Greenhouse gases by sector

Abstract

Most analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the literature concentrates on motor vehicle emissions, since transportation generates the most GHG emissions at 33% (with the industrial sector second at 27%) if the GHGs from electricity are distributed to each end-use sector. But if electricity is counted as a separate “sector”, then electricity in 2014 accounted for 39.4% of all U.S. GHG emissions in 2013 (with transportation second at 33.7%). Electricity is the major source of U.S. GHG emissions since most electricity is generated from fossil fuels, particularly coal, the highest carbon content fuel. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that fossil fuels will still generate 61.6% of all electricity by 2040, down only slightly from 64.9% in 2015.