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Greenhouse gases
  • Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases are all greenhouse gases regulated by the EPA.
  • The impact to climate from each greenhouse gas depends on three main factors.

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the reduction of human-made emissions of GHGs through various programs, including preconstruction permitting and operating permits. The EPA also inventories GHS emissions from the largest sources in the United States through the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, cited under 40 CFR 98.

Stationary sources that are already covered by preconstruction, operating permits, or other air permits may also need to include GHG emissions in their permitting calculations, and large stationary sources in 41 industrial categories covered under the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program need to track their greenhouse gas emissions and report them to the EPA every year.

Regulated GHGs

The greenhouse gases (GHGs) regulated by the EPA are:

  • Carbon dioxide (CO2), which enters the atmosphere through burning fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil), solid waste, trees and wood products, and as a result of certain chemical reactions (e.g., the manufacturing of cement). Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere (or “sequestered”) when it is absorbed by plants as part of the biological carbon cycle.
  • Methane (CH4) is emitted during the production and transport of coal, natural gas, and oil. Methane emissions also result from livestock and other agricultural practices and by the decay of organic waste in municipal solid waste landfills.
  • Nitrous oxide (N2O) is emitted during agricultural and industrial activities, as well as during combustion of fossil fuels and solid waste.
  • Fluorinated gases, including hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and nitrogen trifluoride, are synthetic, powerful GHGs that are emitted from a variety of industrial processes. Fluorinated gases are sometimes used as substitutes for stratospheric ozone-depleting substances (e.g., chlorofluorocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, and halons). These gases are typically emitted in smaller quantities, but because they are potent greenhouse gases, they are sometimes referred to as high Global Warming Potential (GWP) gases.

GHG emissions are measured in parts per million, parts per billion, or parts per trillion. One part per million is roughly equal to one drop of water spread into 13 gallons of liquid.

Each gas’s effect on climate change depends on three main factors:

  1. How much of these gases are in the atmosphere. Concentration, or abundance, is the amount of a particular gas in the air. Larger emissions of GHGs lead to higher concentrations in the atmosphere.
  2. How long they stay in the atmosphere. Each of these gases can remain in the atmosphere for different amounts of time, ranging from a few years to thousands of years. All these gases remain in the atmosphere long enough to become well mixed, meaning that the amount that is measured in the atmosphere is roughly the same all over the world, regardless of the source of the emissions.
  3. How strongly they impact the atmosphere. Some gases have higher global warming potentials, meaning they have more of a heat-trapping effect at lower levels than other GHGs.