Gross emissions by sector, 1990-2022

What this dataset measures

Built to check Washington Policy Center and Department of Ecology claims, made in April 2026, about whether the state is on track for its 2030 limit and what drove the 2022 decline. Uses the official inventory, the statute, the utility fuel mix the inventory relies on, federal generation data, and Ecology's large-emitter reports.

Geography

Washington, United States

Unit of observation

State-year (and sector-year or fuel-year)

Update cadence

Updated when Ecology publishes a new inventory (next one due by December 31, 2026).

Curator

FactHub Research Team

Curated data tables

Gross emissions by sector, 1990-2022

Washington gross greenhouse gas emissions, total and seven sectors, unrounded.

Unit of observation: Year

annual-emissions.csv text/csv · 2.3 KB (2,330 bytes)

All 33 rows 9 columns Download the file

All 33 rows

year	total_mmt_co2e million metric tons CO2e	transportation_mmt_co2e million metric tons CO2e	buildings_mmt_co2e million metric tons CO2e	electricity_mmt_co2e million metric tons CO2e	agriculture_mmt_co2e million metric tons CO2e	industrial_processes_mmt_co2e million metric tons CO2e	waste_mmt_co2e million metric tons CO2e	fugitive_fossil_mmt_co2e million metric tons CO2e
1990	93.0857	35.4002	23.6398	16.9000	7.7774	4.9459	3.3208	1.1015
1991	91.6876	34.7022	22.9796	17.0811	7.3558	5.2465	3.1916	1.1309
1992	97.9182	38.2662	24.4908	18.3119	7.6527	5.0559	2.9799	1.1607
1993	96.9453	36.7556	23.4143	19.2539	8.4081	4.7602	3.1993	1.1540
1994	101.2821	37.9720	25.7164	20.5213	8.2838	4.4543	3.1600	1.1745
1995	101.5121	39.6757	25.1248	19.4186	8.0346	4.8247	3.2492	1.1845
1996	104.7334	40.0324	26.9299	20.2966	7.6004	5.2627	3.3781	1.2333
1997	102.5137	39.8531	25.2164	19.0911	7.4648	6.2147	3.4153	1.2584
1998	107.2900	38.1178	30.0559	20.3589	7.8486	6.3503	3.3088	1.2497
1999	109.3149	40.0133	31.5393	19.6023	7.7201	6.4439	2.7299	1.2661
2000	109.6416	41.8552	25.8508	23.3000	7.9338	6.4773	2.9684	1.2560
2001	101.5825	39.6158	23.1892	20.7185	8.1866	5.2058	3.3366	1.3300
2002	91.9028	38.9927	20.7529	14.8072	7.7687	5.1853	2.9718	1.4242
2003	94.1878	38.6499	20.1862	18.3735	7.9592	5.1331	2.4743	1.4116
2004	96.4053	39.7299	20.6805	19.3695	7.9985	4.4293	2.7749	1.4227
2005	97.0836	39.7030	21.9102	19.1061	7.6660	4.4201	2.8353	1.4429
2006	99.7682	41.5415	23.2247	18.2763	7.9090	4.4857	2.9547	1.3764
2007	102.7890	42.9152	23.2100	19.3336	8.3154	4.5636	3.0975	1.3537
2008	99.7128	39.0636	24.6356	18.9338	7.8541	4.6894	3.1714	1.3649
2009	97.1848	37.4647	23.2506	19.7327	8.7669	3.4910	3.1175	1.3613
2010	96.8766	35.3251	22.0774	20.9104	8.4837	4.1577	4.5617	1.3608
2011	92.7928	35.9815	22.2871	15.8491	8.5152	4.1799	4.6167	1.3634
2012	88.6363	35.3032	22.3346	15.2377	7.9280	3.6921	2.7954	1.3452
2013	92.5662	36.2802	22.0434	18.3368	7.9799	3.9775	2.6196	1.3288
2014	91.8860	35.4557	21.5584	18.3450	9.0376	3.9502	2.2057	1.3335
2015	94.1787	36.5278	22.5598	19.1847	8.1468	3.9970	2.4124	1.3502
2016	94.4464	38.9062	22.9586	17.0957	7.9102	3.7765	2.4305	1.3687
2017	95.1067	38.6892	23.6718	16.8741	7.9800	4.0720	2.4478	1.3718
2018	95.4398	39.3432	23.6153	16.4658	8.5327	3.7220	2.3763	1.3846
2019	103.0827	40.5530	24.1399	21.8580	8.7965	3.9168	2.4197	1.3987
2020	89.2365	31.6334	22.9046	17.2860	8.8172	4.1975	3.0028	1.3950
2021	96.5545	38.0895	22.5420	18.7106	8.5102	4.1257	3.1696	1.4070
2022	96.0870	38.6109	22.9835	17.3790	8.3179	4.1727	3.2116	1.4114

