Reducing transport emissions

The uptake of renewables and gas is slowly reducing electricity CO2 emissions — but transport emissions are on the rise, and negating some of those improvements.

So how can we tweak the transport system to make it more efficient?

Engineer Frank Szanto does the sums.

Listen to today Ockham’s Razor on Radio National - “Reducing transport emissions.”

World will blow through Two Degree CO2

On the low estimate for 1.5C degree change, the world is about 14 months away from using up the permitted CO2 emissions. On the low estimate for 2C degree change, the world is less than ten years away from using up the permitted CO2 emissions.

China added 5% more power generation in 2016. This was 240 TWh more to 5920 TWh. Almost half of this was coal or other fossil fuel power.

India, Africa and south Asia will be developing and many of them will depend upon coal power for their development.

Japan, Germany and many other developed nations are building more coal power. These are new plans for the 2020s or already happened a few years ago when the population freaked out about nuclear power. Nuclear power does not emit CO2. Under most assumptions a few life cycle analysis shows nuclear is about ten to twenty times less emitting than coal.

Read the Next Big Picture story - “World will blow through Two Degree CO2 and have to look at Geoengineering even if all electricity went solar and all cars are electric.”

Analysis: UK carbon emissions fell 6% in 2016 after record drop in coal use.

Carbon Brief analysis shows the UK’s CO2 emissions fell by 5.8% in 2016, after a record 52% drop in coal use.

The reduction would leave UK CO2 emissions some 36% below 1990 levels. The huge fall in CO2 from coal use in 2016 was partially offset by increased emissions from oil (up 1.6%) and gas (up 12.5%).

These findings are based on Carbon Brief analysis of Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) energy use figures. This analysis has proven to be accurate in previous years (see below). 

The department will publish its own CO2 estimates on 30 March.

Read the CarbonBrief story - “Analysis: UK carbon emissions fell 6% in 2016 after record drop in coal use.”

Carbon Emissions and Economic Growth: Production-based versus Consumption-based Evidence on Decoupling

The estimates for per capita CO2 emissions are truly comprehensive as these include all carbon emissions embodied in international trade and global commodity chains.

Even if we find evidence suggesting a decoupling of production-based CO2 emissions and growth, consumption- based CO2 emissions are monotonically increasing with per capita GDP.

We draw out the implications of these findings for climate policy and binding emission reduction obligations.

Read The Institute for New Economic Thinking story and download the report - “Carbon Emissions and Economic Growth: Production-based versus Consumption-based Evidence onDecoupling.”