Wenatchee's carbon footprint: Mostly from homes, buildings and vehicles

WENATCHEE — Most of the greenhouse gas emissions being generated inside the city of Wenatchee are coming from energy usage in homes and buildings and from fuel usage by automobile and trucks, according to first-ever emissions inventory conducted inside the city limits.

Of the emissions generated in 2023, the home and building energy sector accounted for 48 percent in Wenatchee and the transportation sector accounted for 47 percent, the Wenatchee Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory Report found. Far lesser amounts came from industrial process and product use (3 percent) and from waste and wastewater (2 percent).

All told, the activities inside Wenatchee produced 348,461 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2023.

The City of Wenatchee, in partnership with the Sustainable NCW and Our Valley Our Future (OVOF) nonprofit organizations, hired the firm Parametrix to conduct the inventory after receiving a U.S. Department of Energy grant to pay for the work. The analysis considered all significant emissions being generated within the geographic boundaries of Wenatchee. It did not factor in emissions generated in nearby cities and communities such as East Wenatchee, Rock Island, and Malaga.

Parametrix also recently conducted an greenhouse gas emissions inventory for Chelan County. That report has not been released yet.

The Wenatchee inventory found that 95 percent of local emissions in the home/building and transportation energy sectors can be traced to the use of fossil fuels. However, electricity produced by Chelan County PUD’s dams does not contribute to the city’s emissions, the report states. If not for the community’s access to hydropower, emissions would be significantly higher in Wenatchee, according to Parametrix. Energy usage in homes and buildings is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions for most communities in the United States. About 93 percent of Wenatchee homes use electricity as their primary home heating fuel.

The 9.8 metric tons of emissions per person in Wenatchee is slightly lower than the state average of 11.1 metric tons per person and considerably lower than the U.S. average of 14.2 metric tons per person. But it is higher than the global average of 6.2 metric tons per person.

Passenger vehicles, almost entirely utilizing gasoline, accounted for 65 percent of local transportation emissions (less than 1 percent of emissions from passenger vehicles came from electric cars). Freight and commercial vehicles, primarily using diesel fuel, contributed 26 percent of the emissions in this sector, followed by off-road vehicles (construction and landscaping) accounted for 8 percent of transportation emissions. Link Transit and rail accounted for less than 1 percent of transportation emissions.

Industrial process and product use, which contributed 3 percent of Wenatchee’s emissions in 2023, is defined as unintentional leaks or discharges of refrigerants (air conditioning, refrigerators, freezers) or specialized industrial gases used in commercial buildings.

Wastewater process emissions (methane and other gases released) and solid waste disposal emissions are estimated to total 5,722 metric tons — or 2 percent of total emissions in Wenatchee. Parametrix broke out the emissions from energizing the city treatment plant and placed that number in the overall Building Energy category in the report.

The City of Wenatchee has no landfills within its boundaries that handle municipal waste. That waste is instead trucked to the regional landfill located near Pangborn Airport in Douglas County. Typically, the primary source of waste emissions comes from the release of methane that occurs when materials decompose in the landfill. However, the Wenatchee GHG Inventory Report did account for the proportion of methane emissions associated with the waste generated by the Wenatchee, even though these emissions occur outside of the Wenatchee city limits.

The report also provides data on the amount of additional imported emissions, defined as the energy used to produce products created outside the city and then brought into Wenatchee for consumption by households and businesses. Parametrix estimates imported emissions to Wenatchee totaled 363,826 metric tons in 2023, with the top contributors being goods production (38 percent), followed by fuel production (29 percent), food production (27 percent), and air travel from flights taken by residents regardless of airport location (5 percent).

Combined, locally generated emissions and imported emissions equaled 712,286 metric tons (or 20 metric tons per person) in 2023. “These (imported) emissions are included in the inventory because they are large, are caused by local demand, and opportunities exist to reduce these emissions locally by reducing consumption,” the report states.

Next steps and proposed mitigation

The information in the Wenatchee report will be considered by the City for future planning and by the lead partners of the Post Carbon Economy game changer initiative in the OVOF Action Plan. The Post Carbon initiative aims to reduce emissions through mitigation projects and to support hydropower as a renewable energy source.

A study released this year by the University of Kansas found U.S. cities that have completed a greenhouse gas emissions inventory have reduced emissions at a much higher rate than those that have not completed an inventory. In its research, the University of Kansas evaluated more than 700 cities across the country. Most of the reductions in the cities surveyed came in residential emissions, which are defined as coming from the direct use of fossil fuels for heating, cooking and water heating, and from building materials in the construction of new homes.

OVOF also plans to utilize the data next year to inform stakeholders guiding the development of the region’s third community Action Plan for the years 2027-31.

The Wenatchee report forecasts rising GHG emissions in the valley over the next 25 years if no actions are taken. Parametrix suggested several ways to reduce emissions, including:

• Improving energy efficiency in homes to reduce energy use, emissions, and utility costs

• Improving energy efficiency in commercial buildings to reduce energy use, emissions, and utility costs § Installing rooftop solar on all advantageous building types

• Shifting vehicle trips to alternative modes like transit, walking, and biking

• Shifting to more electric vehicles

• Reducing demand for new goods by encouraging the reuse, repair, and sharing of goods and services

• Reducing wasted food via community education campaigns, food recovery programs, and expanded composting services

For the complete Wenatchee greenhouse gas inventory report, please visit https://www.sustainablencw.org/climate.