SUN DAY CAMPAIGN
(a campaign for a sustainable energy future)
6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite #340; Takoma Park, MD 20912
Twitter: Follow @SunDayCampaign
News Advisory
LATEST GOVERNMENT DATA REVEAL
U.S. CO2 LEVELS ARE 2.74% HIGHER THAN 2013
AND 5.96% HIGHER THAN 2012
EVEN AS RENEWABLE ENERGY PRODUCTION GROWS 4%
For Release: Friday – September 26, 2014
Contact: Ken Bossong, 301-270-6477 x.11
Washington DC – According to the latest “Monthly Energy Review” from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel consumption (i.e., coal, oil, natural gas) have reversed their earlier downward trend and shown marked increases over the past 18 months.
With data through to June 30, 2014, EIA’s report reveals that CO2emissions from fossil fuels for the first half of 2014 to be 2.74% higher than the same period in 2013 and 5.96% higher than the first six months of 2012. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, which account for about 98% of total U.S. CO2 emissions, had been declining from 2010 to 2012.
Comparing the first half of 2014 to the same period in 2012, the residential sector accounted for the largest percentage increase in CO2 emissions – 16.73%, followed by the commercial sector – 10.27%. Increases in the electric power and industrial sectors were 6.89% and 3.18% respectively. Notably, emissions in the transportation sector in 2014 were the same as they were in 2012.
Carbon dioxide emissions due to the consumption of coal are 12.32% higher during the first half of 2014 than they were during the first six months of 2012 while those from natural gas and petroleum rose by 7.31% and 0.81% respectively. CO2 emissions from biomass energy consumption (including ethanol and biodiesel) also rose by 6.49% during the same period but they accounted for less than 6% of the total from fossil fuels and biomass combined.
The same EIA report also notes that U.S. energy production from renewable sources (i.e., biofuels, biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) increased by 3.83% during the first half of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013 and by 7.35% compared to 2012. Renewable energy sources now account for 11.68% of domestic energy production and 9.89% of U.S. energy consumption.
“The growth in U.S. CO2 emissions is clear wake-up call that much more needs to be done to accelerate the growth of renewable energy sources, as well as improved energy efficiency, if the nation is to successfully address climate change,” concluded Ken Bossong, executive director of the SUN DAY Campaign.
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The U.S. Energy Information Administration released its most recent “Monthly Energy Review” on September 25, 2014 with data through June 30, 2014; see: http://www.eia.gov/
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The SUN DAY Campaign is a non-profit research and educational organization founded in 1992 to aggressively promote sustainable energy technologies as cost-effective alternatives to nuclear power and fossil fuels.
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