Recap from Part I of this series: CO2 emissions from human sources are driven by four fundamental factors: 1) population; 2) average emissions per person; 3) energy intensity; and, 4) carbon intensity. Energy intensity refers to the amount of energy consumed per unit of GDP. A country’s overall energy consumption combines all sources of energy for which consumption data is available, such as electricity, oil, natural gas, and coal. Carbon intensity refers to the amount of CO2 emitted per unit of energy, e.g., amount of CO2 emitted to produce one kilowatt hour of electricity.
Per Part II of this series, atmospheric CO2 keeps rising at a steady pace. Lack of progress in the atmosphere most likely reflects lack of progress on the ground (allowing for some lag time and other complications). But some parts of the planet are doing better than others. Take a look:
Lots of arrows going down - that’s a good sign. But it’s not enough to reach the UN’s sustainability energy targets. For example, in order to meet the UN’s target for energy intensity in 2030, one environmental organization estimated that global energy intensity would need to improve by an average annual rate of 3% from 2018 on - meaning the amount of energy consumed per unit of GDP needs to go down by 3% a year. But that’s not happening in most regions, except for Asia Pacific and Europe.
Carbon intensity is also improving in most regions, meaning less CO2 is being emitted per unit of energy produced. But it’s not enough to keep overall emissions down, due to the continuing growth of GDP and population in most regions, North America and Europe being the only areas where CO2 emissions are dropping at a near-acceptable rate.
Tracking regional progress in cutting emissions is a useful project, but it’s important to remember that some regions emit a lot more than others, mainly because they have large populations and are undergoing rapid GDP growth.
Next: The Top Ten Energy-Consuming Countries