Greenhouse Gas Emissions Studies

NYSERDA conducts research and analysis to support the development and improvement of the statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report, statewide planning and policy development, implementation of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (The Climate Act), and greenhouse gas emissions mitigation.

• Studies Completed by NYSERDA Supporting the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report and the Integration Analysis
• Other Greenhouse Gas Emissions Studies Completed by NYSERDA

Studies Completed by NYSERDA Supporting the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report and the Integration Analysis

The Climate Act requires the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to publish an annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report. DEC is preparing the first annual report to be issued in 2021. For more information, please visit the DEC website .

To support the Climate Act, NYSERDA developed an economy-wide Integration Analysis to assess benefits and costs of greenhouse gas mitigation and decarbonization. The Integration Analysis was originally published as part of the Final Scoping Plan which is available at https://climate.ny.gov/resources/scoping-plan/. NYSERDA continues to improve the modeling methods of the Integration Analysis, and the latest inputs and outputs are available below.

IA Annex 1 Inputs and Assumptions 2022 revised [xlsx]

IA Annex 2 Key Drivers and Outputs 2022 revised [xlsx]

Reference Case 2023 Annexes [xlsx]

The below studies have been completed by NYSERDA to help support NYSERDA programs and inform the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report and the Integration Analysis. 

Studies Supporting the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report

The Energy Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions Under New York State’s Climate Act: 1990 – 2021 Report [PDF] documents the methods used for the energy sector greenhouse gas emissions inventory and presents energy sector greenhouse gas emissions inventory results. The emission factors used in the inventory are provided in the report appendices.

The New York State Oil and Gas Sector Methane Emissions Inventory 1990 – 2021[PDF]  provides a detailed inventory of historical methane emissions in New York State’s oil and gas sector from 1990 – 2021.

The Hydrofluorocarbon Emissions Inventory in New York State [PDF] provides a detailed inventory of historical hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) emissions in New York State from 1990 – 2020.

Studies Supporting the Integration Analysis

The Impacts of Climate Change on the New York Energy System Report [PDF] performs a detailed analysis of the impacts of climate change-induced temperature change on the state‘s energy system under three possible climate futures and two distinct infrastructure and policy pathways.

The New York State Oil and Gas Methane Emissions Mitigation Potential [PDF] builds on the New York State Oil and Gas Sector Methane Emissions Inventory and projects future methane emissions from the oil and natural gas sector in New York State through 2050. Building off the Integration Analysis, several methane mitigation scenarios were modeled to better understand methane mitigation potential and the costs associated with mitigation.

The Hydrofluorocarbon Emissions Inventory and Mitigation Potential in New York State [PDF] provides an updated and more detailed inventory for HFC gases in New York State; how statewide HFC usage is expected to change in future years, due to economic growth, appliance electrification, and other trends; and the impacts of potential policies that could be considered to significantly reduce HFC emissions.

The Potential of Renewable Natural Gas report [PDF] is a technical analysis of the energy potential of renewable natural gas (RNG) in New York State using various feedstocks and conversion technologies.

The New York Power Grid Study was undertaken in order to identify distribution upgrades, local transmission upgrades, and bulk transmission investments that are necessary or appropriate for the power grid for the State of New York.

The Carbon Neutral Buildings Roadmap is intended to identify pathways to decarbonize New York’s building stock by 2050.

The Renewable Fuels Roadmap and Sustainable Biomass Feedstock Supply for New York State (Roadmap) was intended to evaluate the future of liquid biofuel production and feedstock supplies for transportation purposes in New York State.

Building Stock and Potential Studies examine various technologies and energy efficiency opportunities across New York State.

The Co-Pollutant Impacts of Low-Carbon Fuels and Technologies [PDF] (Updated October 2022) memorandum summarizes the conclusions from existing studies on the impact of using certain low-carbon fuels and carbon capture technologies on the emission of criteria air pollutants (including nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and ammonia (NH₃), relative to the use of corresponding fossil fuels.

Archive

The Energy Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions Under New York State’s Climate Act: 1990 – 2020 Report [PDF] documents the methods used for the energy sector greenhouse gas emissions inventory and presents energy sector greenhouse gas emissions inventory results. The emission factors used in the inventory are provided in the report appendices.

The New York State Oil and Gas Sector Methane Emissions Inventory (Updated 2022) [PDF] provides a detailed inventory of historical methane emissions in New York State’s oil and gas sector from 1990 – 2020.

The Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990-2016 [PDF] report contains a detailed inventory of historical greenhouse gas emission data from 1990-2016 for New York State's energy and non-energy sectors. This report is an archived version published for informational purposes only.

The Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in New York State (June 2020) is a strategic analysis of New York’s decarbonization opportunities developed for NYSERDA by Energy and Environmental Economics (E3), completed prior to the current Integration Analysis.

• Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in New York State – Final Report [PDF]
• Appendix A: Methods and Data [PDF]
• Appendix B: Literature Review of Economy-Wide Deep Decarbonization and Highly Renewable Energy Systems[PDF]
• Supplementary Workbook [XLS]
• Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in New York State Presentation [PDF]

Other Greenhouse Gas Emissions Studies Completed by NYSERDA

• The Projected Emission Factors for New York State Grid Electricity white paper [PDF] and annexed spreadsheet [XL] provide NYSERDA’s most recent estimates of greenhouse gas emission factors and proposes a method for applying them for benefits reporting, benefit-cost analyses, and other uses. Greenhouse gas emission factors measure the emissions intensity of grid power (the amount of emissions produced per unit of power generated). These updated emission factors represent NYSERDA’s best understanding of current and future projected greenhouse gas emissions from electricity delivered in New York.

  Emission factors can be used to evaluate how a change to the electric load, such as an energy efficiency program, building electrification, electric vehicle charging, or customer adoption of distributed energy resources, will affect emissions produced from electricity generation on a per unit basis. In addition, in the absence of marginal abatement cost information, social costs for each GHG can be applied to the grid emission factors to calculate a resulting social value of grid emissions. This social value can be used to evaluate the societal costs and benefits of electricity generation or of changing load.

• The Fossil and Biogenic Fuel Greenhouse Gas Emission Factors white paper [PDF] (revised May 2023) provides NYSERDA’s most recent interpretation of greenhouse gas emission factors associated with fuel use by sector consistent with the accounting methods used under the Climate Act and proposes a method for applying them for emissions reduction estimates and benefits reporting or benefit-cost analyses. Greenhouse gas emission factors measure the emissions intensity of fuel use (the amount of emissions produced per energy unit). These emission factors represent NYSERDA’s best understanding of greenhouse gas emissions from fuel use in New York.

  Emission factors can be used to evaluate how a change in fuel use, such as fuel switching, source reduction (efficiency) or fuel elimination (electrification), will affect emissions from fuel use per energy unit. (For emissions associated with electricity use see the grid electricity with paper above.) In addition, in the absence of marginal abatement cost information, social costs for each GHG can be applied to the fuel emissions to calculate a resulting social value of fuel emissions. This social value can be used to evaluate the societal costs and benefits of fuel use or reduction.