You can’t manage what you can’t measure. The new Drawdown Georgia GHG Emissions Tracker is a free, interactive tool developed to show, for the first time, where greenhouse gas emissions come from in Georgia at the state and county level.

The GHG Tracker was developed by Dr. William Drummond of Georgia Tech, along with colleagues at both Georgia Tech and University of Georgia.

“Drawdown Georgia has set a state-wide goal of reducing carbon emissions in Georgia by one-third by 2030,” said John Lanier, executive director of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation and a founder of Drawdown Georgia. “The Drawdown Georgia GHG Emissions Tracker is an essential resource that will help us visualize our progress as we work collectively to draw down greenhouse gas emissions in Georgia.”

Through this new carbon emissions reporting tool, which is updated monthly, users can explore the source, rate, and any change in greenhouse gas emissions across the state with functionality such as:

• Zoom in to see how each of Georgia’s 159 counties contribute to the state's carbon footprint
• Explore specific sources of emissions, including those from electricity generation or by a specific industry
• Separate out emissions contributed by key sectors, including transportation, electricity, industry, agriculture, homes, and commercial buildings
• Visualize how much carbon dioxide is sequestered by forests in Georgia

According to Drummond, the GHG tracking data will be updated monthly and more features will be added over time.

“The information powering our Tracker comes from publicly available datasets, primarily from federal agencies such as the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency,” said Drummond. “Statewide emissions data is converted to county values using various local indicator variables, such as population and housing characteristics from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.”

Members of the public are invited to attend the virtual launch event for the Drawdown Georgia GHG Tracker on Thursday, February 24, 2022, at 3:00 p.m. ET. Hear from the researchers who developed this innovative tracking tool and learn more about how this important data can be put to use by Georgia communities, businesses, and local governments.

About Drawdown Georgia
Drawdown Georgia was born from a multi-university research project whose initial phase of work was completed in December 2020. This research was funded by the Ray C. Anderson Foundation and led by Georgia Tech, with researchers from Emory University, Georgia State University, and the University of Georgia. The project identified and evaluated the 20 highest impact solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Georgia over the next decade, while also advancing “beyond carbon” dimensions, including equity, promoting economic development, improving public health, and nurturing the larger environment. Research continues on these solutions—in the creation of a state-wide dashboard in support of solution activation.