In Phase I, the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSMT), under Karen Updegraff, conducted a regional assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In Montana and Wyoming, refineries and other energy and heavy industries were found to constitute the largest GHG source category, while in Idaho and South Dakota, the largest category comprises imported electricity. In South Dakota, livestock operations were responsible for over 15% of the state’s total GHG emissions.
In 2002, the Big Sky region’s CO2 emissions (excluding those in Wyoming) were averaging 25 MMTCE*, which translates into net per capita emissions of 15 MTCE in South Dakota, 9 MTCE in Idaho, and 4 MTCE in Montana. Potential emissions from future development of fossil fuel resources are conservatively estimated to be an order of magnitude higher those in 2002, depending on transmission lines and other energy demand factors. * Million metric tonnes carbon equivalent
View primary source emission statistics for Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, or Wyoming.
Read more about GHG emissions and terrestrial carbon sequestration.
Point source CO2 emissions
The Phase I regional GHG inventory included preliminary estimation of CO2 emissions from industrial point sources, as depicted in Fig.1.
Figure 1. CO2 point sources identified in this map include facilities for fossil-fuel based power generation, petroleum and natural gas production and processing, agricultural processing, ethanol production, and a number of industrial manufacturing operations. Estimated yearly emissions of CO2 is also shown for facilities for which these data are available.
Read about the Partnership's modeling of agricultural carbon fluxes.
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