2007-2013 Renewable Energy Boosts U.S. Emissions by 2.3%-3.3%

The latest research by Bloomberg New Energy BNEF Financial and Environmental Protection Fund shows that the US power industry reduced emissions by 10% from 2007 to 2013, and the impact of renewable energy on US power industry emissions cannot be ignored
.
In its 2018 U.
S.
Sustainable Energy report, BNEF concluded for the first time that renewable energy generation did more to reduce emissions from the power sector than natural gas in 2017
.

No one disputes that the U.
S.
economy's power generation sector emits fewer
carbon today than it did a decade ago.
People argue about why this is the case
.
If fossil fuel advocates are listened to, it's because utility utilities rely more on natural gas than coal
.
This is, of course, true
.
But a minority recognizes that the dramatic increase in renewable energy generation is as important to reducing CO2 emissions as
natural gas.

The power generation sector, which used to be the single largest source of carbon emissions in the United States, now lags behind the transportation sector and ranks second
.
Overall, total U.
S.
emissions are lower
than they have been since 1991.
But to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement, reducing emissions is not enough
.
In fact, the world must find a way to stop all carbon emissions and develop a plan to remove much of the carbon dioxide
that has migrated into the atmosphere over the past century.

The EPF EDF study used data that statisticians call disaggregation analysis to look at several factors, including total energy demand, the share of natural gas in the fossil fuel mix, and the share of
renewables and nuclear energy in total energy production.
While conventional wisdom holds that lower emissions from the power sector are due to reduced economic activity, EDF folks have slightly different
views after the 2007 economic crisis and the influx of cheap natural gas.
"Those .
.
.
Experts have mostly overlooked another key factor: the parallel growth
of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
”

Data show that between 2007 and 2013, renewable energy reduced total carbon dioxide emissions by 2.
3% to 3.
3%.

That's about the
same as the 2.
5 to 3.
6 percent switch from coal to natural gas.
Over the same period, nuclear energy also contributed to a 0.
6-1.
5%
reduction in carbon emissions.

"As the cost of renewables continues to fall, their role in reducing CO2 emissions is becoming increasingly important
," the researchers said.
”