City Releases Community Greenhouse Gas Inventory

November 3, 2020 - The City of Corvallis, in partnership with the Corvallis-Benton County Economic Development Office and the City’s Climate Action Advisory Board, has released the 2018 Community Greenhouse Gas Inventory. The inventory contains a detailed accounting of greenhouse gas emissions associated with human activity in key source categories from January to December 2018. The inventory also compares 2018 emissions to 2012 numbers, which were published in the 2012 Corvallis Community Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report. The new report is separate from the City’s annual municipal operations greenhouse gas inventory, which accounts for greenhouse gasses produced by city operations.

The Corvallis Climate Action Plan (CAP), adopted in 2016, set a goal of 75% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 1990 levels by the year 2050, aligning with the State of Oregon target. This equates to about a 3.75% reduction annually from 2018 levels. In 2018, community-wide GHG emissions were down approximately 13% from 1990 estimated levels, but up 4.6% from 2012 emissions level, while the population in Corvallis grew nearly 8% over the same time period.

Per capita emissions decreased by 2.9% from 2012 to 2018, even while overall community emissions increased. Certain numbers point to a need for behavioral changes that will be necessary for to reach the community’s 2050 climate goals. For example, while emissions associated with electricity usage decreased, per capita electricity use increased, meaning the decrease can be attributed to cleaner energy mixes by electricity providers, rather than a behavioral shift in community residents.

“This is a day that we have been looking forward to for quite some time,” said Kathryn Duvall, the report’s co-author and staff liaison to the Climate Action Advisory Board. “I’m looking forward to the conversations that come out of the publication of this report and working with CAAB to implement the Climate Action Plan.”

The City’s current Strategic Operational Plan sets the goal of completing a community-wide greenhouse gas inventory every two years, with the next inventory set to look at 2020 emissions.

“This new report provides our first look at community-wide greenhouse emissions since the Climate Action Plan was adopted in 2016,” said Mayor Biff Traber. “By working from a common set of data, we can better comprehend the consequences of climate change and take action as a community to meet this challenge.”

The greenhouse gas report is available to view online at www.corvallisoregon.gov/ghg2018.