U.S. Energy Information Administration

Estimates of Annual Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emitted for Each State in the U.S.A. and the District of Columbia for Each Year from 1960 through 2001. Consumption data for coal, petroleum, and natural gas are multiplied by their respective thermal conversion factors, which are in units of heat energy per unit of fuel consumed (i.e., per cubic foot, barrel, or ton), to calculate the amount of heat energy derived from fuel combustion. Results are expressed in terms of heat energy obtained from each fuel type. These energy consumption data were multiplied by their respective carbon dioxide emission factors, which are called carbon content coefficients by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These factors quantify the mass of oxidized carbon per unit of energy released from a fuel. In the U.S.A., they are typically expressed in units of teragrams of carbon (Tg-C = 10^12 grams of carbon) per quadrillion British thermal units (quadrillion Btu = 10^15 Btu, or "quad"), and are highest for coal and lowest for natural gas. Our results are given in teragrams of carbon emitted. To convert to carbon dioxide, multiply by 44/12 (= 3.67).

Note: Source has discontinued Energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions vary significantly across states, whether considered on an absolute or per capita basis. Total state CO2 emissions include those from direct fuel use across all sectors, including residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation, as well as primary fuels consumed for electric generation. The overall size of a state, as well as the available fuels, types of businesses, climate, and population density, play a role in determining the level of both total and per capita emissions. Additionally, each state’s energy system reflects circumstances specific to that state. For example, some states have abundant hydroelectric supplies, while others contain abundant coal resources. This paper presents a basic analysis of the factors that contribute to a state’s CO2 profile. This analysis neither attempts to assess the effect of state policies on absolute emissions levels or on changes over time, nor does it intend to imply that certain policies would be appropriate for a particular state. The term energy-related CO2 emissions includes emissions released at the location where fossil fuels are consumed. Therefore, to the extent that fuels are used in one state to generate electricity that is consumed in another state, emissions are attributed to the former rather than the latter. Analysis attributing emissions to the consumption of electricity, rather than the production of electricity, would yield different results. For feed-stock application, carbon stored in products such as plastics are subtracted from reported emissions for the states where they are produced.