City Council Agenda and Packet 2018 07 10 SP

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Page 1 5 o Between 2011 and 2016, Boulder County's per household residential electricity consumption decreased 8%, while the number of households increased by 3%. The commercial and industrial (C&I) electricity consumption per square foot decreased by 33% while C&I square footage increased by 23%. • Emissions due to natural gas consumption accounted for 18% of the overall 2016 GHG inventory. Natural gas consumption can track closely with cold weather since natural gas is the most common fuel used for heating in Boulder County. Since heating degree days (HDD) (i.e. number of days when heating was required) decreased between 2011 and 2016 by 17%, it would be expected that natural gas usage would also decrease; however, natural gas consumption increased slightly. • Emissions due to transportation accounted for 31% of the overall 2016 GHG inventory. o Emissions from on -road transportation decreased by just over 5% between 2011 and 2016. o Emissions from aviation fuel use at Denver International Airport (DIA), which was not included in prior inventories but is required by the GPC, accounted for 10% of Boulder County's emissions. Community Trends Between 2011 and 2016, Boulder County saw population increase by 8%, the number of jobs increase by 7%, and the number of households increase by 3%. During this period, Boulder County's economy also grew with a 24% increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In general, a larger population and stronger economy results in increased emissions due to more emission -producing activities and materials being consumed. However, in Boulder County, emissions per resident decreased by 8% and emissions per job decreased by 6%. This is due in large part to both county -supported programs and policies to reduce emissions, and to a greater degree, the decrease in electricity emissions factors (i.e. a decrease in electricity emission factor indicates the grid is increasing the amount of power provided by clean energy as compared to fossil -fuel energy). Emissions factors for all electrical utilities serving Boulder County (with the exception of the Town of Lyons) decreased between 10% and 31%; the emissions factor for the Town of Lyons electrical service increased by 0.6%. Emissions factors for other sources (i.e. natural gas, gasoline, etc.) remained the same or decreased slightly between 2011 and 2016. Boulder County's Potential to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Lotus researched a variety of plans and policies and worked with local experts to identify an initial list of GHG emission reduction strategies that have the greatest potential to reduce GHG emissions. The initial list of recommendations was reviewed with Boulder County staff, who provided guidance on a final list of recommended strategies. The list of final GHG emission reduction strategies along with estimated contributions towards overall reductions in GHG emissions is presented in Table ES - 1. 16