Daily Energy Report
US CO2 emissions, Extreme hurricane season, Aramco crude price for Asia, Qatar orders LNG carriers, US nuclear revival, Solar cuts into farmland, Copper price, and more
Chart of the Day:
Chart of the Day:
EIA: US Energy-Related CO2 Emissions Decreased by 3% in 2023
Summary
US CO2 emissions decreased by 3% in 2023 according to the EIA. More than 80% of the reduction happened in the power sector as utilities switched from coal to natural gas and renewables. Emissions of the power sector decreased by 7% in 2023, year-on-year.
EOA’s Main Takeaway
We highlighted these points and predicted this decline on April 9.
Here is what we wrote then:
“Those who are celebrating the decline of coal as an environmental win and how government policies can be used to fight climate change must awaken to two realities:
While no one can deny that strict government policies forced utilities to close certain coal-fired power plants, it was the abundance of cheap gas that played the bigger role.
As the US reduced its use of coal in power plants, it exported coal to the rest of the world. Those who cheer the closure of US coal-fired power plants cannot reasonably invoke the fight against climate change while that coal is being burned somewhere else. Figure (2) below shows the increase in coal exports and how demand within the US declined.”
Now we add two more points:
The EIA report did not highlight the role of natural gas in reducing emissions in a way that is commensurate with its role: the additional generation for solar and wind was 400,154 while the additional generation from natural gas was 675,823, as shown in Figure (3) below. Remember, wind and solar were subsidized. Gas was not!
It remains to be seen what the energy mix and emissions of the US power sector will look like with high economic growth and/or high natural gas prices. Our prediction is that the power sector will return to coal as we have seen in the past.
Story of the Day
CSU: Extremely Active Hurricane Season in the Atlantic
Summary
Experts at Colorado State University, some for the foremost authorities on hurricanes, predict an “extremely active hurricane season” in the Atlantic with 23 named storms. How high is 23? Well, the 30-year average between 1991 and 2020 was only 14.4 as shown in Table (1):
