The transportation sector accounts for more than 36% of overall carbon emissions in Rhode Island. (Gettyimage)
After Rhode Island’s greenhouse gas emissions spiked in 2021 when pandemic lockdowns lifted, state emissions decreased ever-so-slightly, says a new report by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management published on Monday.
The 9.6 net million metric tons of carbon dioxide produced from travel, buildings, and other human activity in Rhode Island in 2022 marks a 2.2% drop over 2021 level emissions. But the state has to pick up the pace in order to meet upcoming benchmarks in its 2021 Act on Climate Law.
“Significant decarbonization of transportation, electricity consumption, and buildings are instrumental to attain net-zero emissions by mid-century,” the report states.
The state climate law calls for incrementally decreasing Rhode Island’s greenhouse gas emissions over the next 27 years in order to hit net zero by 2050, as measured against a baseline emissions amount from 1990. By 2030, the law requires the state to reduce emissions by 45% compared to the 1990 baseline.
The 2022 level is 18.3% less than the 1990 baseline, meaning the state has to reduce its emissions another 26.7% within eight years.
(Source: 2022 Rhode Island Greenhouse Gas Inventory/Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management)
Yet state officials appear optimistic.
“Rhode Island has established ambitious and necessary goals to reduce GHG emissions and increase renewable energy,” Gov. Dan McKee said in a statement. “Rigorous monitoring of emissions through our annual GHG inventories and continued investments will keep us firmly planted on the path to a low carbon future.”
Rhode Island was also the only state in New England to see its emissions decline year-over-year, according to unofficial, state-level data published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“We are pleased to see the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in 2022, and it may be an early reflection of the growing investments in renewable energy, clean transportation, and energy efficiency,” Terry Gray, DEM director, said in a statement.
Gray also heads a consortium of state agencies, the Executive Climate Coordinating Council, charged with laying out the map for how Rhode Island meets its decarbonization mandates. Early projections reported by the council suggested the state was poised to fall short of that 2030 milestone, though the 2022 report emphasized that the model was “simple” and “preliminary.”
The council’s next report is due in 2025.
The 2022 emissions are 6.3% higher than in 2020, when pandemic travel restrictions helped curb emissions, but 0.3% less than in 2019.
The biggest culprit remains the transportation sector, responsible for more than 36% of overall emissions. While overall transportation-related emissions fell, driven by fewer miles traveled by state highway vehicles, this was partially offset by an 18.6% jump in aircraft travel compared with the prior year, according to the report.
Heating of residential, commercial and institutional buildings accounts for another 20% of state emissions — the second-largest source.
Despite a 1.2% year-over-year decline in residential heating emissions, helped by a smattering of state incentives for weatherization and energy efficiency, Rhode Island’s aging and inefficient building stock is considered a major question mark in meeting upcoming decarbonization mandates. Legislation introduced in 2024 that would have required new buildings to be “electric ready” got watered down to a much less stringent and less comprehensive resolution in the final days of the session.
Electricity consumption, the third-highest emissions factor, fell 1.2% year-over-year. More significant declines are expected as offshore wind projects — Revolution Wind and SouthCoast Wind — begin operations that generate electricity for Rhode Island, the report stated.
The inventory also considers emissions from industrial product uses, agriculture and waste, while accounting for trees and natural lands that absorb some of the greenhouse gases released.
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