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Climate Pollution Reduction Grant

Enhancing Austin’s climate goals through grant funding and regional collaboration

The City of Austin is proud to be a recipient of a $1 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), funded through the federal Inflation Reduction Act. This grant was allocated through the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program, which supports states, local governments, tribes, and territories in developing and implementing robust plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and harmful air pollution. Austin used these funds to collaborate with regional partners and neighboring cities to extend our climate planning and action beyond Austin’s borders.

To date, our work has supported the development of the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan and the acquisition of a $48 million grant to improve transportation.

Creating our regional climate action plan

The Comprehensive Climate Action Plan contains 27 strategies to reduce emissions and improve air quality in our region. Each strategy analyzes potential benefits, including air quality improvements, public health savings, workforce impacts, benefits to low-income and disadvantaged communities and more. The plan also includes the first regional greenhouse gas inventory and emission projections.

The plan was developed with input from community members and collaborating agencies. The community and local government advisory groups provided insights and feedback throughout the two-year process. A public survey, workshops, and roundtable discussions brought even more voices to the planning table. This plan builds on the work of the Priority Climate Action Plan, published in 2024.

Dive deeper

Regional Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories (2023)

Five County Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

26.3 million metric tons of CO₂e

10.6  metric tons of CO₂e per person

In the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown Metropolitan Statistical Area, greenhouse gas emissions totaled 26.3 million metric tons of CO₂e in 2023. With a population of around 2.5 million, the per capita emissions in the 5-county region were 10.6 metric tons of CO₂e per person (MT CO₂e pp) during this period. This is comparatively low relative to the national average (21.7 MT CO₂e pp) and other metro areas in Texas (Houston-Galveston at 31.5 MT CO₂e pp and Dallas-Fort Worth at 12.7 MT CO₂e pp). Per capita emissions in the San Francisco Bay Area are similar to our
region at 10.9 MT CO₂e pp.

MSA emissions by sector

Energy in Buildings emissions come from electricity (27%) and natural gas (16%) to combine for the largest source of GHG emissions in the region (43% total). Those emissions come from grid-supplied electricity and direct combustion of natural gas in buildings.

Transportation contributes 38% of total regional GHG emissions, primarily from single-passenger internal combustion engine vehicles using gasoline and diesel fuel on roads and highways.

Industrial processes, like semiconductor manufacturing, cement production, and other similar activities, account for 7% of all emissions.

Waste and water emissions (7%) come from solid waste in our regional landfills and wastewater treatment facility byproducts.

Agriculture and lands create emissions (5%) in Central Texas through livestock, crop production — like corn and grain — and land use change. This sector presents an opportunity for GHG emission mitigation, as natural systems, like trees, can remove carbon from the atmosphere and yield other community co-benefits.

Donut chart showing Greenhouse Gas Emissions sources across the Five County MSA. Most emissions come from Transportation and Electricity.

Legend for the comparative emissions chart.

View comparative emissions data across all five counties.

Stacked bar charts showing greenhouse gas emissions by sector for each of the five counties in the MSA.

Key takeaways:

Not all counties have emissions in all sectors
Travis County has relatively high natural gas emissions
Industrial emissions in Hays County come from a single cement plant
As population and density decrease, per capita carbon footprint tends to increase

Bastrop County

1.4 million metric tons of CO₂e

12.4  metric tons of CO₂e per person

Of the five-county metropolitan statistical area, which includes Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson Counties, Bastrop County has the second lowest total GHG emissions (1.4 million MT CO₂e) and population (110,778), but the second highest per capita emissions in the region at 12.4 MT CO₂e pp. A large portion of regional agricultural emissions (approximately one-third of the total) occur in this county. Bastrop has no large-scale industrial emission sources.

Bastrop County emissions by sector

Energy in buildings emissions come from electricity (23%) and natural gas (9%) to combine for the second largest source of GHG emissions in the county (32% total). Those emissions come from grid-supplied electricity and direct combustion of natural gas in buildings.

Transportation related emissions (34%) represent the largest source of total county-level GHG emissions, primarily from internal combustion engine vehicles using gasoline and diesel fuel on roads and highways.

Bastrop has no emissions from industrial processes in this estimate. This is because the county does not contain facilities large enough to report to the EPA, and any remaining industrial emissions are assumed to be negligible.

Waste and water emissions (6%) come from solid
waste in our regional landfills and wastewater treatment facility byproducts.

Agriculture and lands create emissions (29%) through livestock, crop production — like corn and grain — and land use change. This county has the largest share of agriculture and land specific emissions among all five counties in the MSA.

Donut chart showing Greenhouse Gas Emissions sources for Bastrop County. Most emissions come from Transportation, Agriculture and Lands, and Electricity.

Caldwell County

1.2 million metric tons of CO₂e

24.3 metric tons of CO₂e per person

Of the five-county metropolitan statistical area, which includes Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson Counties, Caldwell has the lowest population (49,859) and total GHG emissions (1.2 million MT CO₂e), but the highest per capita emissions (24.3 MT CO₂e pp) in the region. This is largely due to emissions from agricultural activity (about one-fifth of the regional total), in addition to relatively high natural gas consumption.

Caldwell County emissions by sector

Energy in Buildings emissions come from electricity (19%) and natural gas (27%) to combine for the largest source of GHG emissions in the county (46% total). Those emissions come from grid-supplied electricity and direct combustion of natural gas in buildings.

