This year the months of shutdown factories and closed businesses, along with fewer vehicles on the roads, have helped decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the U.S. to their lowest since 1983, according to BloombergNEF research.

Overall, the GHG output is 9.2% lower than 2019. This was largely driven by the declined activity in the transportation sector, the data showed. Specifically, the sector dropped by nearly 15% year-over-year, or -265 MtCO2e (metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent).

While that’s great news, it’s by no means sustainable. Neither the U.S. population, nor its economy, can thrive while locked down, and that’s apparently what it took to make such a dent. Earlier in the week, though, a report by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) revealed a pathway to less dramatic, though absolutely sustainable, drops in GHG. For Q2, California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program reported its natural gas fuel portfolio was -0.85 gCO2e/MJ. That means vehicles running on natural gas had a net negative impact on the air quality.

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