Carbon dioxide emissions predicted to plunge 8 percent this year

By MiNDFOOD

Carbon dioxide emissions predicted to plunge 8 percent this year
A new report has revealed global carbon dioxide emissions could decline by a record 8 percent this year amid the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has stated in its Global Energy Review that the pandemic represents the biggest shock to the global energy system in more than seven decades.

“This is a historic shock to the entire energy world. Amid today’s unparalleled health and economic crises, the plunge in demand for nearly all major fuels is staggering, especially for coal, oil and gas,” said Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA Executive Director.

“Only renewables are holding up during the previously unheard-of slump in electricity use.

“It is still too early to determine the longer-term impacts, but the energy industry that emerges from this crisis will be significantly different from the one that came before.”

The drop in emissions will likely be six times larger than the previous record reduction, which was in 2009 following the global financial crisis.

“Resulting from premature deaths and economic trauma around the world, the historic decline in global emissions is absolutely nothing to cheer,” said Birol.

“And if the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis is anything to go by, we are likely to soon see a sharp rebound in emissions as economic conditions improve.

“But governments can learn from that experience by putting clean energy technologies – renewables, efficiency, batteries, hydrogen and carbon capture – at the heart of their plans for economic recovery.

“Investing in those areas can create jobs, make economies more competitive and steer the world towards a more resilient and cleaner energy future.”

Based on an analysis of more than 100 days of real data so far this year, the IEA’s review includes estimates for how energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions trends are likely to evolve over the rest of 2020.

The report’s projections of energy demand and energy-related emissions for 2020 are based on assumptions that the lockdowns implemented around the world in response to the pandemic are progressively eased in most countries in the coming months.

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