To take effective climate action, decision-makers need timely, open, and accessible information about exactly where greenhouse gas emissions are coming from.
Cofounded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Climate TRACE is a global nonprofit coalition of a dozen organizations—including Duke University—that is harnessing technology to create the world’s largest and most comprehensive inventory of emissions. Climate TRACE is an independent, transparent resource that provides governments, companies, and anyone with internet access with free and open data to identify high-impact opportunities for emissions reductions. The platform enables users to access granular emissions data for countries, states, localities and even individual emitting sources.
Duke University joined the coalition in 2023 to develop the highest-resolution dataset available today for the building sector, which contributes an estimated 7 percent of total global emissions. The effort, led by the Energy Data Analytics Lab at the Nicholas Institute, used high-resolution, satellite-derived data to create a neighborhood-level inventory of direct emissions from residential and nonresidential buildings. Direct building emissions primarily come from onsite fossil fuel combustion for space heating, water heating, and cooking.
