The chemical manufacturing sector consists of facilities that produce adipic acid, ammonia, HCFC-22 (and HFC-23 destruction), hydrogen (both merchant and non-merchant plants), nitric acid, petrochemicals (i.e., acrylonitrile, carbon black, ethylene, ethylene dichloride, ethylene oxide, methanol), phosphoric acid, silicon carbide, soda ash, and titanium dioxide. Besides the emissions from these chemical production processes, the sector includes combustion emissions from facilities that produce plastics, rubber products, and other organic and inorganic chemicals. A total of 548 facilities reported under this sector. Approximately 3% of facilities in this sector measure emissions using continuous emissions monitoring equipment. The majority of facilities calculate GHG emissions using mass balance, site-specific emission factors developed by the reporting facility, or default emission factors. A small number of facilities in this sector (less than 5%) collect CO2 either for use in their other production processes, to transfer to other users, or to sequester or otherwise inject underground. Process emissions reported under this sector includes CO2 that is later consumed on-site or sent off site. For example, some of the process emissions reported for ammonia manufacturing plants includes CO2 that is later consumed on-site for urea production. This CO2 is not released to the ambient air from the ammonia manufacturing process unit(s).

• Total Reported Direct Emissions from Chemicals, by Subsector (as of 4/6/12).

   

• Location and emissions range for each reporting facility in the chemical manufacturing sector (as of 4/6/12).

  

Chemical Manufacturing Sector 2010 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reported to the GHGRP

• Number of facilities: 548
• Total emissions (CO2e): 171.9 million metric tons
• Emissions by category (CO2e):

   

  Combustion sources: Combustion emissions are produced from the combustion of fuel to provide process heat for industrial, commercial, or institutional use, whether the combustion is internal or external to the manufacturing process equipment. Examples are boilers, stationary internal combustion engines, process heaters, kilns, combustion turbines, and waste incinertors.

  Process emission sources: Process emissions are vented, evaporative, or fugitive emission from industrial manufacturing processes and from decomposition processes at landfills and wastewater treatment systems.

  • Combustion: 90.3 million metric tons
  • Process: 81.6 million metric tons

CO2 emissions from the combustion of biomass are NOT included in emissions totals provided above.

Other EPA Resources

• U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report