14 December 2004 - US greenhouse gas emissions increased by 0.7 per cent in 2003, from 6891 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO₂e) in 2002 to 6,936 MMTCO₂e in 2003, according to "Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2003", a report released today by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The 2003 increase is well below the rate of economic growth of 3.0 per cent and below the average annual growth rate of 1.0 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions since 1990.

Emissions of carbon dioxide and methane increased by 0.8 and 0.5 per cent respectively, while emissions of nitrous oxide and engineered gases fell by 0.9 and 0.3 per cent respectively.

Emissions of carbon dioxide from energy consumption and industrial processes grew by 0.8 per cent from 5825 million metric tons in 2002 to 5870 million metric tons in 2003.

Since 1990, energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide have risen by 16.0 per cent. Methane emissions rose by 0.5 per cent from 599 MMTCO₂e to 602 MMTCO₂e. Small increases in methane emissions from landfills and coal mines more than offset decreases in methane emissions from mobile sources and rice cultivation. Since 1990, methane emissions have declined by 15 per cent.

Nitrous oxide emissions decreased from 323 MMTCO₂e in 2002 to 320 MMTCO2e in 2003 (0.9 per cent) mainly because of declines in emissions from industrial sources and nitrogen fertilization of agricultural soils. Since 1990, nitrous oxide emissions have fallen by 2.6 per cent.

Emissions from three classes of engineered gases - hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) - decreased by 0.3 per cent from 144 MMTCO2e in 2002 to 143 MMTCO₂e in 2003. These gases have grown by 62 per cent since 1990, but most of that growth took place during the early and mid-1990s.

In 1990, land use change and forestry practices sequestered enough carbon dioxide to offset 19.2 per cent of US anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. In 2002 (the last year of available data) that offset declined to 11.9 per cent. The greenhouse gas intensity of the US economy, as measured by emissions per unit of economic output, fell by 2.3 per cent from 2002 to 2003.

US Greenhouse Gas Emissions per Unit of Gross Domestic Product (Metric Tons Carbon Dioxide Equivalent per Million Chain-weighted year 2000 dollars)
Year | GHG Intensity
2002 | 684
2003 | 668

The full report can be found on EIA's web site at:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggrpt/index.html