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Visualizations: CO2 Intensities

CO2 intensity is defined as CO2 emissions per GDP. The map below shows carbon intensities per state in 2016. An interactive version of the map for the years 2000 to 2016 is avilable here. Below the map you will find details on how to generate the data for this map.

Choropleth map of the US indicating the level of carbon emissions per GDP in 2016 per US state with different shades of grey

Data

The map is based on data in the WiNDC core database. Follow these steps to generate the data:

  1. Download and run the WiNDC build stream to create the WiNDC core database, WiNDCdatabase.gdx.
  2. Run the GAMS file gdpcalc.gms in the directory windc_build to calculate benchmark regional GDP levels and save the data in the file totgdp.gdx. The GDX file contains benchmark GDPs (in billions of USD) for all US states for the years 1997 to 2016.
  3. Extract the data from the GDX file for the desired years.
  4. Use the disaggregation and recalibration routines of the energy-environment module (blueNOTE) to generate the energy-environment databases for the years 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. You should have five GDX files named WiNDC_cal_20xx_bluenote.gdx, where xx denotes the respective year.
  5. The relevant parameters in the GDX files are resco2 (residential CO2 emissions) and secco2 (sectoral CO2 emissions). Extract the values of these parameters from the GDX files. Note that the units for the emissions are millions of metric tons.
  6. Sum the residentiall and sectoral emissions over all industry sectors and all emissions sources (coal, gas and oil). Divide total emissions by GDP for each state and year. Scale to tons of CO2 per millions of USD. Visualize with your favorite visualization tool.