The last post, CO2 Emissions, GDP Growth, and Global Energy Consumption: Looking for Patterns, documented that global energy consumption continues to track global GDP but electricity-generated CO2 emissions are beginning to “decouple” from energy consumption. From this, I concluded that economic growth and emissions growth are also decoupling, meaning economic growth while saving the planet is within the realm of possibility.
But how is it that we are getting more energy consumption with fewer emissions? Type of fuel, for one: some fuels emit more than others. Speaking of which, charts!
So, the fact that world energy consumption continues to grow but electricity-generated CO2 emissions are leveling out is largely explained by increased use of natural gas and renewables. What does the fuel mix look like on the regional level?
Wow - big differences! Asia Pacific is coal country - I’m talking to you, China and India. As is well-known, coal is a filthy emitter. Let’s look at the coal picture in greater detail:
Bottom line: the Asia Pacific region’s dependence on coal is countering the global decoupling of economic growth from CO2 emissions. The region needs to transition to other sources of energy and/or develop the technology to capture and store carbon emissions from coal and other fossil fuels. Given the sovereignty of nations, we can’t really force the Asia Pacific region off coal. But innovative technologies eventually spread throughout the world and so anything the US can do to develop economically feasible carbon capture and storage will help other countries reduce their emissions while growing their economies.