In what could lift the mood of negotiators at the Paris climate summit, scientists have found that carbon emissions are set to decline this year. So you might think that if you gave plants more Carbon dioxide to work with, the way we’re doing by pumping emissions into the air, it would enhance plant growth – which, in turn, would enable plants to absorb more of the greenhouse gas.
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According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, there was indeed a drop in coal consumption in 2014 by coal based industries in China among steel, cement, and fertilizer factories, resulting in overall coal production dropping dramatically.
“Decreased coal use in China was largely responsible for the decline in global Carbon dioxide emissions”, said Corinne Le Quere of the University of East Anglia in the UK.
Jackson further added that during the times of economic recession Carbon dioxide emissions have slowed down. For 2015, scientists estimate that carbon emissions would range between an increase of 0.5% to a decline of 1.6%.
While renewable energy technology will play an increasingly important role in reducing fossil fuel emissions, the GCP report looks at future emissions pathways that could keep the global average temperature increase below two degrees Celsius this century.
China was still the world’s biggest emitter last year, releasing 9.7 billion tonnes of Carbon dioxide but its emissions growth is expected to decline in 2015 by 3.9 percent after rising by 1.2 percent last year and 6.7 percent a year for the previous decade, the report said.
“Reaching zero emissions will require long-term commitments from countries attending the climate meeting in Paris this week and beyond”, concluded Jackson.
“China is trying to deal massively with its air pollution problem”, Dr. Le Quéré said in the news release.
“Whether a slower growth in emissions will be sustained depends on the use of coal in China and elsewhere, and where new sources of energy will come from”, said Pep Canadell of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
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Lead author and Stanford University’s professor Rob Jackson said, “If India’s emissions continue under the current trend, they will match the EU’s emissions before 2020”.
