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The Potential Greenhouse Gas Emissions of U.S. Federal Fossil Fuels

The Potential Greenhouse Gas Emissions of U.S. Federal Fossil Fuels

Full Title: The Potential Greenhouse Gas Emissions of U.S. Federal Fossil Fuels
Author(s): Dustin Mulvaney, PhD, Alexander Gershenson, PhD, and Ben Toscher, MSc
Publisher(s): EcoShift Consulting
Publication Date: August 1, 2015
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):

This report was undertaken to facilitate a better understanding of the consequences of future federal fossil fuel leasing and extraction in the context of domestic and global efforts to avoid dangerous climate change. We estimate the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from developing the remaining fossil fuels in the United States (U.S.), including the emissions from developing publicly owned, unleased federal fossil fuels that constitute 450 billion tons of CO2e.

We report the volume of these fossil fuels, including that of leased and unleased federal fossil fuels located beneath federal and non-federal lands and the outer continental shelf. These resource appraisals are used to estimate the life-cycle GHG emissions associated with developing crude oil, coal, natural gas, tar sands, and oil shale—including emissions from extraction, processing, transportation, and combustion or other end uses. We express potential emissions in gigatons (“Gt”) (one gigaton equals one billion tons) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), and discuss them below in the context of global emissions limits and nation-specific emissions quotas.

Major findings are that:

–The potential GHG emissions of federal fossil fuels (leased and unleased) are 349 to 492 Gt CO2e, representing 46% to 50% of potential emissions from all remaining U.S. fossil fuels. Federal fossil fuels that have not yet been leased for development contain up to 450 Gt CO2e.

–Unleased federal fossil fuels comprise 91% of the potential GHG emissions of all federal fossil fuels. The potential GHG emissions of unleased federal fossil fuel resources range from 319-450 Gt CO2e. Leased federal fossil fuels represent from 30-43 Gt CO2e.

–The potential emissions from unleased federal fossil fuels are incompatible with any U.S. share of global carbon limits that would keep emissions below scientifically advised levels.

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