9 field definitions

Field	Type	Meaning	Units	Value type
year	integer	Calendar year	—	observed
total_mmt_co2e	number	Total gross emissions	million metric tons CO2e	observed
transportation_mmt_co2e	number	Sector emissions: transportation (buildings = residential, commercial and industrial on-site fuel; fugitive_fossil = natural gas and oil system leaks)	million metric tons CO2e	observed
buildings_mmt_co2e	number	Sector emissions: buildings (buildings = residential, commercial and industrial on-site fuel; fugitive_fossil = natural gas and oil system leaks)	million metric tons CO2e	observed
electricity_mmt_co2e	number	Sector emissions: electricity (buildings = residential, commercial and industrial on-site fuel; fugitive_fossil = natural gas and oil system leaks)	million metric tons CO2e	observed
agriculture_mmt_co2e	number	Sector emissions: agriculture (buildings = residential, commercial and industrial on-site fuel; fugitive_fossil = natural gas and oil system leaks)	million metric tons CO2e	observed
industrial_processes_mmt_co2e	number	Sector emissions: industrial processes (buildings = residential, commercial and industrial on-site fuel; fugitive_fossil = natural gas and oil system leaks)	million metric tons CO2e	observed
waste_mmt_co2e	number	Sector emissions: waste (buildings = residential, commercial and industrial on-site fuel; fugitive_fossil = natural gas and oil system leaks)	million metric tons CO2e	observed
fugitive_fossil_mmt_co2e	number	Sector emissions: fugitive fossil (buildings = residential, commercial and industrial on-site fuel; fugitive_fossil = natural gas and oil system leaks)	million metric tons CO2e	observed

Supporting files

Source snapshots, manifests, quality reports, documentation, and other materials used to produce or review this release.

• results.json Derived table · application/json · 25.7 KB (26,302 bytes)

  Saved analyses and attributed statements, generated by build.js.

• build.js Transformation manifest · text/javascript · 22.2 KB (22,773 bytes)

  Node.js script that computes every saved analysis from the CSV tables.

• dataset-parts.json Documentation · application/json · 25.6 KB (26,193 bytes)

  Sources, table definitions, replications and limitations for this release, as stored in the dataset content.

Sources

1. Washington Department of Ecology, Washington Greenhouse Gas Inventory: 1990-2022 (publication 26-14-030, April 2026) Official statewide totals, sector values, limits table, and Ecology's statements on schedule and drivers.

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Washington State government publication. Public government document; linked, not rehosted.

   Reliability: Government. Has a stake in this finding. Ecology prepares the inventory under RCW 70A.45.020 and administers the state climate policies it measures. Most sector values come from EPA's State Inventory Tool; electricity uses Commerce fuel mix data.

2. Ecology, Inventory Results 1990-2022 workbook (supplement to publication 26-14-030) Unrounded yearly totals by sector and fuel used for every calculation.

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Washington State government publication. Values copied into annual-emissions.csv and electricity-emissions-by-fuel.csv.

   Reliability: Government. Has a stake in this finding. Same publisher and methods as the inventory report; values match the report's rounded tables.

