Global CO2 _emissions set a new record in 2021

Polluting carbon dioxide (_CO2) emissions reached a new world record in 2021, at 36.3 billion tonnes, due to the increased use of coal in a global economy recovering from the pandemic slump, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced.

The 2021 increase, estimated at 2 billion tonnes (up 6%), is also the largest recorded in history in absolute terms, the agency said in a statement.

The recovery of the global economy after the shock of the pandemic in 2020 was joined by adverse weather conditions (such as droughts that reduced hydroelectric production) or adverse conditions in energy markets (especially abnormally high natural gas prices), he added.

All this caused many countries to increase the use of coal for power generation, which triggered _CO2 emissions despite the fact that the installation of renewable energy registered its highest annual growth, the IEA said, based on a detailed study at the global level.

Coal accounted for 40% of the increase in global _CO2 emissions in 2021, to 15.3 billion tonnes.

Emissions from natural gas amounted to 7.5 billion tonnes, exceeding their 2019 levels, while those from oil and its derivatives were 10.7 billion tonnes, below their pre-pandemic levels due to transport not recovering in 2021 due to new waves of coronavirus.

Despite the increase in the use of coal, renewables generated more electricity in 2021, with a total of 8,000 TWh and an increase of 500 TWh since 2020.

The consumption of coal to produce electricity increased due to record natural gas prices in international markets.

China, the only economy to record economic growth in 2020 and 2021, increased its emissions by 750 million tons of _CO2 between 2019 and 2021, mostly due to the increased use of coal for electricity production.

The increase in electricity demand in China was 10% in 2021, higher than the economic growth of 8.4%.

India, the second most populous country in the world, saw its _CO2 emissions increase in 2021 to exceed the level of 2019, mainly due to the increase in coal in electricity generation.

On the other hand, the most advanced economies registered an opposite trend: US emissions were 4% lower than their pre-pandemic level in 2019 in 2021, while in the European Union they were 2.4% lower.

Source: El Mundo