Americas utilities data

Overview This layer shows the locations of more than 3,000 North American power-generating facilities using fossil fuel sources in 2005, produced through a collaborative effort between the national atlas programs of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, in partnership with the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC).  Each facility includes information on its primary fuel, generating capacity, and air emissions of SO2, NOx, Hg, PM2.5, PM10, CH4, N2O, and CO2. Facilities are classified based on the primary source of fuel used to generate electricity: oil, natural gas, coal, or other fuels. This map layer was developed for the CEC's 2011 publication, North American Power Plant Air Emissions. Fossil fuels are the main energy source used for electricity generation in North America, producing almost two-thirds of the electricity consumed. The data were assembled primarily from the three North American countries' national emission inventories: Canada's National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Program (GHGRP); the United States' Emissions and Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID2007) and National Emissions Inventory (NEI); and Mexico's Inventario Nacional de Emisiones (INEM), compiled from publicly available databases and reports. A Google Earth (KMZ) map of the 3,144 power plants and their air emissions is also available. For more information. Geographic Coverage The coverage spans the entire North American continent, including power-generating facilities located in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Data Sources and Licensing Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), based on data provided by multiple agencies from each country, including Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Statistics Canada, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Mexico's Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), Secretaría de Energía (SENER), Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), and Comisión Reguladora de Energía (CRE). The data is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), allowing redistribution and adaptation, including for commercial purposes, with appropriate attribution. Update frequency: Unknown Limitations of use: None. Acknowledgment of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation would be appreciated in products derived from these data. Vintage: 2005 Applications (Intended Use) Air quality assessment and emissions tracking for the electric power sector. Environmental policy analysis and cross-border comparison of power plant emissions. Research on the relationship between fuel type, generating technology, and pollutant emissions. Integration with other thematic layers in the North American Environmental Atlas for comprehensive continental analysis. Files Download