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Inventories shed light on Boulder’s emissions sources, emphasizing electrification, transportation and systems change as key areas to focus climate efforts

As world leaders gather in Dubai for the world climate action summit this week, the importance of taking local action to address the impacts of climate change is more clear than ever.

While the science of climate change is complex, our ability to precisely understand our emissions keeps improving. The city uses the best available data and methods to consistently track Boulder’s emissions, and our reporting is becoming more accurate over time.

Each year, the city’s Climate Initiatives Department measures where emissions come from and tracks our community’s progress in reducing them. Next week, the department will release three inventories to help paint the broader picture of Boulder’s emissions. When viewed holistically, the inventories point to significant progress, but recognize where accelerated efforts are needed to reach the city’s climate goals.

Inventory highlights

  • 2022 Community Greenhouse Gas Inventory: Community emissions dropped 2% from 2021 and 18% since 2018. This drop was driven primarily by our electricity getting cleaner as our energy provider transitions to higher levels of renewable sources.
  • 2022 City Facilities and Operations Greenhouse Gas Inventory: While the city organization contributes a relatively small percentage of our community’s overall emissions, we have established specific reduction targets. In 2022, city operational emissions rose 23% from 2021 but have dropped 43% since 2008. City staff did not return to hybrid work until mid-2022, which partially explains this increase.
  • 2021 Community Consumption-based Emissions Inventory: This first of its kind report for Boulder looks at emissions that occur anywhere in the world as a result of Boulder community members’ activities. It includes emissions not previously measured from categories such as food, goods and services, and underscores the importance of addressing our upstream emissions.

Key findings

Taken together, the three reports emphasize the positive impacts Boulder’s efforts continue to have at local, state and even national levels. Two key findings across all three inventories suggest our efforts related to energy use and transportation should continue to be emphasized in our investments and ongoing programs.

The importance of electrification

In alignment with previous years, the city’s largest emissions source is electricity. The city’s goals to electrify transportation and reduce natural gas use in buildings will shift more energy consumption to electric, making continued focus on reducing electricity emissions critical. Thanks to the advocacy of Boulder and many others, Xcel Energy’s aggressive emission reduction goals continue to lower these emissions.

Transportation emissions on the rise

Transportation emissions showed the biggest increase across inventories. The increase was observed to come from trips that crossed Boulder’s borders, largely from regional commuters and recreation. This is likely the result of a multi-year trend. A recent employee commute survey found people working in Boulder live farther away, transit use is down, and more people drive to work alone than in previous years. Parts of this trend are likely due to lingering COVID-19 impacts, such as RTD service cuts and reduced EcoPass participation.

Addressing transportation emissions will require Boulder to continue collaborating with regional partners to change how people travel regionally. Additionally, the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan emphasizes the importance of working toward regional solutions for transportation and housing.

The story of climate action in Boulder

The inventories use numerical data to describe the quantitative impacts we are having locally in addressing emission. Our ongoing efforts to track emissions contributed to Boulder being recognized by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) as one of 119 cities across the globe taking bold leadership on environmental action and transparency. CDP, an international non-profit, reviews environmental data provided by local governments to evaluate how well cities are addressing the climate crisis while being transparent about their progress.

Boulder also takes a holistic approach to assessing our community’s efforts by exploring qualitative progress toward a more resilient and equitable climate future. The city recently published its first Climate Action StoryMap to assess its climate impact. The StoryMap spotlights city initiatives and partnerships that strive to illustrate climate action and focus on inclusivity. It also highlights the city’s leadership in driving policies that change systems at the root of climate change.

For more information, please contact Climate Initiatives Director Jonathan Koehn at koehnj@bouldercolorado.gov.

Regards,
Nuria

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