Community GHG emissions from electricity generation, natural gas combustion and vehicle emissions are measured in mt CO2e, which stands for metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. This unit helps measure how much we are contributing to climate change through emissions.
In October of 2021, City Council adopted new climate goals for the community are:
The City of Boulder and the Boulder community are committed to mitigating climate change by reducing GHG emissions. This page shows the Boulder community’s progress toward this goal. Another dashboard page, titled, “Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from City Operations and Facilities,” shows the municipal government’s progress toward the city organization’s emissions reduction goals. The community’s latest GHG inventory can be found at Boulder's Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
In 2023, Boulder’s community-wide emissions decreased 7% from 2022 and were 24% below the 2018 baseline. Boulder has continued to reduce emissions since the adoption of its first Climate Action Plan in 2005.
The drop in community emissions was driven primarily by the cleaning of the grid and the reduction of energy usage (electricity and natural gas) in residential, commercial and industrial buildings. Working against the overall trend was the transportation sector, which saw a modest increase.
Boulder’s largest emissions sources are electricity use, natural gas use, on-road transportation and aviation. This demonstrate the continued importance of moving away from fossil fuels and adopting cleaner sources to power the energy grid, such as solar and wind. Boulder must also accelerate the transition to efficient, electric technologies and cleaner modes of transportation.
This data is provided by the City of Boulder's Climate Initiatives Department. Please see our GHG inventory webpage for more information, including our methodology and detailed summary report. This page will be updated annually.
