2000 Annual Report Released

The annual report of the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program summarizing 2000 data submissions is now available on the Internet at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/vrrpt/. A printed summary of this report will be published by early March. All reporters to the Program and interested persons who have previously requested an annual report will be mailed a copy of the printed summary as soon as it is available. Others may obtain a copy of this summary by contacting the Communications Center at 1-800-803-5182 or by e-mail at infoghg@ eia.doe.gov.

The unabridged version of the annual report, available only on the Web, includes extensive appendix tables containing detailed summary data on the reports received for 2000. Included among these tables are project-level emission reductions by section of the reporting form (Sections 1 through 10), reporters by sector, and a comprehensive list of reporters and the years that they have reported.

The charts below provide a summary of the project-level reports received for 2000. Most of the emission reductions reported 187 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2E) were from direct sources that are owned or controlled by reporters. The indirect reductions reported totaled 61 MMTCO2E. Indirect reductions are produced by actions reporters take to reduce emissions from sources they do not own or control, such as decreasing the consumption of purchased electricity. Forestry projects accounted for a reported 9 MMTCO2E of carbon sequestration. The reductions reported on Form EIA-1605EZ totaled 12 MMTCO2E. The source of these reductions is unspecified because Form EIA-1605EZ does not distinguish between direct and indirect reductions and sequestration.

Electricity supply projects accounted for most of the reductions reported (55 percent) with methane reduction (26 percent) and energy end use projects (14 percent) also contributing significantly.

Next Reporting Deadline
June 1, 2002

Mark your calendars! The closing date for submitting reports containing data on activities through 2001 for inclusion in the 2002 edition of the Public Use Database is June 1, 2002.

President Bush Announces Global Climate Change Initiative

On February 14, 2002, President Bush unveiled his strategy for addressing global climate change. This plan commits the United States to cutting greenhouse gas intensity the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions to economic output by 18 percent over the next 10 years. The objective of this initiative is to slow the growth of greenhouse gas emissions and put the country on a path toward stabilizing emissions of these gases, while sustaining the economic growth necessary to finance investments in new, cleaner energy infrastructure.

A key component of this initiative is the enhancement of the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program. The President has directed the Secretary of Energy to propose improvements to the Program within 120 days that will enhance measurement accuracy, reliability and verifiability, working with and taking into account emerging domestic and international approaches. The President also directed the Secretary to recommend reforms that will ensure that businesses and individuals that register reductions are not penalized under a future climate policy, and to give transferable credits to companies that can show real emission reductions.

The initiative also includes tax incentives for renewable energy, cogeneration, and new technology that are intended to spur investment in such technologies as solar, wind, and biomass power systems, hybrid and fuel cell vehicles, and landfill gas conversion systems.

The details of the President's Global Climate Change Initiative are available at the White House's Web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/02/climatechange.html .

IPCC Revises GWPs

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released revised global warming potentials (GWPs) for many greenhouse gases. This measurement indicates a gas's carbon dioxide equivalency rating. Higher GWPs signify greater potency. Methane, for example, has a GWP of 23. Therefore, one pound of methane has the same radiative forcing capacity as 23 pounds of carbon dioxide. Although GWPs are not used when reporting to this program, they can be useful for internal purposes when tracking the relative quantity and impact of greenhouse gas emissions and reductions.

Before President Bush released his global climate change initiative, several climate change-related bills that could affect the 1605(b) Program had been introduced in the 107th Congress, which convened in January 2001. These bills are listed below. The Program's full annual report includes a summary of this legislation (see page 14) and is available on the web at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/vrrpt/. The text for these bills and information about their status can be found on the Library of Congress Web site at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas2.html.

Bill No. Title Sponsor(s)

S.765 Carbon Sequestration Investment Tax Act Brownback (R-KS)

S.769 International Carbon Conservation Act Brownback (R-KS)

S.785 Carbon Conservation Incentive Act Brownback (R-KS), Murkowski (R-AK), and Johnson (D-SD)

S.820 Forest Resources for the Environment and the Economy Act Wyden (D-OR) and Craig (R-ID)

S.1131 Clean Power Plant and Modernization Act of 2001 Leahy (D-VT)

S.1255 Carbon Sequestration and Reporting Act Wyden (D-OR) and Brownback (R-KS)

S.1293 Climate Change Tax Amendments of 2001 Craig (R-ID) and Hagel (R-NE)

S.1294 Climate Change Risk Management Act of 2001 Murkowski (R-AK), Craig (R-ID), Hagel (R-NE), and others

S.1716 Global Climate Change Act of 2001 Kerry (D-MA) and others

S.1766 Energy Policy Act of 2002 Daschle (D-SD) and Bingamon (D-NM)

S.1781 Emissions Reductions Incentive Act of 2001 McCain (R-AZ) and Brownback (R-KS)

H.R.1335 Clean Power Plant Act of 2001 Allen (D-ME) and others

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