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Tom_Mazanec

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2020 CO2 emissions
« on: January 23, 2020, 04:46:09 PM »
OK, we blew 2019.
Let's see if this year we can reduce CO2 emissions.

blumenkraft

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2020, 05:21:09 PM »

*fingers crossed*

Tor Bejnar

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2020, 06:40:18 PM »
B_,
That all you got?  :'(
Arctic ice is healthy for children and other living things because "we cannot negotiate with the melting point of ice"

blumenkraft

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2020, 07:50:30 PM »
Sadly, yeah!   :-[ :-X

Shared Humanity

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2020, 03:49:25 AM »
Will CO2 emissions in 2020 break the record just set in 2019 which broke the record set in 2018?

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2020, 11:18:57 AM »
BTW, is there some way I can get monthly estimates of this, or do I have to wait for the end of the year to get the news?

Shared Humanity

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #6 on: January 26, 2020, 07:56:24 PM »
Will CO2 emissions in 2020 break the record just set in 2019 which broke the record set in 2018?

I'm thinking yes unless the economy collapses.

nanning

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #7 on: January 27, 2020, 06:32:43 AM »
Quote from: Shared Humanity
I'm thinking yes unless the economy collapses.

Come on! Let's all live frugal. Don't participate in bad systems.

Frugality
Frugality is the quality of being frugal, sparing, thrifty, prudent or economical in the consumption of consumable resources such as food, time or money, and avoiding waste, lavishness or extravagance.[2][3][4][5]

In behavioral science, frugality has been defined as the tendency to acquire goods and services in a restrained manner, and resourceful use of already owned economic goods and services, to achieve a longer term goal.[


I'm living frugal for some years now and my life has improved in meaningful ways: Less stuff and ease (lazyness) but an intenser and more meaningful life.
"It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly" - Bertrand Russell
"It is preoccupation with what other people from your groups think of you, that prevents you from living freely and nobly" - Nanning
Why do you keep accumulating stuff?

Human Habitat Index

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #8 on: January 27, 2020, 10:20:39 AM »
Will CO2 emissions in 2020 break the record just set in 2019 which broke the record set in 2018?

I'm thinking yes unless the economy collapses.

Then we will lose the aerosol masking effect leading to an unprecedented rapid increase in temperature and unleashing amplifying feedback loops.
There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance. That principle is contempt prior to investigation. - Herbert Spencer

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #9 on: January 27, 2020, 07:50:58 PM »
HHI:
Aren’t we losing aerosols anyway from environmental regulations?

TerryM

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2020, 06:27:51 PM »
HHI:
Aren’t we losing aerosols anyway from environmental regulations?


Yes, but we're losing aerosols slowly as regulations take effect, rather than suddenly as the result of an economic downturn.
Coronavirus could turn the world, and its economy on its ear within a month. That's probably off topic, but it's difficult to worry about the damage that termites are doing to the structure when the wolves are tearing at the door.
Terry

blumenkraft

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #11 on: January 30, 2020, 05:39:17 PM »

sidd

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #12 on: January 31, 2020, 05:21:36 AM »
USA household footprint:

"While population density contributes to relatively low HCF in the central cities of large metropolitan areas, the more extensive suburbanization in these regions contributes to an overall net increase in HCF compared to smaller metropolitan areas. "

https://coolclimate.org/maps

https://decolonialatlas.wordpress.com/2016/10/08/us-household-carbon-footprint/

sidd

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #13 on: February 19, 2020, 05:31:12 PM »
Analysis: Coronavirus has Temporarily Reduced China’s CO2 Emissions by a Quarter
https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-coronavirus-has-temporarily-reduced-chinas-co2-emissions-by-a-quarter

As China battles one of the most serious virus epidemics of the century, the impacts on the country’s energy demand and emissions are only beginning to be felt.

