BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 4. In the US, carbon dioxide emissions from energy use dropped by 4.1 percent (190 million tons) even as the economy grew by 2.5 percent, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said, Trend reports.
According to the agency, most of this emission cut came from the electricity sector. Last year, the US faced challenges in hydropower and wind generation. Hydropower fell by about 6 percent, and wind power faced a shortfall due to lower wind speeds, partly because of El Niño.
As the IEA pointed out, if wind conditions were like in 2022, the US could have avoided emitting 16 million tons of CO2 in 2023. Despite these issues, renewables in the electricity sector still reduced emissions by about 20 million tons. At the same time, if wind and hydro conditions were normal, renewables could have cut emissions by 40 million tons.
Meanwhile, the shift from coal to gas played the biggest role in reducing emissions in the US electricity sector. Lower gas prices and the retirement of coal-fired plants led to a nearly 20 percent drop in coal-generated electricity, while natural gas-generated electricity increased by 6 percent. The mild winter in 2023 also contributed to emissions reduction, with lower demand in residential and service sectors accounting for 35 percent of the total energy sector emissions decrease in the US.