EIA Report Shows Sharp Decrease in U.S. Carbon Emissions, Likely to Continue

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A report for 2011 from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) (Washington, D.C.) cites a dramatic decline in energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the U.S. According to the findings, CO2 emissions have fallen back to mid-1990 levels and should continue to decline in the future. The natural gas revolution is creating a low-cost and long-term fuel supply to help the U.S. achieve energy independence, and the fuel is doing something positive for the planet by reducing CO2 emissions, the EIA said.

The EIA is a government agency under the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) (Washington, D.C.) that collects and disseminates information on energy reserves, production, consumption, distribution, pricing, technology and financial matters related to the nation's energy supply.

Though the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has forecast that no new coal-fired power plants will be built without carbon capture and storage in the next couple of decades, carbon emissions will continue to decline thanks to new power plants using the cleaner-burning natural gas. Renewable energy and low-load growth also play parts in the lower emission rate. Analysts predict that the emissions will continue to drop from 5,473 million metric tons in 2011 to a forecast of about 5,050 million metric tons in 2012, which would be a 20-year low.

The latest natural gas-fired power plants are getting more energy production from the fuel because of newer advanced technological efficiencies designed for the machines over the last 10 years. Combustion turbines can now operate at higher temperatures because of new metallurgy, turbine blade coatings and advanced blade-cooling technology, advances which translate into thermal efficiencies of 50% to 60%; this was once thought unachievable. Additionally, newer natural gas-fired combustion turbines use an advanced technology called sequential combustion, which lowers the flame temperature and associated greenhouse gas levels of the combustion turbine, resulting in lower unit emissions.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) report on CO2 emissions said that China had increased its emissions by 720 mega-tonnes, the largest increase in contribution to the global increase. In 2011, the European Union was lower by 69 mega-tonnes while in the U.S. emissions had fallen by 430 mega-tonnes since 2006, the largest reduction of all countries or regions.

The EIA predicts that U.S. carbon dioxide emissions will remain below their 2005 levels thru 2035. Emissions per capita will fall by an average of 1% per year through 2035, according to the EIA. The share of electric power generation fueled by natural gas will increase from 24% in 2010 to 27% by 2035, while the share of renewable energy will grow from 10% to 16% over that same period. Coal-fired power generation will continue to fall to 39% of power generation.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.