,631 facilities in nine industry sectors reported direct emissions.
• Reported direct emissions totaled 2.99 billion metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e), about half of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions;
• 950 suppliers of fossil fuels and industrial gases reported; and
• 104 facilities reported injecting CO₂ underground.

Summary GHGRP data has been broken into several sections. Click the links below to expand each section.


 

• Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program Background

  As directed by Congress, EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) collects annual greenhouse gas information from the top emitting sectors of the U.S. economy (Table 1). The GHGRP is the only dataset containing facility-level greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data from large industrial sources across the United States. With six consecutive years of reporting for most sectors, GHGRP data are providing important new information on industrial emissions—showing variation in emissions across facilities within an industry, variation in industrial emissions across geographic areas, and changes in emissions over time at the sector and facility level. EPA is using this facility-level data to improve estimates of national greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

  This document summarizes national industrial sector emissions and trends.

  Table 1: GHGRP Sector Classifications

  Industry Sector	Number of Reporters	Emissions (Million Metric Tons CO2e)
  Power Plants	1,405	1,876.3
  Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems	2,248	282.9
  Onshore Petroleum & Nat. Gas Prod.	512	85.4
  Offshore Petroleum & Nat. Gas Prod.	134	7.3
  Onshore Pet. & Nat. Gas Gathering & Boosting	299	83.0
  Natural Gas Processing	447	55.9
  Natural Gas Transmission/Compression	525	22.4
  Onshore Natural Gas Transmission Pipelines	27	4.4
  Underground Natural Gas Storage	53	1.5
  Natural Gas Local Distribution Companies	169	14.2
  Liquefied Natural Gas Import/Export Equp.	6	2.0
  LNG Storage	6	**
  Other Petroleum & Natural Gas Systems	92	6.8
  Refineries	145	179.3
  Chemicals	454	176.6
  Non-Fluorinated Chemicals
  Adipic Acid Production	3	8.7
  Ammonia Manufacturing	26	28.3
  Hydrogen Production	112	44.7
  Nitric Acid Production	34	10.3
  Petrochemical Production	66	53.5
  Phosphoric Acid Production	12	1.5
  Silicon Carbide Production	1	0.1
  Titanium Dioxide Production	6	2.4
  Other Chemicals	204	19.8
  Fluorinated Chemicals
  Fluorinated GHG Production	14	4.5
  HCFC-22 Prod./HFC-23 Dest.	4	2.8
  Waste	1,505	107.4
  Industrial Waste Landfills	172	8.7
  MSW Landfills	1,137	86.6
  Solid Waste Combustion	63	10.2
  Industrial Wastewater Treatment	140	2.0
  Metals	298	86.7
  Aluminum Production	8	3.1
  Ferroalloy Production	10	1.8
  Iron and Steel Production	124	69.5
  Lead Production	11	1.0
  Magnesium Production	10	1.2
  Zinc Production	5	0.6
  Other Metals	130	9.4
  Minerals	370	109.9
  Cement Production	95	65.7
  Glass Production	102	8.1
  Lime Manufacturing	75	27.7
  Soda Ash Manufacturing	3	3.8
  Other Minerals	97	4.8
  Pulp and Paper	228	37.7
  Chemical Pulp and Paper Production	107	27.0
  Other Paper Producers	121	10.8
  Other	1,352	133.3
  Food Processing	338	29.9
  Ethanol Production	172	19.1
  Other Manufacturing	279	15.1
  Universities	114	8.7
  Military	34	1.7
  Other Combustion	173	10.7
  Underground Coal Mines	94	38.8
  Electronics Manufacturing	53	6.2
  Electrical Equipment Manufacturers	7	0.1
  Use of Electrical Equipment	88	3.0

  ** Total reported emissions are less than 0.05 million metric tons CO₂e.

  The GHGRP does not represent total U.S. GHG emissions, but provides facility level data for large sources of direct emissions, thus representing the majority of U.S. GHG emissions. The GHGRP data collected from direct emitters represent about half of all U.S. emissions. When including greenhouse gas information reported to the GHGRP by suppliers, emissions coverage reaches approximately 85–90% (See Figure 1). The Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2015 contains information on all GHG emissions sources and sinks in the United States.

  Learn more about the differences between the Inventory and the GHGRP.

  Figure 1: U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory and the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program

  

  Suppliers report the quantity of GHGs that would be emitted if the fuels and industrial GHGs that they place into the economy each year are used/released. Reporting by suppliers helps account for the greenhouse gas emissions by the numerous low-emitting sources that are not required to report emissions under the GHGRP (e.g., mobile sources, residential sources). Learn more about suppliers and their 2016 reported data.

  Table 2: Overview of GHG Data Reported (2016)

  Direct emitters
  Number of facilities reporting	7,631
  Reported direct emissions (billion metric tons CO2e)	2.99
  Suppliers of fuel and industrial gases
  Number of suppliers	950
  Underground injection of carbon dioxide
  Number of carbon dioxide injection facilities	104

• Who reports?

