The city’s newly released 2021 Greenhouse Gas Inventory shows that community-wide emissions have fallen 15.5% since 2018.
Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere, which contributes to climate change. The annual report highlights how Boulder has made headway in reducing emissions and identifies systems that must be changed to reach the city’s climate targets.
The top sources of Boulder’s emissions were electricity use (38%), on-road transportation (27%), aviation (10%) and natural gas (23%).
This demonstrates the continued importance of moving away from fossil fuels and adopting cleaner sources to power the energy grid, like solar and wind. Boulder must also accelerate the transition to efficient, electric technologies and cleaner modes of transportation. A key driver of this work is the partnership between the city and Xcel Energy, which aims to achieve 100% renewable energy and zero electricity-sector emissions by 2030.
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