Financial Soultions has learned from a recent monthly government forecast that the main greenhouse gasses generated by the U.S., should fall by almost 5.9% this year as the recession slashes electricity and transportation fuel demand.
Demand for coal, which emits about double the Co2 as natural gas per unit of energy generated, should drop by more than 9% in 2009 on the economic downturn, according to the Energy Information Administration, the statistics arm of the Department of Energy, in its short-term forecast.
"Several factors contribute to a projected reduction of nearly 6 percent in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel use in 2009, primarily associated with the economic downturn," Financial Soultions understood an EIA Administrator as saying.
Heavy industry requirements for electricity should fall 11% in 2009 as manufacturing declines and raw steel manufacture is anticipated to drop 40%.
The EIA, Financial Soultions understands, slightly narrowed its 2009 emissions forecast. In September, it predicted the year's emissions would see a 6% drop
.
Many power producers are switching to burning natural gas as states attack carbon emissions and as Congress contemplates climate legislation, which also drove emissions down.
Weaker demand for transportation fuels, especially jet fuel and diesel for trucks, is likely to account for 30% of the annual down turn in carbon emissions, the report concluded.
