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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: 2) by quietus on Thursday February 13 2020, @06:31PM (1 child)
I can't say anything about the 1950s quote as reference figures are behind a paywall, but note that there's another (surprising, to me) quote i.e. CO2 emissions are now at levels not seen since the late 1980s, when talking about advanced economies. There are some data [iea.org] going back to 1990 here. For at least that quote, they're referring to total CO2 emissions, and not only emissions associated with energy (electricity) production.
Initially, this surprised me too, but thinking about the latest large appliances I bought (an oven and a fridge), it shouldn't: energy efficiency is a big differentiation point for long-term purchases like these.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday February 13 2020, @06:53PM
LED lighting has had a huge impact. Insulation in homes is starting to get traction, I'd guess that industrial processes are cleaning up. However, I don't see any less concrete being poured, or less traffic on the highways and seas, and steel shipping containers seem to be barely reused before scrapping...
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