Engineers from Carnegie Mellon University’s Scott Institute for Energy Innovation have compiled carbon emissions for the U.S. electric power sector for the second quarter (Q2) of 2019 as part of the CMU Power Sector Carbon Index.
Engineers from Carnegie Mellon University’s Scott Institute for Energy Innovation have compiled carbon emissions for the U.S. electric power sector for the second quarter (Q2) of 2019 as part of the CMU Power Sector Carbon Index. The index tracks carbon emissions and electricity generation over time and by energy source. Compared to Q2 of 2018, total U.S. power generation fell by 4% in Q2 of 2019, and the carbon intensity of the sector, measured in pounds of CO2 emissions per megawatt-hour, dropped by 9%.
“The U.S. electricity sector is continuing to get cleaner, and both carbon intensity and overall emissions are dropping,” said Costa Samaras assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and Power Sector Carbon Index co-director.
Coal generation in 2019 Q2 is down 19% compared to just a year ago. After being the dominant source of power production in the U.S. for most of the electric age, coal has been on a steady decline for the past decade. In 2016, natural gas replaced coal as the largest source of electricity, a trend which has continued since. Burning natural gas produces only about half of the direct CO2 emissions that coal does, per unit of energy generated. In 2019 Q2, power generation from coal provided 21% of the nation’s electricity, while natural gas provided 36%.
Read more at College of Engineering - Carnegie Mellon University
Image: U.S. power sector carbon emissions intensity. CREDIT: College of Engineering - Carnegie Mellon University
