US energy-related CO2 emissions up 1.6% in 2007

20 May 2008 23:51  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Overall US carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the burning of fossil fuels increased by 1.6% to 5.984bn tonnes in 2007 from 5.888bn tonnes in 2006, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday.

But given that gross domestic product grew by 2.2% and energy demand rose by 1.7%, the data indicate that the US economy's energy intensity fell by 0.5% and its CO2 intensity also fell by about 0.5%, the EIA said.

In the industrial sector, which includes chemical producers and petroleum refiners, CO2 emissions fell by 0.1% in 2007 in a continuation of a downward trend seen since 2004, the EIA said.

The EIA data did not include any estimate of the energy intensity or emissions intensity of the chemical sector.

"We really don't have a lot of sophisticated analysis at this point," EIA spokesman Perry Lindstrom said.

Factors that drove the total US emissions increase included weather conditions that increased the demand for heating and cooling, and a higher carbon intensity of electricity supply due to reduced hydro-electricity generation, the EIA said.

Energy-related CO2 emissions account for more than 80% of US greenhouse gas emissions, the agency said.

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