Documentation for Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2008
January 3, 2011
Introduction
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 required the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) to prepare an inventory of aggregate U.S. national emissions of greenhouse gases for the period 1987-1990, with annual updates thereafter. This report documents the methodology for the seventeenth annual inventory, covering national emissions over the period 1990-2008.
Most of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions data are from EIA surveys, as are many of the data sources for the energy components of the non-CO2 gases. However, because there are also non-energy sources related to CO2 and the other gases, there are several data sources outside of EIA’s survey structure.
EIA continually reviews its methods for estimating emissions of greenhouse gases. As better methods and information become available, EIA revises both current and historical emissions estimates. See the "Update Information" section for what is new for this documentation.
Scope and Organization
Publication of this document is supported by Public Law 93-275, Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974, Section 57(B) (1) (as amended by Public Law 94-385, Energy Conservation and Production Act), which states in part
...that adequate documentation for all statistical and forecast reports prepared...is made available to the public at the time of publication of such reports.
In particular, this report is designed to meet EIA’s model documentation standards established in accordance with these laws. The table on page xvi indicates the mapping from the main report to this documentation.