From the Financial Post


"Posthaste: Note to natural gas skeptics — it played a major role in curbing global carbon emissions last yearBY YADULLAH HUSSAIN

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: FEB 11, 2020

Switch from dirty coal to natural gas helped the world cut emissions.Spencer Platt/Getty Images


Good Morning!

Well, this was unexpected. Global carbon dioxide emissions flatlined last year as governments across the world embarked on an ambitious energy transition, according to latest data from the International Energy Agency.

"“After two years of growth, global emissions were unchanged at 33 gigatonnes in 2019 even as the world economy expanded by 2.9 per cent,” the Paris-based energy watchdog declared in press release this morning.

The agency, which advises mostly oil and gas importing countries on energy issues, attributed the flat growth to the greater role of renewable sources in power generation, fuel switching from coal to natural gas, and higher nuclear power generation. Other factors included milder weather in several countries, and slower economic growth in some emerging markets, the IEA said.

“We now need to work hard to make sure that 2019 is remembered as a definitive peak in global emissions, not just another pause in growth,” according to Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director. “We have the energy technologies to do this, and we have to make use of them all.”

Advanced economies led the declines, with the United States posting the largest emissions’ contraction on a country basis, with a fall of 140 million tonnes, or 2.9 per cent lower. The European Union also saw a 5 per cent decline, while Japan saw a 4 per cent drop. Coal-fired power generation in advanced economies fell by nearly 15 per cent as a result of growth in renewables, coal-to-gas switching, a rise in nuclear power and weaker electricity demand.


Canada’s carbon emissions were not available in the press release.

However, in the rest of the world, emissions grew by 400 million tonnes last year, with 80 per cent emitting from coal-addicted Asia.

While this is no time for advanced economies to rest on their laurels, the data suggests that emerging economies will have to play a greater role in reducing carbon emissions, given that majority of the higher carbon emissions are originating from developing economies.

The new data comes at a crucial time as Canadians are fighting over a gas pipeline export project in B.C., that is expected to help Asian countries switch from coal to natural gas. One reason why the EU was able to cut its emissions is that natural gas produced more electricity than coal for the first time ever in the economic bloc. The Asian economies can do the same, with a little help from Canada’s vast natural gas reserves — if the government, Indigenous groups and the industry can find a way."



https://business.financialpost.com/executive/posthaste-global-carbon-emissions-may-have-peaked-in-2019-and-natural-gas-played-a-big-role-in-curbing-them-says-energy-watchdog