Electricity demand and industrial output remain far below their usual levels across a range of indicators, many of which are at their lowest two-week average in several years. These include:
  • Coal use at power stations reporting daily data at a four-year low.
  • Oil refinery operating rates in Shandong province at the lowest level since 2015.
  • Output of key steel product lines at the lowest level for five years.
  • Levels of NO2 air pollution over China down 36% on the same period last year.
  • Domestic flights are down up to 70% compared to last month.
All told, the measures to contain coronavirus have resulted in reductions of 15% to 40% in output across key industrial sectors. This is likely to have wiped out a quarter or more of the country’s CO2 emissions over the past two weeks, the period when activity would normally have resumed after the Chinese new-year holiday. (See methodology below.)

Over the same period in 2019, China released around 400m tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2), meaning the virus could have cut global emissions by 100MtCO2 to date. The key question is whether the impacts are sustained, or if they will be offset – or even reversed – by the government response to the crisis. ...





https://www.capitaleconomics.com/the-economic-effects-of-the-coronavirus/

Coronavirus Outbreak Slashes China Carbon Emissions
https://phys.org/news/2020-02-coronavirus-outbreak-slashes-china-carbon.html
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Tom_Mazanec

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #14 on: March 01, 2020, 01:41:55 PM »
With a world recession looking likely this should lower carbon emissions this year.

wolfpack513

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #15 on: March 10, 2020, 12:05:34 PM »
Just remember when everyone is high-fiving the drop in emissions, there will be long term damage. Here's a flash back to 2012 -  *4* years after the financial crisis & *after* Obama was reelected to his *final term* he still didn't have the political capital/cover to act on climate because the need to "focus on the economy."  https://www.politico.com/story/2012/11/obama-says-climate-change-to-take-backseat-to-economy-083865

Sciguy

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #16 on: April 20, 2020, 08:54:07 PM »
One side effect of the Covid-19 shut ins, carbon emissions may have peaked.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/20/the-coronavirus-crisis-means-we-may-have-already-reached-peak-carbon.html

Quote
The coronavirus crisis means we may have already reached peak carbon
Published Mon, Apr 20 2020

The coronavirus crisis will likely lead to the largest ever decline of global carbon emissions on record, according to research from Goldman Sachs, illuminating the potential for a long-term low carbon recovery.

The Covid-19 outbreak has meant countries around the world have effectively had to shut down, with many governments imposing draconian restrictions on the daily lives of billions of people. To date, confinement measures have been implemented in 187 countries or territories in an effort to try to slow the spread of the pandemic.

Quote
Analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a research note that they expect energy-related carbon emissions (which account for two-thirds of total greenhouse gas emissions) to fall by at least 5.4% this year alone.

To be sure, that’s roughly five times that of previous crises, with the potential for “much larger” declines depending on the length of disruption to the transportation sector and industrial activity.
“Energy-related emissions have always rebounded post crisis,” analysts at Goldman Sachs said, citing data which showed carbon intensity improvements in the year after every major crisis since the 1970s.

“This time could be different as we have potentially already reached peak energy-related carbon,” they added.

Quote
The IEA’s Executive Director Fatih Birol has since argued that progress made in transitioning the energy production mix could mark 2019 through to 2020 as the definitive year for peak energy-related carbon emissions.

Sciguy

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #17 on: May 01, 2020, 07:13:31 PM »
The IEA is forecasting that 2020 carbon emissions will fall 8% from last year.

https://oilprice.com/The-Environment/Global-Warming/CO2-Emissions-Expected-To-Fall-To-8-Year-Lows.html

Quote
CO2 Emissions Expected To Fall To 8-Year Lows
By Irina Slav - May 01, 2020

The International Energy Agency expects carbon dioxide emissions to decline by 8 percent this year due to the devastation the coronavirus wreaked on energy demand.

The agency said in the new edition of it Global Energy Review that the annual drop in oil demand this year could reach 9 percent, which translates into a loss of 9 million bpd. This would make 2020 oil demand equal to the average levels in 2012.

