I know I made this silly little figure, and yet I continue to be dumbstruck by it. Can that really be right? Are car tailpipes really that much worse than power plants? They are! We've all been manipulated into not seeing it!
How would that figure have looked in 2005? Is it because we did so much successful work in power generation?
Yes! It's way easier & more cost effective to mitigate emissions (CO2 & otherwise) at a few power plants than at each one of millions of cars, millions of gas water heaters, millions of gas furnaces, and millions of gas stoves. I've been telling people this for years. They always look doubtful!
The chart is from this report that I just put out with @jpew.bsky.social and the team at NextGen Policy. You should read it.
I think it's even more dramatic if you use the more recent data that is now available ww2.arb.ca.gov/ghg-inventor...
Since the electricity generation system is transforming towards lower-carbon alternatives, we should keep an eye out for oil in transport. Look at the EU figures. robbieandrew.github.io/GCB2022/
True in California but the picture quickly gets more complex in colder climates. Tailpipe emissions are still a largely avoidable stupid source of pollution though!
There are a few factories making drywall solely using synthetic gypsum diverted from the exhaust stacks of power plants. I can believe these numbers being true.
this seems like it probably does not hold up nationally though?