Alison Clark Zajdel
Environmental Sustainability Commission
A greenhouse gas inventory is a fundamental first step to becoming a more resilient community. The process provides data on the amount of energy consumed, the diversity of energy supplied to the grid, a community's vehicle type and fuel usage distribution and more. Communities completing inventories can use the data to set a reduction target and develop a plan for reducing those emissions.
Each gas has a different lifetime in the atmosphere with CO2 having a variable time depending on the atmospheric conditions, CH4 lasting for 12.4 years, and N₂O persisting for approximately 114 years.
In 2018, emissions from the energy sector comprised 81.3% of Richmond's total greenhouse gas emissions. Within the energy sector, electricity was 82.5% and natural gas was 17.5%
Richmond’s emissions are well above the average per capita emissions nation-wide (23.57 metric tons of CO2e vs 16.06. Many factors contribute to variation in the amount of emissions per capita, including climate, the structure of the state economy, population density, energy sources, building standards, and explicit state policies to reduce emissions. Across the country many cities have adopted climate action plans, aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Focused on individual, organizational, and governmental levels, these plans are implemented on the community-level through broad policies and practices. Climate action planning also can focus on resiliency, ensuring that communities are prepared to adapt from the environmental changes associated with climate change.
Richmond will analyze the report results, conduct additional research, and gather community input to create a Climate Action Plan.
About the Prepared for Environmental Change Initiative
The Indiana University Prepared for Environmental Change Grand Challenge initiative brings together a broad, bipartisan coalition of government, business, nonprofit and community leaders to help Indiana better prepare for the challenges that environmental changes bring to our economy, health and livelihood. Announced in May 2017, Prepared for Environmental Change is working to deliver tailored and actionable solutions to communities across the state of Indiana.
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