Coal demand will also fall substantially, by 8 percent, the IEA said, driven by lower electricity demand. The same is true of natural gas demand, although the authority did not provide specific demand drop figures for full-2020, although it did mention that gas demand fell by 2 percent during the first quarter.

There is good news for renewables, however. According to the IEA, demand for energy from renewable sources will actually increase this year, bucking the trend. This would be possible thanks to low operating costs and “preferential access to many power systems”.

Hefaistos

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #18 on: May 16, 2020, 07:22:51 AM »
Latest forecast is down 11% in USA CO2 emissions

"After decreasing by 2.8% in 2019, EIA forecasts that U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will decrease by 11% (572 million metric tons) in 2020. This record decline is the result of restrictions on business and travel activity and slowing economic growth related to COVID-19. CO2 emissions decline from all fossil fuels, particularly coal (23%) and petroleum (11%). In 2021, EIA forecasts that energy-related CO2 emissions will increase by 5% as the economy recovers and stay-at-home orders are lifted. "

https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/

gerontocrat

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #19 on: May 16, 2020, 09:35:38 AM »
Latest forecast is down 11% in USA CO2 emissions

"After decreasing by 2.8% in 2019, EIA forecasts that U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will decrease by 11% (572 million metric tons) in 2020. This record decline is the result of restrictions on business and travel activity and slowing economic growth related to COVID-19. CO2 emissions decline from all fossil fuels, particularly coal (23%) and petroleum (11%). In 2021, EIA forecasts that energy-related CO2 emissions will increase by 5% as the economy recovers and stay-at-home orders are lifted. "

https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/
A complete disruption of the world's financial & economic systems including mass unemployment results in perhaps an 8% drop in CO2 emissions.

So how the hell is the world going to manage a 45% reduction in emissions by 2030?
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
"And that's all I'm going to say about that". Forrest Gump
"Damn, I wanted to see what happened next" (Epitaph)

kassy

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #20 on: May 16, 2020, 11:18:24 AM »
I suspect we kicked the can down the road at least two decades too long.
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Hefaistos

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #21 on: May 16, 2020, 10:32:01 PM »

A complete disruption of the world's financial & economic systems including mass unemployment results in perhaps an 8% drop in CO2 emissions.

So how the hell is the world going to manage a 45% reduction in emissions by 2030?

Well, we have the power of exponential growth, so we also have the power of exponential decline :)
E.g., 11 % reduction per year brings us all the way down to a 72% reduction in 2030:

2020   11%
2021   21%
2022   30%
2023   37%
2024   44%
2025   50%
2026   56%
2027   61%
2028   65%
2029   69%
2030   72%

To get a reduction with 45% we need to reduce yearly emissions by 6%. Certainly feasible. Especially as market forces help us with the renewables phasing out coal, and later on natural gas.

Sciguy

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #22 on: May 18, 2020, 09:01:27 PM »
Latest forecast is down 11% in USA CO2 emissions

"After decreasing by 2.8% in 2019, EIA forecasts that U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will decrease by 11% (572 million metric tons) in 2020. This record decline is the result of restrictions on business and travel activity and slowing economic growth related to COVID-19. CO2 emissions decline from all fossil fuels, particularly coal (23%) and petroleum (11%). In 2021, EIA forecasts that energy-related CO2 emissions will increase by 5% as the economy recovers and stay-at-home orders are lifted. "

https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/
A complete disruption of the world's financial & economic systems including mass unemployment results in perhaps an 8% drop in CO2 emissions.

So how the hell is the world going to manage a 45% reduction in emissions by 2030?

The stimulus efforts to recover from the economic disruption should invest in renewable electricity production, electric vehicles and electrifying other sources (heating, industrial applications) currently done with fossil fuels.  There's a lot of low hanging fruit.

Also, the changes forced by Covid-19 prevention will become voluntary choices in the future.  I suspect many workplaces that can will switch to telework and virtual meetings instead of locating in large offices and face-to-face meetings.  This will reduce transportation emissions, construction (as less office space will be required) tourism and other sectors. 

