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Zero Emissions Network

Welcome to the Zero Emissions Network page powered by the American Solar Energy Society and by you, the citizens of Earth. At ZEN, we believe that the only path towards creating a sustainable future for all of the residents of this planet, human and otherwise, is by understanding the effects of our actions and working together to solve problems. We believe that individual citizens such as yourself are eager to make a difference in their lives and communities by reducing emissions. But, all too often, we find that we don’t know how to best reduce our emissions. Maybe it is too expensive, it seems too time consuming, or sometimes we simply do not know what else we can do. Our goal at ZEN is to provide the knowledge and the resources to each individual (like you) to help you understand how you can reduce your emissions. To do this, we follow a four-question outline to provide the answers to the following questions:

• What are carbon-emitting activities?
• What are carbon-reducing activities?
• What are the programs/options available to help you reduce your footprint?
• How does taking action benefit your life?

Contact Us

We believe that the solutions are out there. Many times, people just do not know where to find them. We encourage you to read through the website and learn as much as you can. The more you know, the better! We also encourage you to send us feedback! Information is always changing and we want to know what you think. How do you like our program? How can we improve? Is our information outdated or incorrect? We also like success stories. How did you use our information to reduce your emissions? Please send your thoughts to ZEN@ASES.org. Join the discussion in the ASES Online Community!

How much CO₂ does Boulder emit?

In 2018, the City of Boulder emitted 1,513,520 metric tons of CO₂-equivalent greenhouse gases. 54% of Boulder’s greenhouse gas emissions are from commercial and industrial sources, 17% are from residential sources, 28% are from transportation sources, and the last 1-2% are from other sources like landfills and wastewater. For perspective, we should mention New York City emits around 54,349,650 metric tons of CO₂ per year. Keep in mind that NYC is about 80 times larger than Boulder by population. The Environmental Defense fund sponsored this cool (or not so cool) video to visualize just how much CO₂ that is.

https://youtu.be/DtqSIplGXOA