Our Carbon Footprint

A carbon footprint is the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event, or product. To help determine its carbon footprint, the County has prepared emissions inventories to provide policy-relevant analysis to help guide future emission-reduction actions and to provide reference points against which to measure progress.

Four types of emissions inventories have been prepared:

County operations and government services—An inventory of the emissions produced as a result of our activities to provide services to our residents
Unincorporated communities—An inventory of the emissions produced by residents, businesses, and other entities in our unincorporated communities.
A countywide overview or "rollup"—This inventory summarizes emissions from all the cities within the County as well as unincorporated communities. It includes information from inventories prepared separately by all 14 Alameda County cities. Learn more...
Supply Chain Sustainability Impacts of County Purchasing—An assessment of six impact metrics, including greenhouse gas emissions, which are associated with provision of goods and services, from extraction of raw materials through production and transport, up to the point of County purchase. Learn more...

Inventory Results

The below inventories are for county government operations and services, except for 2003, which was combined with community emissions.

2019 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Executive Summary and Progress Update (PDF - 1.1 MB) *
2010 Update: Government Services Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory (PDF - 62kb) *
2003 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Executive Summary (PDF - 56kb) *
2003 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Full Report
(PDF - 288kb) *
Supply Chain Sustainability Report (PDF - 2583kb) *

Overview

In 2019, Alameda County:

Generated 43,372 metric tons of CO₂e from County government operations and services
This represents a 31% reduction in emissions since 2003

Notes

Greenhouse gas emissions (CO ₂, CH ₄, and N ₂O) are reported in terms of equivalent carbon dioxide units, or CO ₂e.
Included in this inventory are the greenhouse gas emissions from electricity and natural gas use in buildings, transportation fuel use, and the decomposition of waste sent to landfills.
The inventory includes the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the County's use and disposal of products or services. It does not include the "lifecycle" emissions associated with the manufacturing, transportation, or processing of raw materials used to produce and deliver those goods and services.