The City of Alameda issued its Draft Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (CARP) 2023 Annual Report and 2024 Work Plan in February. The goal of CARP is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% below 2005 levels and become carbon neutral as soon as possible. So how are we doing?
The best news is that electricity usage in Alameda, all of which is sourced by Alameda Municipal Power, is 100% from renewable sources. This not only eliminates emissions from electricity usage, but it also positions Alameda to reduce emissions from natural gas and gasoline usage as we electrify appliances and our vehicles, a major step in the right direction.
Transportation is by far the largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions in Alameda, making up 70% of total in our island city. It is also the toughest to tackle, but some progress is being made to support emissions reduction in this sector. The City installed 2.7 miles of new bikeways in 2023, bringing the total to 57 miles. During the past year, public transit usage was up by 60% for AC Transit, 28.5% for ferry ridership, and 13% for BART (still below pre-pandemic levels). More people are purchasing energy efficient vehicles—6.8% of all vehicles registered in Alameda in 2023 are electric, plug-in hybrid, or fuel cell vehicles, up from 5.2% in 2022. More electric vehicle infrastructure is in place, with 58 public EV chargers in 10 locations in Alameda.
The next largest sector for greenhouse gas emissions is natural gas usage in buildings, which comprises 27% of Alameda’s emissions. The good news in this sector is that residential usage went down, but unfortunately commercial usage rose, leading to an overall rise in these emissions of 1.7% in 2022. There has been a big focus on residential electrification in Alameda, and we need a similar focus on electrification of commercial properties.
Waste, water, and wastewater comprise the remaining 3% of emissions in Alameda. Alamedans are producing less waste than in the past. In 2022 we produced 2.1 pounds of waste per person per day compared to 2.4 pounds in 2019. And of the waste that is produced in Alameda, 81% is composted or recycled—not too shabby!
Additionally, Alameda has increased efforts to actually remove greenhouse gas emissions by planting more trees. The City has increased its urban forest by 677 trees since 2019. The tree canopy in Alameda averages 11.2%. The City is in the process of updating its Urban Forest Plan and will issue a draft of that update next month.
What can you do to help reach our City’s CARP goals? The most important thing is to change how you get around. Take public transit, bike, or walk for shorter trips, and make your next vehicle purchase an electric one. When you must drive, carpool and combine trips whenever possible.
The next most important way we can all help is to electrify our appliances, both at work and at home, to eliminate emissions from natural gas. Weatherize your residence or business and install solar panels if possible to help AMP maintain its 100% renewable energy sources as electricity usage rises. Keep up the great work on sorting your waste to recycle and compost. Plant trees on your property and ask for a street tree using the See Click Fix. Working together, we can reach the CARP objective.
Joyce Mercado is a member of Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda (CASA). She can be reached at [email protected].