Carbon emissions hit record high in 2018
Carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels hit a record high in 2018 as energy demand grew at its fastest pace in a decade (+2.3%).
According to findings from the International Energy Agency, higher consumption of oil in the US and increased coal use in China and India meant the global community was set to miss the targets for cutting emissions agreed three years ago as part of the Paris Agreement.
The U.S. increased its use of oil products by 540,000 barrels a day, with demand growth outstripping that in all other countries for the first time in 20 years.
This pushed global emissions of carbon dioxide to a record high of 33bn tonnes in 2018, up 1.7% from the previous year.
But coal was the “single largest source of global temperature increase”, the IEA said, accounting for about 0.3C of the 1C of warming that the world has experienced since pre-industrial times.
Fatih Birol, the head of the IEA, said the rise in energy demand was “exceptional” and a “surprise for many”.
“We have seen an extraordinary increase in global energy demand in 2018, growing at its fastest pace this decade,” he said. “Looking at the global economy in 2019, it will be rather a surprise to see the same level of growth as 2018.”
It was the second consecutive year of rising emissions, after a period of relative stability between 2014 and 2016.
Renewable power also grew last year by 7%, but could not keep up with demand yet.
“In 2018, the growth from wind and solar met only 45% of global electricity demand growth,” said Birol. “So renewable growth is not keeping pace with the electrification of our society.”
Last October, a report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that only a dozen years were left for the world to ensure that global warming was kept to a maximum of 1.5C, beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.
The IPCC said there were ways to achieve 1.5C, recommending different combinations of land use and technological innovation.
Carbon pollution needed to be cut by 45% by 2030 and reduced to zero by 2050, compared with 2075 for 2C. This would require carbon prices that are three to four times higher than for a 2C target but any price was little when measured against the need to save the world from the humanitarian crisis it will face otherwise.