US carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fell a record 7% in 2009, due to economic recession and more efficient fuel use according to statistics released Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration.
Emissions have declined in three of the last four years, but 2009 was "exceptional," EIA said, representing largest absolute and percentage decline (405 million metric tons or 7%) since the agency began collecting annual data in 1949.
The reduction reflects a combination of factors, including some particular to the economic downturn, other special circumstances during the year, and some factors that may reflect persistent trends in the economy and energy use.
EIA says changes in carbon dioxide emissions can be broken down into four major contributing factors: population, per capita GDP, energy intensity of the economy, and carbon intensity of the energy supply. All of these fell in 2009 except for population. Population grew 0.9%. The downturn of the economy caused per capita GDP to fall (3.3%) resulting in a total GDP decline of 2.4%. Energy intensity and the carbon intensity of the energy supply also both fell more than 2%. These three factors (GDP, energy intensity, and carbon intensity) combined in roughly equal proportions to cause emissions to fall by 7.0%, the agency said.
EIA said the downturn in the economy disproportionately impacted energy-intensive industries such as primary metals and non-metalic materials, causing energy consumption in the industrial sector to fall steeply in 2009.
In addition, lower natural gas prices encouraged many power generators to switch from dirtier-burning coal. And the wind power industry added about 10,000 megawatts of emissions-free power to the mix.
As the economy recovers, the structure of that recovery will be important to the future emissions profile of the United States, according to the EIA report. If energy-intensive industries lead the economic recovery, emissions would increase faster than if service industries or light manufacturing play the leading role.
If coal, which was more heavily impacted by the recent economic downturn than other energy sources, rebounds disproportionately, the carbon intensity of the energy supply could rise above the 2009 level. However, longer-term trends continue to suggest decline in both the amount of energy used per unit of economic output and the carbon intensity of our energy supply, which both work to restrain emissions.
The full report is available at the link below.
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