'Coal To Blame' For Last Year's Record Emissions From Energy

AFR - Angela Macdonald-Smith

Carbon dioxide emissions from energy production rose at the fastest rate for five years in 2018,  increasing 1.7 per cent last year to a record 33.1 billion tonnes, with the use of coal for electricity generation the primary culprit, according to the International Energy Agency.
China, India and the US accounted for 85 per cent of the increase, with emissions declining in Japan and Mexico and in several European economies including Germany, France and the UK. The electricity sector was to blame for almost two-thirds of the growth, the IEA carbon report said.

Coal is still in high demand for electricity generation in Asia. Phil Hearne

The 560 million tonne rise in emissions was equivalent to the total emissions from international aviation and was driven by higher energy use from the robust global economy, as well as weather conditions in some regions that increased demand for heating and cooling.
Energy demand worldwide grew 2.3 per cent last year, its fastest pace this decade, with natural gas accounting for 45 per cent of the increase.
Coal-fired power plants drove a 2.9 per cent increase in CO2 emissions, up 280 million tonnes from 2017 to breach the 10 gigatonne threshold for the first time. Coal-fired electricity generation accounted for 30 per cent of global emissions, mostly from Asia,  where the average age of plants is only 12 years, leaving decades still to run on the average lifetime of about 40 years.

"Global emissions are still rising, demonstrating once again that more urgent action is needed on all fronts." — IEA executive director Fatih Birol

The IEA said although 2014-16 had seen a stagnation in CO2 emissions, even as the global economy expanded, the dynamics changed in 2017 and 2018 when higher energy productivity and lower-carbon options did not scale up fast enough to counteract the rise in demand.
That meant that despite the growth in renewables and the contribution of nuclear power, CO2 emissions rose almost 0.5 per cent for every 1 per cent gain in global economic output, faster than the average 0.3 per cent increase since 2010.
IEA executive director Fatih Birol described last year's increase in global energy demand as "extraordinary“, saying 2018 was "another golden year for gas".
But while the increased use of gas helped limit the growth in emissions, he said the trend underscores the urgency of emissions reductions.
"Despite major growth in renewables, global emissions are still rising, demonstrating once again that more urgent action is needed on all fronts — developing all clean energy solutions, curbing emissions, and spurring investments and innovation, including in carbon capture, utilisation and storage," Dr Birol said.

Coal use in power generation accounted for a third of the total increase in CO2 emissions last year (Photograph: Shutterstock)

Demand for fossil fuels met almost 70 per cent of the increased demand for all fuels for the second straight year. Although solar and wind generation expanded at double-digit pace – including a 31 per cent jump for solar – that was not enough to meet higher power demand that drove up the use of coal.
Global gas demand expanded at its fastest rate since 2010, up 4.6 per cent, driven by coal substitution, especially in China, where gas  use soared almost 18 per cent. Coal-to-gas switching avoided almost 60 million tonnes of coal demand, with the transition helping avert 95 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, the IEA said, calculating that without the switching, which was most significant in China and the US, emissions would have increased 15 per cent more.
Demand for oil increased 1.3 per cent, led by the expansion in petrochemicals in the US, while coal use was up 0.7 per cent and nuclear grew by 3.3 per cent thanks to new capacity in China and the restart of four reactors in Japan.
For the first time, the Paris-based IEA assessed the impact of fossil fuel use on global temperature increases and determined that CO2 emitted from burning coal was responsible for more than 0.3C of the 1C  increase in global average annual surface temperatures above pre-industrial levels.
This makes coal the single largest source of global temperature increase.
The global average annual concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere averaged 407.4 parts per million last year, up 2.4 ppm since 2017. This compares with pre-industrial levels of 180 to 280ppm.
Electricity demand grew at 4 per cent, the fastest since 2010 and almost double the rate of total energy demand, as electricity positions itself as the fuel of the future.
Australia was one of the few regions that saw a decline in electricity demand.

Links

• Global energy demand rose by 2.3% in 2018, its fastest pace in the last decade
• Global Energy & CO2 Status Report
• 2018 spike in energy demand spells climate trouble: IEA
• Carbon Emissions Hit a Record High
• Energy-related carbon emissions rose in US in 2018: study
• World's carbon emissions on the rise again: IEA
• Asia coal plants worrying for climate targets: IEA
• Australian Faces Free Trade Agreement Pressure To Cut Emissions
• Expanding Gas Mining Threatens Our Climate, Water And Health
• Scientists Slap Down Australia Government Over Fake Climate Claims
• Angus Taylor Again Falsely Claims Australia's Greenhouse Emissions Are Falling
• 'Woefully Inadequate': Morrison Government To Use Paris Climate Short-Cut