Sciguy

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #23 on: May 19, 2020, 06:46:32 PM »
A just published study in Nature Climate Change states that global CO2 emissions are now down 17% due to the Covid-19 lockdowns.  With different assumptions about the recovery from lockdowns, the annual reductions will range from 4% to 7%.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0797-x

Quote
Published: 19 May 2020
Temporary reduction in daily global CO2 emissions during the COVID-19 forced confinement
Corinne Le Quéré, Robert B. Jackson, Matthew W. Jones, Adam J. P. Smith, Sam Abernethy, Robbie M. Andrew, Anthony J. De-Gol, David R. Willis, Yuli Shan, Josep G. Canadell, Pierre Friedlingstein, Felix Creutzig & Glen P. Peters


Abstract

Government policies during the COVID-19 pandemic have drastically altered patterns of energy demand around the world. Many international borders were closed and populations were confined to their homes, which reduced transport and changed consumption patterns. Here we compile government policies and activity data to estimate the decrease in CO2 emissions during forced confinements. Daily global CO2 emissions decreased by –17% (–11 to –25% for ±1σ) by early April 2020 compared with the mean 2019 levels, just under half from changes in surface transport. At their peak, emissions in individual countries decreased by –26% on average. The impact on 2020 annual emissions depends on the duration of the confinement, with a low estimate of –4% (–2 to –7%) if prepandemic conditions return by mid-June, and a high estimate of –7% (–3 to –13%) if some restrictions remain worldwide until the end of 2020. Government actions and economic incentives postcrisis will likely influence the global CO2 emissions path for decades.

Main

Before the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, emissions of carbon dioxide were rising by about 1% per year over the previous decade1,2,3, with no growth in 20193,4 (see Methods). Renewable energy production was expanding rapidly amid plummeting prices5, but much of the renewable energy was being deployed alongside fossil energy and did not replace it6, while emissions from surface transport continued to rise3,7.



gerontocrat

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #24 on: May 21, 2020, 06:54:13 PM »
A just published study in Nature Climate Change states that global CO2 emissions are now down 17% due to the Covid-19 lockdowns.  With different assumptions about the recovery from lockdowns, the annual reductions will range from 4% to 7%.
Just listened on radio4 to the prof who was in charge of the study.

The 17 % reduction was in early April when lockdowns were at their peak. Considerably less now.

I think she reminded us that 8% reduction every year from now was needed for the (unlikely)  restriction of Temp increases to 1.5 celsius.

She also reminded us that this event now gives us the scale of the task before us, that electrification of transport was the key, and that all depended on how Govts react:-
Option 1 :- all hands to the wheel, just do it!
Option 2 :- consigned to the too-hard basket (per attached)
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
"And that's all I'm going to say about that". Forrest Gump
"Damn, I wanted to see what happened next" (Epitaph)

vox_mundi

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #25 on: July 02, 2020, 10:02:34 PM »
CO2 Emissions May Have Peaked, But That's Not Enough
https://www.axios.com/co2-emissions-peaked-climate-change-paris-deal-8a447d76-5678-4b4b-84fc-4dcabfd6b24a.html



More analysts are making the case that COVID-19 could be an inflection point for oil use and carbon emissions, but it's hardly one that puts the world on a sustainable ecological path.

Driving the news: The risk advisory firm DNV GL, citing the pandemic's long-term effects on energy consumption, projects in a new analysis that global CO2 emissions "most likely" peaked in 2019.

- And, per Reuters, the firm also argues that the pandemic has accelerated the global oil demand peak by several years, which they now believe also occurred in 2019.

- Separately, Bloomberg reports on a new Citigroup group analysis which finds: "Oil product demand growth will falter significantly, change its contours and never return to pre-COVID-19 rates of growth."

Why it matters: These new reports are the latest to take stock of the pandemic's unprecedented shock to the energy system and the lasting effects.

But it's also a reminder that the demand reduction and carbon emissions decline that's happening for tragic reasons is not even close to enough to hold warming significantly in check.

