Carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector declined in 2019

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions produced by the U.S. energy industry declined in 2019, led by sharp drops in the power sector.

CO2 emissions fell by 2.8 percent last year to 5,130 million metric tons (MMmt), according to data in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Monthly Energy Review. It had increased the previous year by 2.9 percent in 2018, the only annual increase in the past five years.

EIA points out that energy-related CO2 emissions fell more than energy consumption, which declined by 0.9 percent last year.

Most of the declines came in the power sector, where emissions fell by 145 million metric tons – the second-largest decline on record for any sector. Total net electricity generation fell by 1.5 percent last year, but power sector CO2 emissions fell by much more than that, 8 percent. This decline is primarily due to increases from renewable sources such as wind and solar.

CO2 emissions from coal fell by 14.6 percent, the largest annual percentage drop in any fuel’s CO2 emissions since EIA began tracking this information in 1973. CO2 from petroleum fuels — nearly half of which are associated with motor gasoline consumption — fell by 0.8 percent, while carbon emissions from the use of natural gas increased by 3.3 percent. Currently, the United States emits less CO2 from coal than from motor gasoline.