US power sector sees record decrease in carbon emissions in 2020

According to a new report, the U.S. power sector saw the largest annual decrease in carbon dioxide emissions ever in 2020.

Carbon dioxide emissions fell 10 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, the largest year-over-year decrease since the Benchmarking Air Emissions of the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in the United States report was first released in 1997. This is the 17th edition of the report.

While the coronavirus pandemic was likely a contributing factor, there has been a long-term trend in the reduction of carbon emissions due to increased renewable generation and coal-to-gas transitions. Specifically, the report showed that the share of power produced by non-hydro renewables jumped 20 percent from 2019 levels while the share from coal decreased by roughly 17 percent.

“Industry-wide, the pace of decarbonization is picking up, and as renewables come online to displace fossil fuels, we have the opportunity to accelerate that trend,” Dan Bakal, senior director for electric power at Ceres, a nonprofit advocacy and research organization that helped conduct the survey, said. “The growth in renewables has allowed us to separate economic growth from emissions, and this year represents one of the most dramatic decoupling points that we have seen.”

The report found that natural gas was the leading source of electricity generation in the United States for the fifth straight year. It generated 40 percent of electric power, followed by nuclear at 20 percent and non-hydro renewables at 11 percent. Of that renewables total, 20 percent came from solar, 76 percent came from wind, and 4 percent came from geothermal sources. Overall, zero-carbon power resources produced 38 percent of all power in the United States in 2020 — an all-time high. Zero-carbon power increased 6 percent as a share of total production in 2020 compared to 2019.

“As we enter our third decade of voluntary emission reduction commitments, Entergy takes pride in its leadership of the electric utility industry’s clean energy transformation while recognizing the work we still must do,” John Weiss, Entergy’s vice president of sustainability and environmental policy, said. “We are focused as an organization on reducing the carbon footprint of our power generation portfolio, both by ensuring the continued, safe operation of our carbon-free nuclear fleet and significantly expanding our renewable generation assets. At the same time, we’re working aggressively to accelerate beneficial electrification of other sectors through innovative cross-industry partnerships.”

Ceres conducted the analysis in partnership with Bank of America, power producers Entergy and Exelon, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. It is authored by M. J. Bradley & Associates.

“The Benchmarking Air Emission report is an important measure of the progress we have made in addressing climate change by maintaining investment in renewable energy and existing carbon-free nuclear resources,” said Kathleen Barron, Exelon’s executive vice president of government and regulatory affairs and public policy. “As the nation’s largest producer of zero-emission electricity, we believe it’s critical that policymakers and power companies work together to ensure that competitive power markets recognize the value of new and existing clean energy sources that are essential to addressing the climate crisis and reducing the health impacts of air pollution, which disproportionately affect underserved communities.”

The analysis examines key air pollutant emissions from the 100 largest U.S. power producers, including nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide (CO2), and mercury. Since 1990, power plant SO2 and NOx emissions are 95 percent and 88 percent lower, respectively, while power plant mercury air emissions have decreased 92 percent since 2000.

Also, it found that between 2000 and 2020, power sector CO2 emissions decreased 37 percent while GDP grew 40 percent. During that same period, generation from non-hydro renewables more than doubled.