Introducing the Drawdown Georgia GHG Emissions Tracker

Chapters

00:00 Welcome and Introducing the Panel 

04:25 Dr. William Drummond: A Tour of the GHG Emissions Tracker 

20:12 Dr. Marilyn Brown: Emissions from Electricity Consumption and Generation 

33:23 David Eady: The Business Compact and Industrial Emissions 

43:03 Dr. Jacqueline Mohan: Georgia’s Forests as a Carbon Sink 

51:56 What Surprised the Research Team 

53:48 Audience Q&A: Replicating the Tracker and Soil Carbon 

57:15 Audience Q&A: Industrial Decarbonization and Cogeneration 

1:02:58 What’s Next: Tracking Solutions, Not Just Emissions

As we work collectively to draw down greenhouse gas emissions in Georgia, we can now track and visualize that progress. This webinar marks the official launch of the Drawdown Georgia GHG Emissions Tracker, a free, interactive tool that shows, for the first time, where greenhouse gas emissions come from in Georgia at the state and county level.

Host Blair Beasley of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation is joined by Georgia Tech and University of Georgia researchers Dr. William Drummond, Dr. Marilyn Brown, David Eady, and Dr. Jacqueline Mohan to walk through how it works and what it reveals about emissions, industry, and Georgia’s forests.

A Guided Tour of the GHG Emissions Tracker

Dr. William Drummond walks through the tracker’s core features, from statewide and county-level emissions data going back to 2005, to how individual counties like Chatham, Rabun, and Whitfield each tell a different story about where Georgia’s emissions come from.

What’s Driving Electricity Emissions in Georgia

Dr. Marilyn Brown breaks down emissions from electricity consumption and generation, including which coal plants are slated for retirement under Georgia Power’s latest integrated resource plan, and where the state’s growing solar capacity fits in.

Tracking Industrial Emissions Facility by Facility

David Eady shows how facility-level EPA data reveals exactly which industries, from pulp and paper to fertilizer to cement to chicken processing, are driving Georgia’s industrial emissions, and how that data shapes the Drawdown Georgia Business Compact’s outreach.

Georgia’s Forests: A Carbon Sink That Matters Globally

Dr. Jacqueline Mohan explains how Georgia’s forests, covering 60% of the state, function as a critical carbon sink, with a special look at the extraordinary carbon storage happening in and around the Okefenokee Swamp.

Your Questions, Answered

The panel closes with audience Q&A covering whether the tracker’s approach could be replicated in other states, how soil carbon factors into the data, options for decarbonizing hard-to-abate industries like cement and fertilizer, and the team’s plans to eventually track climate solutions alongside emissions.

What You’ll Learn

• How to read and explore the Drawdown Georgia GHG Emissions Tracker at the state and county level.
• Why Georgia’s overall emissions are trending down, even as population and traffic increase.
• Which Georgia coal plants are slated for retirement, and how solar capacity is expanding to help replace them.
• Which industries and specific facilities are Georgia’s biggest industrial emitters.
• Why Georgia’s forests, and the Okefenokee Swamp in particular, matter for the global carbon budget, not just our state’s.

Continue reading in our companion blog for more on how the GHG Emissions Tracker works and what it means for tracking greenhouse gas emissions in Georgia.

Download the Interview Transcript

Prefer to read the conversation instead? Download the complete transcript of this webinar to explore the full presentations and audience Q&A.