Decrease in carbon dioxide emissions by 1.3% in the European Union

Global emissions of carbon dioxide may be the first signs of a slowdown in growth rate. According to a new global report, emission rate in 2012 increased to more than half of the average of the last decade.

Some of the key factors may be represented by the use of shale gas in the US, while China increased hydraulic energy use by 23%. However, the use of cheap coal continues to be a problem, even in the UK.

Report on the global emissions of carbon dioxide, show that they have reached a new record in 2012, 1,4% growth rate of CO2. The main emissions, 55% of the global total, were in China, the United States and the European Union, followed by India, Russia and Japan. Even if China's emissions increased by 3%, there has been a significant slowdown in growth compared to the average of 10% from previous years.

Other major decline was registered in the European Union, where emissions declined by 1.3%.  Significant reductions were able to highlight in Italy, Poland, Spain and the Netherlands, while carbon dioxide emissions have increased in the UK and Germany.

In the US, a shift from coal to natural gas in power generation, led to a 12% reduction in coal consumption, while renewable energy, especially wind power and bioenergy has increased in previous year.

In the EU CO2 reduction is mainly due to reduction of oil and natural gas consumption by 4% and 2%, reduction of road and air transport and 2% decrease in emissions from electric centratele.

View the full report: http://www.pbl.nl/sites/default/files/cms/publicaties/pbl-2013-trends-in-global-co2-emissions-2013-report-1148.pdf