Transportation contributes 25% of the total county-level GHG emissions, primarily from internal combustion engine vehicles using gasoline and diesel fuel on roads and highways.

Caldwell has no emissions from industrial processes in this estimate. This is because the county does not contain facilities large enough to report to the EPA, and any remaining industrial emissions are assumed to be negligible.

Waste and water emissions (3%) come from solid waste in our regional landfills and wastewater treatment facility byproducts.

Agriculture and lands create emissions (26%) in Central Texas through livestock, crop production — like corn and grain — and land use change. Despite having the smallest population, Caldwell has relatively high emissions from this sector, due to its elevated livestock head count, leading to the most per capita emissions in the five-county MSA.

Donut chart showing Greenhouse Gas Emissions sources for Caldwell County. Most emissions come from Transportation, Agriculture and Lands, and Electricity.

Hays County

3.3 million metric tons of CO₂e

11.9  metric tons of CO₂e per person

Of the five-county metropolitan statistical area, which includes Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson Counties, Hays County has the third highest population (280,486), total emissions (3.3 million MT CO₂e), and per capita emissions (11.9 MT CO₂e pp). Hays County is one of two counties in the region to contribute towards industrial emissions, at approximately 44% of all region industrial emissions coming from cement production.

Hays County emissions by sector

Energy in Buildings emissions come from electricity (22%) and natural gas (9%) to combine for the second largest source of GHG emissions in the county (31% total). Those emissions come from grid-supplied electricity and direct combustion of natural gas in buildings.

Transportation related emissions (36%) represent the largest source of total county-level GHG emissions, primarily from internal combustion engine vehicles using gasoline and diesel fuel on roads and highways.

Industrial processes, like cement production, account for 25% of all emissions.

Waste and water emissions (6%) come from solid waste in our regional landfills and wastewater treatment facility byproducts.

Agriculture and lands create emissions (3%) in Hays County through livestock, crop production — like corn and grain — and land use change. This sector represents an opportunity for GHG emission mitigation, as natural systems like trees, can remove carbon from the atmosphere and yield other community co-benefits.

Donut chart showing Greenhouse Gas Emissions sources for Hays County. Over a third of emissions come from Transportation. Agriculture and Lands and Electricity make up an additional nearly 50 percent combined..

Travis County

14 million metric tons of CO₂e

10 .5 metric tons of CO₂e per person

Of the five-county metropolitan statistical area, which includes Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson Counties, Travis County has the highest GHG emissions of any county in the region at 14 million MT CO₂e — more than twice as much as the next largest contributor (Williamson County). However, its per capita emissions are second from the lowest (10.5 MT CO₂e pp) despite hosting more than half the region’s population (1,334,961) and a number of large sources of industrial GHG emissions. This is largely due to the decarbonization and energy efficiency efforts of publicly-owned electric utility, Austin Energy. Travis County is one of two counties in the region to contribute towards industrial emissions, primarily from semi-conductor manufacturing facilities.

Travis County emissions by sector

Energy in Buildings emissions come from electricity (26%) and natural gas (19%) to combine for the largest source of GHG emissions in the county (45% total). Those emissions come from grid-supplied electricity and direct combustion of natural gas in buildings.

Transportation contributes 39% of the total county-level GHG emissions, primarily from internal combustion engine vehicles using gasoline and diesel fuel on roads and highways.

Industrial processes, like semiconductor manufacturing, cement production, and other similar activities, account for 7% of all emissions.

Waste and water emissions (7%) come from solid waste in our regional landfills and wastewater treatment facility byproducts.

Agriculture and lands create emissions (1%) in Travis County through livestock, crop production — like corn and grain — and land use change. This sector represents an opportunity for GHG emission mitigation, as natural systems like trees, can remove carbon from the atmosphere and yield other community co-benefits.

Donut chart showing Greenhouse Gas Emissions sources for Travis County. Most emissions, nearly 40 percent, come from Transportation.

Williamson County

6.4 million metric tons of CO₂e

9.1 metric tons of CO₂e per person

Of the five-county metropolitan statistical area, which includes Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson Counties, Williamson County has the second highest population (697,191) and total GHG emissions (6.4 million MT CO₂e), but the lowest per capita emissions (9.1 MT CO₂e), due to a relatively low natural gas consumption and no large industrial GHG emission sources..

Williamson County emissions by sector

Energy in Buildings emissions come from electricity (32%) and natural gas (11%) to combine for the second largest source of GHG emissions in the county (43% total). Those emissions come from grid-supplied electricity and direct combustion of natural gas in buildings.

Transportation related emissions (43%) represent the largest source of total county-level GHG emissions, primarily from internal combustion engine vehicles using gasoline and diesel fuel on roads and highways.

Williamson County has no emissions from industrial processes in this estimate. This is because the county does not contain facilities large enough to report to the EPA, and any remaining industrial emissions are assumed to be negligible.

Waste and water emissions (8%) come from solid waste in our regional landfills and wastewater treatment facility byproducts.

Agriculture and lands create emissions (6%) in
Williamson County through livestock, crop production — like corn and grain — and land use change. This sector represents an opportunity for GHG emission mitigation, as natural systems like trees, can remove carbon from the atmosphere and yield other community co-benefits.

Donut chart showing Greenhouse Gas Emissions sources for Williamson County. 43 percent of emissions come from Transportation. Another 32 percent come from Electricity.

Questions?

For information or to learn how to get more involved in the project, contact our office.