  For 2016, 7,631 direct emitters submitted a GHG report. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems sector had the largest number of reporting facilities, followed by the Waste Sector and the Power Plants Sector. Among suppliers, Suppliers of Natural Gas and Natural Gas Liquids had the largest number of reporting facilities.

  Table 3: Number of Direct Emitters that Reported (2016)

  Industry Sector	Number of Reporters1
  Power Plants	1,405
  Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems	2,248
  Refineries	145
  Chemicals	454
  Fluorinated Chemicals	15
  Non-fluorinated Chemicals	439
  Waste	1,505
  Metals	298
  Minerals	370
  Pulp and Paper	228
  Other	1,352
  Underground Coal Mines	94
  Electrical Equipment Production & Use	95
  Electronics Manufacturing	53
  Other Combustion	1,110

  ¹ Totals sum to more than 7,631 because facilities whose activities fall within more than one sector are counted multiple times.

• Reported Emissions

  In 2016, 2.99 billion metric tons CO₂e were reported by direct emitters. The largest emitting sector was the Power Plants Sector with 1.9 billion metric tons CO₂e, followed by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems Sector with 283 million metric tons (MMT) CO₂e and the Refineries Sector with 179 MMT CO₂e. This information, as well as average emissions per reporter, is shown in the following chart.

  Figure 2: Direct GHG Emissions Reported by Sector (2016)

  

  View this information in FLIGHT.

• Emissions Trends

  National level trends in greenhouse gas emissions are available through the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2015. The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is different from the U.S. GHG Inventory in that it collects information from the largest stationary sources in the U.S. and provides nearly complete emissions coverage for many of the largest emitting industries. Trends in emissions reported for individual industries are discussed in the industry-specific reports.

  Total U.S. emissions decreased by 2.3 percent from 2014 to 2015, based on the U.S. GHG Inventory. Between 2014 and 2015, emissions reported to the GHGRP decreased by 4.7 percent (Table 4).

  The U.S. GHG Inventory is not yet available for 2016. For sources reporting to the GHGRP, excluding emissions from the oil and gas sector (which reported new sources this year), emissions decreased by 4.0 percent from 2015 to 2016. Over the past six reporting years (2011-2016), GHGRP reported direct emissions from sectors other than oil and gas (also excluding suppliers) declined by 12.6 percent. This decline is primarily caused by a 15.5 percent decline in reported power plant emissions since 2011.

  Table 4: Emissions Trends for U.S. GHG Inventory and GHGRP (2011-2016)

  	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
  U.S. GHG Inventory
  Total emissions (million metric tons CO2e)	6,776.7	6,538.3	6,680.1	6,739.7	6,586.7	Not available
  Percent change in emissions from previous year	-2.1%	-3.5%	2.2%	0.9%	-2.3%	Not available
  GHGRP
  Number of direct-emitting facilities	7,643	7,891	7,975	8,200	8,035	7,631
  Direct emissions (million metric tons CO2e)	3,318.3	3,168.2	3,187.0	3,201.4	3,052.0	2,990.11
  Percent change in emissions from previous year	—	-4.5%	0.6%	0.5%	-4.7%	N/A1

  Table 5: Emission Trends by Sector (2011-2016)

  Sector	2011 Emissions (MMT CO2e)	2012 Emissions (MMT CO2e)	2013 Emissions (MMT CO2e)	2014 Emissions (MMT CO2e)	2015 Emissions (MMT CO2e)	2016 Emissions (MMT CO2e)
  Power Plants	2,221.7	2,088.9	2,104.1	2,100.1	1,970.7	1,876.3
  Oil & Gas	222.2	226.1	227.9	235.9	232.9	282.91
  Refineries	178.2	172.5	174.1	175.2	175.1	179.3
  Chemicals	180.4	172.5	174.0	176.5	176.9	176.6
  Fluorinated Chemicals	17.4	14.1	13.1	11.4	9.9	7.3
  Non-fluorinated Chemicals	163.0	158.4	160.9	165.2	167.0	169.3
  Waste	114.9	115.4	111.6	112.0	110.8	107.4
  Metals	112.0	106.8	106.9	104.4	90.8	86.7
  Minerals	103.2	107.5	111.5	116.6	115.7	109.9
  Pulp & Paper	44.2	42.7	39.4	39.3	38.4	37.7
  Other	141.5	135.8	137.6	141.3	140.6	133.3
  Underground Coal Mines	40.9	38.8	41.0	41.2	43.9	38.8
  Electrical Equipment Production & Use	4.3	3.4	3.4	3.3	2.9	3.2
  Electronics Manufacturing	7.0	6.4	5.2	6.2	6.3	6.2
  Other Combustion	89.4	87.2	88.0	90.5	87.4	85.2

  ¹ GHG data for the Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems source category is not directly comparable between 2011-2015 and 2016 onwards. Facilities in the Onshore Oil & Gas gathering & Boosting and Onshore Gas Transmission Pipelines industry segments began reporting in 2016.

  Figure 3: Trends in Direct GHG Emissions (2011-2016) ^1,2

  

  View this information in FLIGHT.

  ¹ Non-fluorinated Chemicals and Fluorinated Chemicals are components of “Chemicals” in FLIGHT.
  ² Other Combustion, Underground Coal Mines, Electronics Manufacturing and Electrical Equipment Production & Use comprise “Other” in FLIGHT.

