Slide 29 of 30
- Carbon emissions in the United States have risen at an average annual rate of 0.8 percent during the past 25 years.
- U.S. carbon emissions are the product of : (1) demand for energy services; (2) end-use energy efficiency; (3) energy transformation efficiency; and (4) the choice of fuels used.
- The use of energy services has tended to track the growth of the U.S. economy. But, emissions have grown much more slowly than the U.S. economy or even energy consumption, because of the increases in energy efficiency and large-scale fuel switching.
- Periods of declining emissions have tended to coincide with periods of prolonged higher energy prices.
- In the 1990's, with real energy prices at lower levels than previous decades and further fuel switching of marginal importance, energy consumption and emissions track economic growth much more closely than in the preceding two decades.
- The carbon emissions range between 5 and 6 metric tons per person per year.
Source: For 1990 - 1997, Energy Information Administration, Emissions of Greenhouses Gases in the United States 1997, DOE/EIA-0573(97). (Washington, DC, report in preparation). For other years, EIA estimates based on unpublished analysis.
