Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions increased in 2007 (U.S. Estimate)

2008-05-21 12:05 AM

Geo Energy Network
Chaguanas, TX
Posts: 39

From Oilweek Magazine: May 20, 2008

The U.S. Energy Department says carbon dioxide emissions increased by 1.6% in the United States last year. It blames most of the increase on residential and commercial energy use, adding that emissions from transportation and industrial sources were essentially flat compared with 2006. The department says most of the increase in residential and commercial use was a result of greater demand for heating and cooling because of the weather. Officials say emissions of carbon dioxide, the leading man-made greenhouse gas linked to global warming, declined in the United States in 2006, but that was also because of weather-related circumstances.

Source: http://www.oilweek.com/news.asp?ID=16159

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/flash/flash.html

http://debateclimatechange.talk-forums.com/other-climate-change-topics-f5/2007-estimate-us-carbon-dioxide-emissions-energy-sources-t11.htm

2008-05-21 02:13 PM

Geo Energy Network
Chaguanas, TX
Posts: 39

Energy & Pollution

The interesting point raised by these reports is that, while the debate continues as to whether the quantity of man-made emissions of CO2 have an effect on climate variations, the climate variations themselves definitely affect the amount of CO2 emissions. So, while greenhouse gases are often seen as the culprit for warmer weather, less greenhouse gases are actually emitted when the temperatures increase (lower demand for heating). So, does this mean that where there are variations in energy interchange that disrupt the "dynamic equilibrium" of the environment (at whatever scale), that the system (involving nature, humans and feedback between both) moves to counteract the changes by itself? That is actually asserted in principle by mainstream science (at least in relation to controlled-variable environments in laboratory chemistry). This is an aspect of the inter-relationships between climate and human activity that seem to be generally overlooked in the ongoing "media debate" on climate change / global warming.

However, this still seems counter-intuitive to some extent, as other side of this is that when average temperatures increase additional energy would be required for cooling systems, but apparently the number of "cooling days" does not affect the energy balance (at least in the US) to the same extent as the number of "heating days"...

2008-05-26 08:29 PM

Geo Energy Network
Chaguanas, TX
Posts: 39

Same for the EU...Industrial carbon emissions up in 2007

From: ENDS Europe Daily, 23 May 2008 –

Industrial carbon dioxide emissions grew slightly over 2007, the final year of the EU carbon trading scheme's three-year trial phase, official figures from the European commission have confirmed. The numbers back up preliminary findings that emerged last month. The amount of emissions reported by installations in the EU emission trading scheme (ETS) grew by 0.8 per cent compared with 2006. Corrected for changes in the number of installations in the ETS, the rise was 0.68 per cent. The commission said the figures represented a decoupling of emission growth from economic activity, since EU GDP grew by 2.8 per cent in 2007.

"Emissions would most likely have been significantly higher without the EU ETS," environment commissioner Stavros Dimas insisted. But the fact that emissions rose vindicated the commission's policy of tightening emission caps for the ETS's second phase, which began this year. The commission's move has led to a sustained increase in the price of carbon to well above �20 per tonne. In the trial phase the price collapsed to a handful of eurocents when it became clear that governments had allocated more allowances than were needed to cover emissions.

The data provided cover 24 of the EU's 27 states. Malta has no installations in the ETS while Romania and Bulgaria joined it only last year. German firms were by far the biggest overall emitters in the scheme's trial phase, followed by those in the UK, Italy and Poland. The records show that only 68 of over 11,000 installations failed to account for their emissions with enough carbon allowances in 2007. Failure to surrender enough allowances triggers heavy fines.

Source: http://www.wbcsd.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&ObjectId=MzAxNzg