Threat level: "Even with peak emissions behind us, and flat energy demand through to 2050, the energy transition we forecast is still nowhere near fast enough to deliver the Paris ambition of keeping global warming well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels," the DNV GL analysis states.

"To reach 1.5-degree target, we would need to repeat the decline we’re experiencing in 2020 every year from now on."

The bottom line: "t's always important to emphasize that peaking emissions does not stop the world from continuing to warm," Hausfather, who is affiliated with the Breakthrough Institute and the research group Berkeley Earth, tells me via email.

"CO2 accumulates in the atmosphere, so to stop warming we need to get emissions down to net-zero. Peaking is just the first (and easiest) step on the long road to zero emissions," he said.

... and then there's deforestation and positive feedback loops.
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

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kassy

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #26 on: July 03, 2020, 01:05:22 PM »
If we lose the Amazon that would add a whole lot of carbon and the permafrost is already emitting more carbon then it absorbs and that will only get worse.
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GoSouthYoungins

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #27 on: July 05, 2020, 04:34:04 PM »
So we are 10 pandemics away from solving climate change. I'll talk to some bats and pangolins I know.
big time oops

Sciguy

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #28 on: July 14, 2020, 07:00:41 PM »
US CO2 emissions are forecast to decline by 12% this year.  However, they may increase in 2021 (albeit still well below 2018 levels) if we ever get our act together on the Covid front.

https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/#:~:text=EIA%20expects%20annual%20average%20U.S.,million%20b%2Fd%20in%202021.

Quote
EIA forecasts that energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, after decreasing by 2.8% in 2019, will decrease by 12.2% in 2020 and increase by 6.0% in 2021. This forecast is highly dependent on assumptions regarding the economic impact and subsequent recovery from COVID-19 mitigation efforts. In addition to economic growth, energy-related CO2 emissions are sensitive to changes in weather, energy prices, and fuel mix.

Note that the forecast for 2021 assumes that natural gas prices will rise enough for coal to increase its share of electricity production.  Once again the EIA ignores all of the renewable projects in the pipeline.

NotaDenier

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #29 on: August 24, 2020, 03:21:47 AM »
https://www.inverse.com/science/why-co2-levels-are-still-rising-during-the-pandemic

COVID-19 HAS CURTAILED THE ACTIVITIES OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE across the world and with it, greenhouse gas emissions. As climate scientists at the Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station, we are routinely asked: Does this mean carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have fallen?

The answer, disappointingly, is no. Throughout the pandemic, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels continued to rise.

gerontocrat

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #30 on: January 12, 2021, 03:25:33 PM »
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-55632050
Climate change: US emissions in 2020 in biggest fall since WWII
Quote
US greenhouse gas emissions tumbled below their 1990 level for the first-time last year as a result of the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

A preliminary assessment from research group Rhodium says that overall emissions were down over 10%, the largest fall since World War II.

Transport suffered the biggest decline, with emissions down almost 15% over 2019.

Energy emissions also fell sharply, due to a decline in the use of coal.

The widespread impact of Covid-19 on the US saw over 20 million people infected with the virus, and to date more than 350,000 have died as a result. With stay-at-home orders in place, economic activity ground to a halt in March and April and this had significant implications for greenhouse gas emissions.

In transport, the restrictions on international travel and non-essential journeys saw demand for fuel fall sharply. At the peak of restrictions demand for jet fuel was down 68% on 2019, with petrol down 40%. They have both bounced back as travel bans were eased later in the year but jet fuel demand was still 35% down in December compared to the previous year.

When it comes to electricity though the picture is more complicated.

Overall the demand for electricity was down just 2% but emissions fell by over 10%.
"This was driven almost exclusively from the continued rapid decline of coal-fired power generation," the report says.

After decades of dominance, coal in 2020 was the third largest source of power, behind natural gas and nuclear. Renewables now supply 18% of power, the report says, just behind coal with 20% of the market.

