According to the California Air Resources Board (United States), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in California declined by 2.7% in 2016 (latest year available) to 429 MtCO2e, slightly below the 1990 level (431 MtCO2e). California thus met its target to return GHG emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 four years ahead of schedule.
Emissions per capita continue to be among the lowest in the United States with a 23% dip from a peak of 14 tCO2e/cap in 2001 to 10.8 tCO2e/cap in 2016, i.e. half the national average, and the CO2e intensity (CO2e emissions per unit of GDP) has also fallen by 38% since 2001 to stand at half the national average. With GHG emission per capita of 10.8 tCO2e/cap, California's ratio is still around 25% above the EU average of 8.7 tCO2e/cap.
This achievement was made possible by California's increased renewable power generation, in particular solar generation that rose by 33% in 2016, while gas-fired generation fell by 15%. Overall, CO2 emissions from the power sector dropped by 18% in 2016. California will focus on the transport sector to meet its target to cut GHG emissions by a further 40% by 2030. Increased fuel consumption raised emissions from transports by 2% in 2016, despite the higher demand for biofuels (5.7 billion liters).