What are the major sources of CO2 on the planet and what can we do, actively, passively or by simple choices to reduce those emissions and make it easier for our governments, at all levels, to reduce others.
First: sources and sinks: (Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions | US EPA and Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks | US EPA
1) Transportation. 28.5% of US emissions comes from fossil fuels powering our planes, trains and automobiles and ships and motorcycles and trucks and everything else with an ICE that rolls.
2) Electricity Production. 28.4% of 2016 US emissions came from our power plants. Approximately 68% of our electrical energy is generated by coal, natural gas and other fossil fuels
3) Industry. Approximately 22% of our greenhouse gas emissions come from industrial processes. The largest portion is the burning of fossil fuels for energy (the heat required for smelting iron, for instance), the next from processes that produce GHGs as a side product (eg, the manufacture of cement releases large quantities of CO2)
4) Commercial and residental. 11% of GHG emissions come primarily from fossil fuels burned to proiduce heat and handle waste
5) Agriculture> Roughly 9% of GHGs from from livestock [insert snickers for <12 crowd and Skookerasbil] soil decomposition and rice paddies
6) Land use and forestry. In the US in 2016, managed forests and other lands have absorbed more CO2 than they have produced offsetting 11% of our emissions.
So what can we do, not do, and decide, that will help reduce our CO2 emissions from these sources?
First: sources and sinks: (Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions | US EPA and Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks | US EPA
1) Transportation. 28.5% of US emissions comes from fossil fuels powering our planes, trains and automobiles and ships and motorcycles and trucks and everything else with an ICE that rolls.
2) Electricity Production. 28.4% of 2016 US emissions came from our power plants. Approximately 68% of our electrical energy is generated by coal, natural gas and other fossil fuels
3) Industry. Approximately 22% of our greenhouse gas emissions come from industrial processes. The largest portion is the burning of fossil fuels for energy (the heat required for smelting iron, for instance), the next from processes that produce GHGs as a side product (eg, the manufacture of cement releases large quantities of CO2)
4) Commercial and residental. 11% of GHG emissions come primarily from fossil fuels burned to proiduce heat and handle waste
5) Agriculture> Roughly 9% of GHGs from from livestock [insert snickers for <12 crowd and Skookerasbil] soil decomposition and rice paddies
6) Land use and forestry. In the US in 2016, managed forests and other lands have absorbed more CO2 than they have produced offsetting 11% of our emissions.
So what can we do, not do, and decide, that will help reduce our CO2 emissions from these sources?