Articulating a trans‐boundary infrastructure supply chain greenhouse gas emission footprint for cities: Mathematical relationships and policy relevance

This paper compares the policy relevance and derives mathematical relationships between three approaches for GHG emissions accounting for cities. The three approaches are: (a) Purely‐Geographic Inventory, (b) Trans‐boundary Community‐Wide Infrastructure Footprint (CIF), and (c) Consumption‐Based Footprint (CBF). Mathematical derivations coupled with case study of three US communities (Denver Colorado, Routt Colorado, and Sarasota Florida), shows that no one method provides a larger or more holistic estimate of GHG emissions associated with communities. A net‐producing community (Routt) demonstrates higher CIF GHG emissions relative to the CBF, while a net‐consuming community (Sarasota) yields the opposite. Trade‐balanced communities (Denver) demonstrate similar numerical estimates of CIF and CBF, as predicted by the mathematical equations. Knowledge of community typology is important in understanding trans‐boundary GHG emission contributions.