U.S. Carbon Dioxide Output to Climb 3.6% This Year, 0.4% in 2011, EIA Says
U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from energy use will climb 3.6 percent this year, according to a forecast by the Energy Information Administration.
Carbon dioxide produced from burning coal, oil and natural gas will rise 0.4 percent in 2011 from 2010 levels, the EIA said in its September Short-Term Energy Outlook.
Carbon dioxide emissions are likely to increase this year due to “forecasted economic growth combined with increased use of coal and natural gas,” according to the EIA.
Carbon dioxide output from burning coal is likely to rise 6.8 percent this year, mostly because of higher demand from power plants, the EIA said. Carbon dioxide from natural gas consumption should climb 4.3 percent this year on higher demand from power plants and factories.
Emissions in 2011 will probably climb because of higher energy demand from factories and greater demand for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel in the transportation sector, the EIA said. Last month, the EIA predicted a 3.4 percent increase in carbon dioxide emissions this year and a 0.8 percent rise in 2011.
The 2011 forecast increase was cut in half partly because summer temperatures next year are predicted to be “milder” than they were in 2010, reducing demand for electricity from power plants, the EIA said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Simon Lomax in Washington at slomax@bloomberg.net
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