EIA: Carbon emissions from power plants lowest since 1991
Wednesday October 12, 2016
The drop comes amidst a long-term shift away from coal to natural gas and ever increasing levels of wind turbines and solar panels across the country’s electrical grid. Also, a particularly mild winter – the warmest since at least 1949, EIA said – meant less need for heating systems and thus less electricity demand.
The fall off from the power industry comes as greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks ticked up in recent years. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, emissions from the transportation sector rose 2 percent between 2012 and 2014 – the most recent year for which data was available.
According to the report from EIA Wednesday, consumption of coal-fired electricity decreased 18 percent from the first half of 2015 to the same period in 2016. Natural gas decreased 1 percent. And renewables, which includes, wind, solar and hydroelectric dams, increased 9 percent.