Bloomberg/Mathew Carr and Jeremy Hodges: Carbon Emissions Hit a Record High By Mathew Carr

Bloomberg

climate changed
Carbon Emissions Hit a Record High
By Mathew Carr
and Jeremy Hodges
Updated on

    U.S. boosted use of oil as India and China burned more coal
    IEA report marks a setback for effort to curb global warming

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Carbon emissions from fossil-fuel use hit a record last year after energy demand grew at its fastest pace in a decade, reflecting higher oil consumption in the U.S. and more coal burning in China and India.

Those findings from the International Energy Agency mark a setback for the effort to rein in the pollution blamed for global warming just three years after a landmark deal in Paris where all nations committed to cut emissions.

The figures showed that natural gas is becoming a preferred fuel for factories and utilities while the pace of installing renewable forms of energy is lagging. The report also indicated the strength of the global economic expansion last year, with gains in electricity consumption and more notably in the U.S.

“We have seen spectacular growth of the economy in the U.S.,” said Fatih Birol, executive director of the Paris-based institution advising nations on energy policy. “We have seen several new petrochemical projects coming online.”
Global C02 Emissions in 2018 vs 2017

Pollution from carbon dioxide rose by 1.7% last year

Source: International Energy Agency

Energy demand grew 2.3 percent last year, the most in a decade, according to the IEA. It showed a record 33 gigatons of carbon emissions from energy, up 1.7 percent from the previous year. Global electricity demand rose 4 percent and was responsible for half the growth in overall energy demand.

Global coal demand grew for the second consecutive year in 2018, driven by Asia’s appetite for the dirtiest fossil fuel. Even as coal’s share of the global energy mix declined, it remains the world’s largest source of electricity. Natural gas use rose 4.6 percent, its fastest growth since 2010.
relates to Carbon Emissions Hit a Record High

Global coal demand grew for a second year in 2018.
Source: IEA

The U.S. increased its use of oil products at a faster rate than any other country for the first time in 20 years, overtaking China. The U.S. boosted oil use by 540,000 barrels a day, a fifth more than China even though the Asian nation has four times the population and is moving toward a less oil-intensive model in order to improve its urban air quality.

“European oil demand remained stagnant on slowing economic activity and rising prices,” the IEA said in its report. “Germany saw an important decline in oil demand,” which fell 5.4 percent in 2018.

The pace of energy efficiency improvements fell, and renewables growth didn’t keep pace with surging electricity demand, falling below 50 percent of new power supply last year.
Oil Demand Boom

U.S oil jump in 2018 is the world's largest for the first time in two decades

Source: IEA

Global output of greenhouse gases from energy-related sources rose to a record as energy demand jumped at its fastest pace in a decade.

“Renewables growth is not keeping pace with the electrification of our society,” Birol said on a call with reporters. “We need to see more support for renewables.”

Global energy-related emissions hit an all-time high in 2018 of 33 billion tons of carbon dioxide, a growth rate of 1.7 percent, which represents the fastest increase since 2013. Coal-fired power plants, which are closing across western Europe, were the single largest contributor to the growth in emissions, accounting for 30 percent of the increase, the IEA said.

Emissions are still increasing in China and India. The U.S. saw an increase of emissions after they fell in 2017. Germany, Japan, Mexico, France and the U.K. all saw declining output.

The world needs to cut the use of coal-fired power to almost nothing by 2050 to get anywhere close to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a panel of United Nations scientists said in a report last year.
(Updates with European oil demand in the eighth paragraph.)

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