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U.S. Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions Declined 2.8% in 2008 - Hooray!
Despite a 1.1% increase in the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, the nation's carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels declined by 2.8% in 2008, according to preliminary estimates by DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). The record decline was caused in part by a 5.2% decrease in emissions from transportation. Sky-high fuel prices in the first part of the year, followed by economic woes in the fourth quarter, contributed to a record-breaking decline in vehicle miles traveled in 2008 and an upsurge in the use of public transportation.
Carbon dioxide emissions from industries also fell by 3.2%, following a five-year trend of falling industrial emissions, according to the EIA. While overall industrial output fell by 2.2% in 2008, the drop in output from energy-intensive industries-such as chemicals, primary metals, and non-metallic minerals-was much larger, in the range of 5.8%-7.8%.
While lower energy use in the transportation and industrial sectors partly contributed to the drop in carbon dioxide emissions, that's not the full story. The EIA notes that U.S. energy demand fell by 2.2% in 2008, which is less than the drop in carbon dioxide emissions. That means that some of the energy shifted to a source that produces lower carbon dioxide emissions.
In fact, the electric power sector, which generates 41% of the carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, decreased its power generation by 1% in 2008, but decreased its carbon dioxide emissions by 2.1%. In other words, the power sector decreased its emissions intensity by 1.1% in 2008. The EIA attributes that accomplishment to a decrease in the use of all fossil fuels at power plants, a feat credited in part to an increase in electricity generated from wind power. See the EIA press release and preliminary report.
Editor's Note: Last week's newsletter announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation plan to initiate a joint rulemaking for new vehicle standards, which will address both fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions. Sure enough, the agencies issued a notice of the upcoming joint rulemaking in the May 22 edition of the Federal Register. The notice provides some additional information about the planned rulemaking, including the credits that are being considered. The EPA also published its notice of proposed rulemaking for the revised Renewable Fuel Standard program in the May 26 edition of the Federal Register.
DOE and World Energy Leaders Launch Partnership for Energy Efficiency
U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu met with energy leaders from around the world this weekend to launch the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC), a high-level forum for facilitating improvements in global energy efficiency and encouraging market implementation of energy efficiency jobs and technologies. By promoting the exchange of information, best practices, policies, and measures that support energy efficiency efforts, this partnership will offer opportunities for participating countries to create green jobs domestically while helping to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
The signatories included the entire Group of 8 (G8), which consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as key emerging economies, including Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and the Republic of Korea. The International Energy Agency will host the IPEEC Secretariat in Paris, France.
