A study examines electricity consumption patterns and corresponding emissions in the United States. Power grids often transport electrical energy across large distances, rendering it challenging to link changes in the production and consumption of electricity for specific areas on the grid. To better understand how electricity consumption and production patterns across the United States relate to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, Jacques de Chalendar and colleagues examined hourly electricity and emissions data from 2016 for all 66 continental US Balancing Authorities, which are responsible for regional electricity balancing. The authors found that 1.83 Gtons of CO2 were emitted in the US in 2016 due to 4 million MWh of electricity consumption. The Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Power Pool had the greatest consumption-based carbon footprint, requiring 20% of all the electricity used and contributing to 19% of annual US emissions. Electrical transfers between regions was most prevalent in the western United States, and the largest carbon imports were in California. Further, 17% of emissions in the western United States were attributable to electricity transfers. The authors also analyzed local pollutants, such as sulfur and nitrogen oxides, tied to electricity consumption, and the findings suggest that when pollutant-intensive electricity is exported, local communities bear the pollution burden of electricity generation, according to the authors.
Article #19-12950: "Tracking emissions in the US electricity system," by Jacques A. de Chalendar, John Taggart, and Sally M. Benson.
MEDIA CONTACT: Jacques A. de Chalendar, Stanford University, CA; tel: 650-656-3499; email: jdechalendar@stanford.edu
###
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences