The United States’ power sector has decreased carbon emissions by 32.2 percent and its carbon intensity by an impressive 33.7 percent since 2005, according to Carnegie Mellon University’s Power Sector Carbon Index, which looks at the carbon intensity of electricity production broken out by fiscal quarter.
As the power sector continues to make significant progress in reducing emissions, the use of natural gas for power generation has skyrocketed, highlighting the critical role the resource plays in helping to reduce emissions and meet climate targets.
Making Progress Year-Over-Year
CMU’s recently released Q4 2019 results showcase the immense progress that the industry has made in the last year alone. In Q4 of 2019, U.S. power plant emissions averaged 844 lbs. CO2 per MWh, down 11 percent from the same time frame in 2018.
Meanwhile, natural gas was up by 12 percent compared to Q4 2018 and represented a staggering 39 percent of total power generation.
The last quarter of 2019 was no anomaly. In Q3 of 2019, carbon intensity was down 7 percent over 2018 levels, while natural gas generation was up 7 percent.
Examining the power sector’s performance over every quarter of 2019, EID found that the industry was able to decrease emissions by over 8 percent and reduce carbon intensity by over 7 percent from 2018.
CMU Study Reinforces Correlation Between Natural Gas and Climate Progress
CMU’s research builds on numerous data sets that reinforce the strong correlation between the growing use of natural gas and our continued success in reducing emissions.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s most recent greenhouse gas inventory revealed that U.S. GHG emissions declined 10 percent between 1990 and 2018, due in large part to “an increasing shift to use of less CO2-intensive natural gas for generating electricity,” even as GPD, population, and energy consumption have continued to rise.
In addition, the top carbon emission-reducing states in the country have also drastically increased their consumption of natural gas as a fuel source.
In the end, natural gas is playing a key role in our ability to continue meeting climate targets. The United States now leads the world in reducing emissions and as IEA director Fatih Birol explained,
“In the last 10 years, the emissions reductions in the United States has been the largest in the history of energy.”
Read more at EID Climate
Another article that has wandered into the wrong website. “Carbon emissions” is a misnomer. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions impresses only the climate worriers and the politicians who exploit them.
The Wuhan Virus has caused a catastrophic drop in economic activity and fuel consumption. The resulting decrease in anthropogenic carbon dioxide is not to be celebrated.
More truth for the Keep it in the Ground idiots with stupid sign with the stupid finger pointing at the Ground