WASHINGTON — It's a greenhouse gas emissions win for Montgomery County. Montgomery County has seen a 30 percent drop in community-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between 2005 and 2020. The analysis came from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG).
This decrease in emissions happened despite a 13 percent growth in population.
"This inventory demonstrates that in every sector of our County—from our businesses to our residents and local governments—we are successfully working together to bring down greenhouse gas emissions,” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich.
Elrich said the county's work is not done and has huge ambitions to further reduce emissions.
“Our countywide efforts, including moving toward electrification and away from fossil fuels, encouraging electric vehicle adoption, planting more trees, and making it easier and safer for people to bike and walk, are all contributing to our goals to cut GHG emissions 80 percent by 2027 and 100 percent by 2035.”
The Metropolitan Council of Governments found that growth in population, commercial space, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) contributed to increased emissions. However, a cleaner grid, decreased commercial electricity use, and reduced vehicle miles traveled per person helped bring down emissions.
The COG found that the expansion of renewable energy technology in Montgomery County contributed to the reduction of GHG emissions between 2005 and 2020. During that time, there was a boom in green-certified buildings.
Third-party certified green buildings increased from 10 to 799, and county grid-connected renewable energy systems, including rooftop solar installations, grew from about 200 in 2005 to more than 11,600 in 2020.
Experts said due to Covid 19, emissions from buildings and transportation saw a greater reduction in 2020 than anticipated.