Study shows power sector emissions fell 8 percent before COVID-19
Aided by declining coal generation, expanding renewable energy, and the spreading commonality of net-zero carbon emission goals, a new analysis from M. J. Bradley & Associates shows that power sector emissions were down 8 percent before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The authors of Benchmarking Air Emissions of the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in the United States demonstrated a growing move to decarbonize the industry, through examination of key air pollutant emissions. While carbon dioxide fell 8 percent between 2018 and 2019, other emissions saw even greater reductions without negatively impacting gross domestic product: nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide were down 14 and 23 percent, respectively.
Pulled into a larger picture, in the first 19 years of the current century, emissions decreased 28 percent even as GDP grew 45 percent. Renewables use has doubled, with zero carbon sources now making up 36 percent of U.S. electricity. Though a broad category, it is the second-leading source of power generation after natural gas.
By contrast, 14 years ago, even natural gas represented only 20 percent of the market, while coal dominated with 49 percent of power production.
“It is encouraging to see that our analysis shows a substantial drop in carbon emissions in 2019, particularly at a time when the economy was strong,” Dan Bakal, senior director of electric power at Ceres, said. “While experts expect an even more dramatic plunge in 2020 due, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be critical to ensure we continue the momentum in decarbonizing the power sector. Utilities should deploy zero-carbon resources and electrify other sectors in order to accelerate the pace of decarbonization as the economy recovers and energy demand increases.”
As of the report, nuclear made up 55 percent of zero-carbon resources, renewables 26 percent, and hydropower 19 percent. Wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass energy accounted for 9 percent of the nation’s electricity production in 2019 on their own. This is likely to build with the growing number of energy companies that have committed to cutting emissions by 2050. In the past two years alone, Southern Company, Xcel, Duke, Dominion, NRG, CMS, DTE, and APS have all made such commitments.
“We are on track to meeting our 2030 climate commitment by transforming our generation portfolio to cleaner resources and investing in our utility-owned nuclear facilities,” Mike Twomey, Entergy’s senior vice president of federal policy, regulatory and government affairs, said. “And we are uniquely positioned to partner with our customers on beneficial electrification opportunities, delivering sustainable, clean-energy solutions that benefit all our stakeholders.”
Entergy was among the collaborators on this analysis, which also included Ceres, Bank of America, Exelon, Tenaska, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
