Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Increasing levels of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) lead to higher temperatures and greater weather extremes.  In Colorado, we experience these impacts as extreme heat days, more frequent wildfires, prolonged droughts, and loss of biodiversity.

The good news is there’s a lot we can do to ensure a vibrant, prosperous and healthy community for all residents.  In 2020, the Broomfield City Council adopted Resolution No. 2020-169 - the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Resolution - which set GHG reduction targets of 100% by 2050 community-wide and by 2045 for municipal operations.

A greenhouse gas inventory conducted by the University of Colorado Denver found that Broomfield emitted a total of 1.2M metric tons (MT) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in 2017 (Baseline Year).  The data demonstrated that the largest source of Broomfield’s emissions comes from the transportation sector (42%), mostly due to single occupancy vehicle travel.  

The second largest category is commercial and institutional buildings (26%), with residential buildings following as third (17%).  However, by combining all building types (43%), we can see that reducing energy use in the overall building sector represents the greatest opportunity for GHG reductions.