EIA data shows ongoing trend of rising CO2 emissions from energy consumption after several years of decreases
The September 2014 Monthly Energy Review (MER) published on Friday by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has provided more data to support a trend in rising CO2 in the US that began in 2013.
In 2012, according to the EIA, carbon dioxide emissions from energy consumption (in million metric tons of carbon dioxide) dropped to 5,267 MMT, the lowest level since 1990 (5,039 MMT). However, in 2013, CO2 emissions from energy consumption climbed to 5,396 MMT. In the September MER, the 6-month total (January to June) for 2014 registers 2,737 MMT—up from the 2013 January-June total of 2,664 MMT and the 2012 January-June total of 2,583 MMT.
Transportation sector energy consumption for the first six months of 2014 was 13,348 trillion Btu, according to the September MER—compared to 13,240 trillion Btu for the same period in 2013, and 13,288 for the same period in 2012.
Accordingly, transportation sector CO2 emissions during the 6-month period in 2014 were 903 MMT, compared to 897 MMT for the same period in 2013, and 903 MMT for the same period in 2012.
After holding for the preceding two years (during the six-month period) at 540 MMT, CO2 emissions from the consumption of motor gasoline (excluding ethanol) rose to 542 MMT during the period in 2014.
CO2 emissions from the consumption of distillate fuel oil (excluding biodiesel), which had risen slightly during the first six months of 2013 to 206 MMT from 205 MMT the previous year, rose to 213 MMT during the first six months of 2014.
