With 601,256 tons of CO2 “equivalents”, Port Townsend Paper maintains its rank as 25thamong WA State’s worst greenhouse gas emitters.
WA Dept of Ecology released its 2017 figures today, Dec 20, 2018, which they present on newly designed – and very easy to use – greenhouse gas map and data pages that go from 2017 back to 2012. Links for the pages are in the announcement, below.
But first, let’s get into the weeds a little bit.
Port Townsend Paper’s greenhouse gas emissions for the past six years, expressed in MTCO2e (for shorthand, say “Tons of CO2”):
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
| 614,401 | 555,704 | 562,963 | 572,693 | 489,961 | 601,256 |
*(Briefly, MTCO2e means metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. They are three gases that are known to be top contributors to atmospheric warming, equalized for their effect. They are carbon dioxide (CO2) along with methane and nitrous oxides (at 21 and 310 times the effect of CO2, respectively).)
- For perspective, PTPC produces MORE CO2e than ALL the REST OF JEFFERSON COUNTY combined, including residences, businesses, industries, agriculture, traffic, heating and so on. (Source: comparison done in 2011 with the Jefferson County Climate Action Committee Report of 2011).
- Port Townsend Paper dropped briefly in 2016, but they consistently remain a top GHG emitter. PTAW is obtaining production records from Jefferson Public Health in order to compare PTPC’s emissions with how much pulp/paper they produce.
- A note of pride: For a few years, Ecology had been going down a path championed by certain industries to allow them to downplay as much as 90% of GHG emissions depending on whether the fuel was sourced by chopping down trees (“biogenic”) or by pumping oil (“other”)! PTAW, along with other environmental groups such as Energy Justice, vocally and regularly pointed out that the atmosphere doesn’t care about the source of CO2, the chemistry remains the same, so all sources must be included in the totals. As a result of those efforts, Ecology now shows accurate totals for greenhouse gas emissions including all sources, right up front.
Ecology’s announcement of the 2017 data and maps is below, with links. Now you have a source for exploring and comparing how much CO2 WA State industries are contributing to the atmosphere:
— On Thu, 20 Dec 2018 16:31:10 -0800 ECY RE GHG Reporting (AQ) <GHGReporting@ECY.WA.GOV>wrote —-
Good afternoon,
Greenhouse gas emissions reports for 2017 are available online. You can view the report on Ecology’s greenhouse gas reporting pageor use the direct links:
- Washington’s 2017 greenhouse gas report and map.
- Washington’s 2012-2017 reported greenhouse gas emissions.
You can export the data to Excel using the menu in the top right corner of each page. You can also filer or sort by any column.
Also, 2017 invoices for WA only facilities will be mailed tomorrow. Payment is due by 2/28/2019. Transportation fuel suppliers and facilities that have already paid the 2017 fee will not receive an invoice. More information is available on our website.
Please let us know if you have questions or would like assistance.
Neil Caudill
Department of Ecology
Air Quality Program
P.O. Box 47600
Olympia, WA 98504-7600
360-407-6811
neil.caudill@ecy.wa.gov
ghgreporting@ecy.wa.gov
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