14 DAY TRIAL // The Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced on Wednesday that new estimates placed the amounts of CO2 that the United States would emit by 2030 below the previously-estimated level of 6,851 billion metric tons. According to the new numbers, the nation will most likely emit somewhere around 6.410 billion metric tons, although the predictions constantly change, due to the unstable state of the global economy.
The first predictions were made a while back, when the energy demand was very high, due to the fact that the price of oil was low. Now, when people cannot afford to buy large quantities of fuel for their cars, the energy demand is lower, which means that the fossil fuel-powered electrical plants do not have to produce above their normal levels. This, in turn, means that the levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere will slightly decrease, which is very good news for the environment.
"Efficiency policies and higher energy prices slow the rise in U.S. energy use. When combined with the increased use of renewables and a reduction in the projected additions of new coal-fired conventional power plants, this slows the growth in energy-related CO2 emissions," says the EIA report.
Also, the new report took into account the fact that renewable energy sources would start accounting for more and more percentages of the total national output by that time, as would the regulations that president-elect Barack Obama sought to impose on the US, which would reduce emissions by 20 percent until 2020, and by a further 80 percent by 2050.
The study also provided insight into how coal power plants would evolve over the next two decades, saying that the share of the aforementioned energy source on the national power-generating capabilities would decrease from the 49 percent levels it had in 2007 to 45 percent in 2025. It will then climb a bit, to 45 percent, by 2030, as the agency says new coal plants will be constructed across the US.