US CO2 Emissions Fall 2.8% in 2019
US energy-related CO2 emissions fell 2.8% in 2019 to 5.13bn mt, the country's Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on May 5.
This is slightly above the level in 2017, the EIA said. In contrast emissions rose by 2.9% in 2018, mainly owing to weather conditions, marking the only annual increase in five years. The decline last year outpaced the fall in energy consumption of 0.9%, and was achieved despite a 2.3% increase in GDP.
Almost all of the latest reduction occurred in the electric power sector, which saw emissions drop by 145mn mt or 8.2%, even though electricity generation was down only 1.5%. The EIA attributed this to increased use of renewables such as wind and solar, at the expense of coal-fired generation. There was also a limited uptick in gas-fired generation, the administration said.
Source: EIA
In contrast, emissions from residential and commercial sectors were nearly changed, while there was a slight increase in industrial emissions of 8mn mt, and a 13mn mt decline in transportation sector emissions. Emissions from the overall use of gas were up 3.3%, while emissions from coal fell by 14.6%.