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Why This Matters: Looking at the details, CO2 emissions from developed nations remain roughly steady, decreasing by only -.2% annually for the next 30 years, while in developing countries CO2 emissions are expected to grow 1% a year. Countries outside the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are growing in key respects — they collectively have more population, a larger gross domestic product, more energy consumption, and because of the type of energy used, higher energy-related CO2 emissions. In addition, they estimate that renewables share of electricity consumption will rise from 28% in 2018 to 49% worldwide in 2050, with most of the growth in solar. But this does not appear to factor in major changes in policy such as carbon pricing and other incentives to reduce CO2 and increase the share of renewables providing electricity.
The carbon dioxide increases will occur in the developing world unless we change the fuel mix quickly. Relatively developed economies collectively have no emissions growth, so all of the future growth in energy-related CO2 emissions is among the group of countries outside the OECD — and the growth in emissions is spread among coal, liquid petroleum, and natural gas — with natural gas emissions increasing the most.
“As non-OECD countries continue to grow, so does their demand for air conditioning, electronics, personal vehicles, and other energy services. These countries also have relatively energy-intensive industries, primarily because energy-intensive industrial processes often shift to non-OECD countries. Energy consumption in non-OECD countries increases by 1.6% per year from 2018 to 2050, and energy-related CO2 emissions increase by 1.0% per year.”
By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer Cities across the US are transitioning their buildings to clean energy, which would mean banning natural gas in new construction and promoting electric appliances. But the question remains whether or not infrastructure — foundational and historic — is ready to handle such a demand for electricity. Why this […]
As more people around the nation are taking to the roads and skies for their vaccinated vacations, one car rental company is making it easier for folks to not only travel in style, but travel green. Hertz has announced that it will be purchasing 100,000 Tesla electric vehicles by the end of 2022 alongside an […]
By Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer Last year, the average American household experienced eight hours without power, as storms hammered electrical systems built with less erratic climate conditions in mind. That average outage time is double what it was five years ago. But only looking at the average obscures the experience of people who lived […]
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