If the world’s major nations fail to enact significant changes in energy and climate policies, global carbon dioxide emissions will increase 43 percent by 2035, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA). In its annual long-term energy outlook, the EIA projected that global emissions from burning fossil fuels would grow from 29 billion tons in 2007 to 42 billion tons in 2035. The EIA said that most of the increase in greenhouse gas emissions will come from developing economies such as China, India, and Brazil, whose energy consumption is expected to nearly double in the next 25 years. The agency, part of the U.S. Department of Energy, presents a skeptical outlook for clean energy technologies, except for hydroelectric power and wind. “Except for those two sources,” the EIA report said, “most new renewable generation technologies are not economically competitive with fossil fuels over the projection period.” Clean energy advocates sharply criticized the EIA projection, saying it did not give sufficient weight to renewable energy technologies like solar power.
Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.
photo: tracyyxx
