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Freight Facts and Figures 2009

Table 5-18. Medium- and Heavy-duty Truck Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 1990-2007

Between 1990 and 2007, medium- and heavy-duty truck emissions rose by 80 percent, the largest percentage increase of any major transportation mode.  An increase in truck freight movement is largely responsible for the rise in emissions.

Table in Excel format

Millions of metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent

Blank cell. 1990 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007
Carbon dioxide (CO2) 227.8 271.2 341.3 391.6 401.1 407.4
Methane 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
Nitrous Oxide 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.1
Hydrofluorocarbons <.1 0.3 1.6 2.1 2.2 2.2
Total Truck 228.8 272.7 344.2 395.1 404.5 410.8
Total U.S. Transportation1 1,546.7 1,688.3 1,923.2 2,003.6 1,999.0 2,000.1
Total U.S.1 6,098.7 6,463.3 7,008.2 7,108.6 7,051.1 7,150.1
Truck share of transportation total (percent) 14.8 16.2 17.9 19.7 20.2 20.5
Truck share of U.S. total (percent) 3.8 4.2 4.9 5.6 5.7 5.7

Key: CO2 = carbon dioxide.

1Transportation and U.S. totals include greenhouse gas emissions from military aircraft (16.0 millions of metric tonnes), other transportation, primarily lubricants (10.2 millions of metric tonnes), and electricity-related emissions. Emissions from international bunker fuels are not included.

Notes:

CO2 equivalent is computed by multiplying the weight of the gas being measured by its estimated Global Warming Potential (GWP). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change developed the GWP concept to compare the ability of one GHG to trap heat in the atmosphere to another gas. Carbon comprises 12/44 of CO2 by weight. Medium- and heavy-duty trucks weigh 8,501 pounds and above. Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Source:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2007, EPA 430-R-09-004 (Washington, DC: 2009), tables 2-15 and ES-2, available at www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usinventoryreport.html as of July 13, 2009.

 

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