• Emissions by GHG

  Carbon dioxide is the GHG emitted in the largest quantities. The 2.7 billion metric tons of CO₂ reported for 2016 represent 90.7 percent of the GHGs reported in 2016^a.  Methane emissions represent 7.9 percent of reported 2016 GHG emissions, N₂O represents 0.9 percent, and fluorinated gases (HFCs, PFCs, SF₆) represent 0.6 percent (Figure 4).

  ^aThe Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Sinks for 2016 is not yet available. In 2015, CO₂ represented 82 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions.

  Figure 4: Direct Emissions by GHG (2016)

  

  The table below lists the primary sectors emitting each GHG.

  Table 6: Largest Sources of GHG Emissions

  Greenhouse Gas	Source Categories Contributing Most to Emissions1	Sectors Contributing Most to Emissions
  CO2	Electricity Generation (D), Stationary Combustion (C)	Power Plants
  CH4	Petroleum & Natural Gas Systems (W), Municipal Landfills (HH)	Petroleum & Natural Gas Systems, Waste
  N2O	Nitric Acid Production (V), Adipic Acid Production (E), Electricity Generation (D)	Chemicals, Power Plants
  SF6	SF6 from Electrical Equipment (DD), Electronics Manufacturing (I), Magnesium Production (T)	Other, Metals
  NF3	Electronics Manufacturers (I), Fluorinated Gas Production (L)	Other
  HFCs	HCFC–22 Production and HFC–23 Destruction (O), Fluorinated Gas Production (L)	Chemicals
  PFCs	Electronics Manufacturers (I), Aluminum Production (F)	Metals, Other

  ¹ These source categories account for 75 percent or more of the reported emissions of the corresponding GHG. The subpart under which the emissions were reported is shown in parentheses.

• Geographic Distribution of Emissions

  Figure 5: Location and Total Reported Emissions from GHGRP Facilities (2016)

  

  This map shows the locations of direct-emitting facilities. The size of a circle corresponds to the quantity of emissions reported by that facility. There are also facilities located in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam.

  

  Readers can identify facilities in their state, territory, county, or city by visiting the Facility Level Information on GreenHouse gases Tool (FLIGHT).

  Because it generally applies to facilities that emit greater than 25,000 metric tons CO₂e per year, the GHGRP provides total reported emissions from large stationary sources in each state. Figure 6 shows the reported emissions in each state broken out by industrial sector.

  Figure 6: Direct GHG Emissions by State and Sector (2016)

  

  View this information in FLIGHT.

• Emissions Range

  The GHGRP provides a comprehensive dataset that can be used to determine the number of facilities at various emissions levels in many industry sectors. The GHGRP can also be used to determine the total GHG emissions from individual facilities, including emissions from fossil fuel combustion and other processes.

  Figure 7: Percentage of All Reporting Facilities at Various Emission Ranges (2016)

  

  Eighty percent of reporting facilities had emissions less than 250,000 metric tons CO₂e. In 2016, the 636 largest-emitting facilities—those emitting more than one million metric tons CO₂e—accounted for 2.1 billion metric tons CO₂e. These emissions represent 70.7 percent of the total 2.99 billion metric tons CO₂e reported. These high-emitting facilities are mainly power plants, but they also include petroleum refineries and facilities in the Chemicals and Metals sectors.

  You can use FLIGHT to list and sort facilities based on total reported emissions. This tool also allows you to sort facilities by specific industry types.

  Figure 8: Facility Emission Ranges (2016)

  

• GHGRP Calculation Methods Used

  The GHGRP prescribes methodologies that must be used to determine GHG emissions from each source category. Reporters generally have the flexibility to choose among several methods to compute GHG emissions. The decision of which method to use may be influenced by the existing environmental monitoring systems in place and other factors. Reporters can change emission calculation methods from year to year and within the same year, as long as they meet the requirements for use of the method selected.

  Additional information on the methodologies that reporters use to determine GHG emissions

• Report Verification

  All reports submitted to EPA are evaluated by electronic validation and verification checks. If potential errors are identified, EPA will notify the reporter, who can resolve the issue either by providing an acceptable response describing why the flagged issue is not an error or by correcting the flagged issue and resubmitting their annual GHG report.

  Additional information describing EPA’s verification process in more details

• For More Information

  For more detailed information from each industrial sector, view the GHGRP Data Highlights and select an industry from the left hand side.

  Use FLIGHT to view maps of facility locations, obtain summary data for individual facilities, create customized searchers, and display search results graphically.

  Downloadable spreadsheets containing summary data reported to the GHGRP from each reporter are available on the Data Downloads page.

  All other publicly available data submitted to the GHGRP are available for download through Envirofacts.

  The U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory contains information on all sources of GHG emissions and sinks in the United States from 1990 to 2015.

  All GHG emissions data reflect the global warming potential (GWP) values from the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, Pachauri, R.K. and Reisinger, A. (eds)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 2007). The AR4 values also can be found in the current version of Table A-1 in subpart A of 40 CFR part 98.

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