Stationary Sources of GHGS

Greenhouse Gases

• Greenhouse gases (GHGS) work by trapping heat radiating from the earth in the atmosphere. The more prominent greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. The relative effect of greenhouse gases is measured relative to carbon dioxide, through what is known as the Global Warming Potential (GWP). Methane for example, has a GWP of 56 over a time span of 20 years, meaning that it is 56 times more potent than carbon dioxide, so smaller amounts of methane can have significant impacts.

Sources

• Greenhouse gas sources are both natural and man-made sources. For example, plants and animals release carbon dioxide as a result of metabolism, and nitrous oxide and methane can both be emitted from agricultural fields and wetland ecosystems. For man-made sources, they can be either stationary or non-stationary. Non-stationary sources include automobiles and the burning of fossil fuels during the transport of coal and natural gas. Stationary sources include factories that burn fossil fuels for the production of iron, steel and cement and facilities for waste incineration and the generation of electricity.

Environmental Effects

• Increasing greenhouse gases have linked to global climate change, and the potential environmental implications are expected to have serious adverse effects on many ecosystems and services that provide food and clean water. Climate change is projected to include increases in average temperatures, alterations to rainfall amount and patterns and a general change in weather variability and climate extremes, all of which could significantly lower agricultural production and degrade local, regional and national water quality.

Emissions Inventory

• According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, approximately 40 percent of the nation's greenhouse gasses are emitted from fossil fuel-fired power plants and refineries. In 2009, over 6,000 million metric tons (teragrams) of greenhouse gases were emitted in the U.S. with the majority coming from fossil fuel combustion as carbon dioxide. Transportation accounted for over 1,700 teragram, while industrial fossil fuel combustion accounted for over 700 teagrams.