Personal Impact*
Driving and Riding Compliance Waste Diversion
Climate Changers Electricity at Home & Work
Per-Capita CO2 Emissions
The most recent data available are for 2016
Connecticut residents were meeting the 2020 goal for carbon dioxide emissions from 2006 to 2014, but saw rising per capita emissions from 2013 to 2015. Increases in gasoline consumption will move this indicator in the wrong direction.
Certain gases in the air function like the glass of a greenhouse: they allow the sun's energy to pass through the atmosphere to the ground, then trap the heat that radiates from the ground. These gases often are called "greenhouse gases." Worldwide, a build-up of greenhouse gases is contributing to the ongoing rise in temperature. Carbon dioxide is not the only greenhouse gas nor even the most powerful, but carbon dioxide emissions are far greater in quantity than the others. Continue reading about Connecticut's carbon dioxide emissions...
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Per-Capita Motor Fuel Consumption
The most recent data available are for 2017
Connecticut residents bought more gasoline in 2016 and 2017 compared to the four years prior, reversing a long trend toward greater efficiency.
Early in 2016, transportation (primarily the combustion of gasoline and diesel fuel in vehicles) overtook power plants as the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States.** Recent data for individual states are not yet available, but transportation had already been the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in Connecticut (about 38 percent). As residents buy more petroleum, their carbon dioxide emissions rise. After vehicles, the largest sources are power plants, homes and industrial facilities.
The top chart shows the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted in Connecticut from the burning of petroleum products, natural gas and coal divided by the population. The most recent data available are from 2016. Year-to-year fluctuations could be adjusted in future years***. For display purposes, the X axis on the chart is not to scale.
Connecticut is more energy-efficient than the nation as a whole, and thus the average Connecticut resident's contribution to global climate change is smaller than the average American's.
How the Goal Track is Calculated
State law sets two goals for greenhouse gas emissions: reduce statewide emissions to 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 2001 levels by 2050. As directed in Executive Order 46, the Governor’s Council on Climate Change (GC3) conducted a thorough analysis of mitigation scenarios to reduce state-wide GHG emissions and made a recommendation to set a mid-term reduction target of 45 percent below 2001 levels by 2030.
The top chart shows emissions per Connecticut resident, not total emissions. The goals on the chart have been adjusted to account for the growth in population that is projected for 2020 and 2050. Many more people are projected to be living in Connecticut in 2020 and 2050, so the average resident will have to work that much harder to reduce carbon dioxide emissions if the statewide goal is to be met.
Connecticut's goals are in line with national and international estimates of the extent carbon dioxide emissions from industrialized nations will need to be reduced in order to limit the rise in global mean temperature to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2.0 degrees Celsius) above preindustrial temperatures. In December 2015, most countries of the world agreed to this limit and also a further goal to pursue steps to limit warming to no more than 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius).
Goal Track vs. the Current Trend
The Needle Shows The Current Average Annual
Per-Capita Reduction (.21 metric tons) of
Carbon Dioxide Emissions Over the Last 10 Years.
The Annual Per-Capita Reduction Needed to Achieve the 2050 Goal is .25 Metric Tons
Current Trend & Goal Track
*Personal Impact indicators illustrate trends in behavior or practices that can be expected to influence the condition of tomorrow's air, water, land and wildlife.
**Nationwide data are from the April 2019 Monthly Energy Review published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (specifically pages 208 - 209).
*** Technical Note: The Council compared the federal and state data back to 2003 and determined that the trends were identical.