U.S. Carbon Emissions Plummeting

Lester R. Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, reports today on the Institute Website that the United States “has now entered a new energy era, one of declining emissions. Peak carbon is now history.”

I’m so used to doom and gloom on the topic of cutting emissions that I had to look at this twice. Could it be true, as Brown contends, that “what had appeared to be hopelessly difficult is happening at amazing speed”?

Well, he’s got a chart, so it must be true. It shows a steadily climbing line representing “U.S. Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions” starting just over 600 million metric tons in 1950 and peaking at over 1,600 in the middle of this decade. The striking part is the precipitous decline over the last few years. It looks like we’re somewhere down around 1,500 now, and falling.

Brown reports that extrapolated data for 2009 will reveal a 5 percent drop in U.S. oil use this year and a 10 percent decline in coal use. The last two years have seen a 9 percent reduction in U.S. carbon emissions from burning all fossil fuels. It seems to be true! As Brown says: “the energy efficiency revolution that is now under way will transform everything from lighting to transportation.”

There is progress on many fronts:

• The federal government—the biggest energy consumer in the country—recently announced a plant to reduce its carbon footprint, including cutting vehicle fuel use 30 percent by 2020 and recycling at least 50 percent of its refuse by 2015.
• Around 22 coal-fired power plants spread over 12 states have been or are being replaced by energy-efficient infrastructure such as wind farms, natural gas plants and wood chip plants.
• Installations of solar cells are increasing 40 percent a year in the U.S.
• Last year, 102 wind farms became operational, providing the capacity to generate over 8,400 megawatts of electricity.
• Americans are driving less and using public transport and bikes more, as evidenced by the fact that this year, 4 million more cars will be scrapped than purchased new.

This is all such fantastic news that we must beware of being lulled into a contended lethargy. Brown states that though we are on the right track, ”we do not yet know how much we can cut carbon emissions because we are just beginning to make a serious effort. Whether we can move fast enough to avoid catastrophic climate change remains to be seen.”

Photo courtesy of Kwintin on flickr