3. RCW 70A.45.020, Greenhouse gas emissions reductions - Reporting requirements Statutory limits for 2020-2050 and the current reporting deadlines.

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public law. Public law.

   Reliability: Government. Official code text published by the Washington State Legislature, as amended by 2025 c 195.

4. Senate Bill 5036, Chapter 195, Laws of 2025 (as passed) Shows the reporting language before and after the 2025 change (struck and added text).

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public law. Public law.

   Reliability: Government. Enrolled session law; effective July 27, 2025.

5. Final Bill Report, SB 5036 (2025) Nonpartisan staff summary of prior and new reporting rules, including the January 2025 inventory covering data through 2021.

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public legislative document. Public document.

   Reliability: Government. Prepared by nonpartisan legislative staff; not part of the law.

6. Ecology news release, April 24, 2026: New report: Clean energy is powering reductions in Washington's carbon emissions Ecology's public account of the drivers of the 2022 drop.

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Washington State government publication. Linked, not rehosted.

   Reliability: Party to the dispute. Has a stake in this finding. Press release from the agency whose report and policies are being judged.

7. Ecology, GHG Reporting Program Publication (data.wa.gov dataset idhm-59de) Reported and covered emissions of large emitters, 2012-2024, the early indicator for 2023-2024.

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public domain (Washington open data). Yearly sums copied into large-emitter-indicator.csv.

   Reliability: Government. Has a stake in this finding. Entities emitting 10,000 tonnes or more report to Ecology under WAC 173-441; fuel suppliers and electric power entities were added in 2022. Dataset rows were last updated April 24, 2026.

8. Ecology, Tracking greenhouse gases Ecology's statement that large emitters posted a 0.45% decrease from 2023 to 2024.

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Washington State government publication. Linked.

   Reliability: Government. Has a stake in this finding. Agency web page; checks our sum of the large-emitter data.

9. Washington Department of Commerce, CY2022 Washington State Electric Utility Fuel Mix Disclosure Report Aggregate megawatt-hours by fuel for electricity sold to Washington customers, 2000-2022 (Table 2).

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Washington State government publication. Values copied into utility-fuel-mix.csv.

   Reliability: Government. Compiled by Commerce from reports by more than 60 utilities and BPA under RCW 19.29A; the inventory's electricity sector is built from it. The report header reads 2023 fuel mix disclosure report, for report year 2022.

10. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Operational Data (API v2), Washington, all sectors, annual net generation Independent federal cross-check of generation at Washington power plants by fuel.

    Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Values copied into eia-instate-generation.csv.

    Reliability: Government. Federal statistical agency; facets location WA, sector 99 (all), fuels HYC, WND, SUN, COW, NG, ALL.

11. Todd Myers, Political spin in state's new CO2 emissions reports masks climate policy failure, Washington Policy Center, April 27, 2026 The claims checked: the gap to the 2030 path, the needed yearly cut, the drivers of the 2022 drop, and the reporting deadline.

    Retrieved November 3, 2026. All rights reserved; quoted briefly for review. Linked and quoted, not rehosted.

    Reliability: Party to the dispute. Has a stake in this finding. Washington Policy Center is a free-market think tank that has criticized the state's climate policies and sued Ecology over the inventory's timing.

Limitations and reproducibility

Fully reproducible: All inputs are public. build.js recomputes every saved analysis from the CSV tables, which were copied from the cited workbook, report table, API query and open-data query.

• The inventory ends in 2022. 2023 and 2024 values here are estimates from large-emitter reports, which use different coverage and methods.
• The statute sets only limits for 2020, 2030, 2040 and 2050. Any path between them is an analytical choice; several are shown.
• Ecology sets the 1990 baseline at 93.1 MMT under current methods, while the statute also names fixed tonnages (90.5 MMT for 2020, 50 MMT for 2030). Both readings are shown.
• The electricity sector is consumption-based (power bought by Washington utilities, including imports); all other sectors are production-based estimates, mostly downscaled from national data by EPA's State Inventory Tool.
• Changes in power sources from one year to the next are descriptive; they do not split the emissions change among causes.