DNR Completes First Greenhouse Gas Point Source Inventory of Actual Emissions

One important early step in the effort to reduce Iowa’s greenhouse gases has been completed. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Air Quality Bureau has posted its first inventory of point source-specific greenhouse gas emissions for 2007 on its web site at www.iowacleanair.com/prof/ghg/ghg.html. The report is a refinement of previous statewide inventories and includes two sectors: fossil fuel combustion at federally-recognized major sources of air pollution and ethanol production facilities.

“In order to better understand Iowa’s impact on climate change, we first need to have a more comprehensive understanding of where our greenhouse gas emissions are occurring,” said Air Quality Bureau Chief Catharine Fitzsimmons. “This report is a first step towards that realization, but there is still quite a bit more to learn.”

Iowa is the first state to prepare a greenhouse gas inventory for ethanol production plants. Other states will look to Iowa’s leadership in ethanol production to help them sort through test data, methods of conversion, and handling of different fuel types.

Total greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion at 276 of Iowa’s largest emitters of either criteria pollutants or hazardous air pollutants were calculated to be 52.06 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMtCO2e). This is equivalent to annual greenhouse gas emissions from 9,534,277 passenger vehicles or the CO2 emissions from the electricity use of 6,894,987 homes for one year.

“Just as important as providing data for organizations such as the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council, The Climate Registry and the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord, this first inventory will help us refine our reporting requirements and improve future efforts of estimating greenhouse gas emissions in Iowa,” said Marnie Stein, a lead worker with DNR’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions & Climate Change Programs.

The report is the first required by Iowa Code 455B.851 to be submitted to the Iowa General Assembly and the Governor by September 1 of each year. The scope of the inventory will be expanded in future years as additional source categories and three other greenhouse gases -- sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are phased into the reports.