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from the did-you-check-to-turn-the-lights-off dept.
Germany's economy nowadays emits as much carbon dioxide as it did in the 1950s, when it was 10 times smaller.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), carbon dioxide emissions trends for 2019 suggest clean energy transitions are underway. Global power sector emissions declined by some 170 Mt, or 1.2%, with the biggest falls taking place in the advanced economies of the European Union, Japan and the United States. There, CO2 emissions are now at levels not seen since the late 1980s, when electricity demand was one-third lower.
In these advanced economies, the average CO2 emissions intensity of electricity generation declined by nearly 6.5% in 2019. This is a rate three times faster than the average over the past decade.
This decline is driven by a switch from coal to natural gas, a rise in nuclear power and weaker electricity demand, combined with the seemingly unstoppable growth in renewables. These now constitute over 40% of the energy mix in Germany (wind power +11%) and the United Kingdom, where rapid expansion in offshore wind power generation is happening.
The bummer lies with the rest of the world.
There emissions continue to expand with close to 400 Mt last year. About 80% of that increase is happening in Asia. Coal demand here continues to expand, accounting for over 50% of energy use.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by istartedi on Wednesday February 12 2020, @11:49PM
Obama managed to pull the US out of a devastating economic depression
Other than not being hated by the Federal Reserve, Obama didn't really do much. The Fed's QE policies have driven this economy. Global flight to quality has caused the world to buy and hold our bonds also, keeping interest rates low. Deficit spending continued to pump the economy through the last administration and well into this one. That force is so powerful that it counterbalances Trump's trade policy, which so far isn't really as drastic as he wants it to be. US debt to GDP ratio is at levels last seen shortly after WW2, which is what really lifted us out of the Great Depression. History doesn't repeat, but it rhymes. This time the rest of the world hasn't been bombed into oblivion leaving us with the best industrial base--not that we haven't been slinging an awful lot of lead around. Debt to GDP ratios can hold well above 100 for a long time before inflation spoils the party, so it's probably too soon to bet on stagflation, hyperinflation, or a recession. Anyway, the POTUS is, IMHO not as big a player as people think. They don't have *no* influence, it's just that they pale in comparison to the Fed and the global economy.
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