Based on the preliminary set of data for the year, the authors estimate that overall US emissions fell below 1990 levels for the first time in three decades.

The overall fall of 10.3% essentially dwarves the impact of the great economic recession of 2009 on the US, when emissions were down 6.3%. In global climate negotiations, the US uses 2005 as its benchmark year. Compared to 2005 levels, emissions in 2020 were 21.5% down, exceeding the target the US set for itself under the Copenhagen Accord of 2009.

Under the Paris Agreement, the US has promised to cut emissions by 26-28% below the 2005 mark, but the authors of the Rhodium report caution against thinking that the country is now on track to reach this target.

Last year "certainly shouldn't be considered a down payment towards meeting the US target under the Paris Agreement," the report says. "The enormous toll of economic damage and human suffering as a result of the pandemic is no cause for celebration."

Economic growth is expected to reach 3-4% of GDP in 2021 and greenhouse gas emissions will likely increase as well.
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
"And that's all I'm going to say about that". Forrest Gump
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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #31 on: January 12, 2021, 06:28:08 PM »
us coal consumption is back up so far in january. Unfotunetly with rising natural gas prices rising coal is looking better.renewable energy is still far cheaper.

Tor Bejnar

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #32 on: January 12, 2021, 08:33:07 PM »
Quote
Based on the preliminary set of data for the year, the authors estimate that overall US emissions fell below 1990 levels for the first time in three decades.
Three decades ago was the beginning of the 1990s, so is this using a bunch of pixels to say nothing, or is it arcane philosophy?
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gerontocrat

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #33 on: January 12, 2021, 09:29:03 PM »
Quote
Based on the preliminary set of data for the year, the authors estimate that overall US emissions fell below 1990 levels for the first time in three decades.
Three decades ago was the beginning of the 1990s, so is this using a bunch of pixels to say nothing, or is it arcane philosophy?
Such uncaring waste. It's about time we took reducing pixel emissions seriously.
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harpy

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #34 on: January 12, 2021, 09:47:29 PM »
10% is a good start.

The coronavirus has proven itself to be a useful tool in reducing emissions, but we need to do more.

kassy

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #35 on: January 12, 2021, 10:34:03 PM »
We need to do it every year and not by accident. Earth also does not for accounting tricks so we have a challenge ahead.
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

Sciguy

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #36 on: February 01, 2021, 08:07:01 PM »
Global carbon emissions fell 6.4% in 2020.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00090-3

Quote
15 January 2021
COVID curbed carbon emissions in 2020 — but not by much
Despite sharp drops early in the pandemic, global emissions of carbon dioxide picked up in the second half of the year, new data show.
Jeff Tollefson

After rising steadily for decades, global carbon dioxide emissions fell by 6.4%, or 2.3 billion tonnes, in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic squelched economic and social activities worldwide, according to new data on daily fossil fuel emissions. The decline is significant — roughly double Japan’s yearly emissions — but smaller than many climate researchers expected given the scale of the pandemic, and is not expected to last once the virus is brought under control.

The United States contributed the most to the global dip, with a nearly 13% decrease in its emissions, due mostly to a sharp decline in vehicle transportation that began with lockdowns in March and continued as the pandemic escalated at the end of the year. Globally, the energy sector most affected by pandemic lockdowns and restrictions was aviation, where emissions fell 48% from their 2019 total.



Quote
The pandemic has provided a unique lens on the challenge that lies ahead for nations committed to fighting climate change. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that the world would need to cut carbon emissions by 7.6% per year for the next decade to prevent the globe from warming more than 1.5 ºC above pre-industrial levels — a goal set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Reductions on this scale would be even larger than 2020’s drop in emissions.


Sciguy

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Re: 2020 CO2 emissions
« Reply #37 on: April 13, 2021, 06:52:48 PM »
US 2020 power sector emissions were half of the EIA projections from 2005.  Renewables were 79% more than projected, demand was 24% less than projected and coal & oil were 70% less than projected.