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Detailed GHG data (EPA Envirofacts) #367

Closed JeremiahCurtis closed 7 years ago

JeremiahCurtis commented 7 years ago

Download page (links to ReSTful urls) : https://www.epa.gov/enviro/greenhouse-gas-customized-search

While the facility level emissions data (FLIGHT) were mirrored in issue #28, it appears that the Envirofacts data were not mirrored. Per https://www.epa.gov/ghgreporting/ghg-reporting-program-data-sets, "Envirofacts provides all publicly available data collected by the GHGRP in a searchable, downloadable format for facilities. This includes GHG data and much of the underlying data facilities use to determine GHG values and other reported data elements in 32 industry types." (emphasis mine)

If there's a motivation to obscure FLIGHT data (or worse), there would certainly be a motivation to bury the underlying facility-level information. There are several dozen subject headings under Greenhouse Gas - Detailed Subpart Subjects .Each particular subject looks at manufacturing sectors, and there are several possible tables for each sector. For example, under "Lime Manufacturing facilities", the link allows one to download data from CERS-monitored lime manufacturing facilities, and a subsequent link allows one to retrieve three separate tables containing subpart-level GHG emissions information and monthly quantities of calcined lime products produced.

Although I'm a neophyte at mirroring data using the API in Envirofacts, I'm getting used to it pretty quickly, having grabbed, inter alia, all the SDWIS datasets. These datasets, though, seem like a collective behemoth to download. If someone with a lot more aptitude could grab these (would a separate script work?), it would be an invaluable supplement to the FLIGHT mirrors.

Finally, if this has already been mirrored elsewhere (although it appears such is not the case), this issue could be closed. FWIW, a small portion of these data are available elsewhere, as indicated at the bottom of https://www.epa.gov/enviro/greenhouse-gas-customized-search The large majority, however, appear to be exclusive to envirofacts