In 2023, businesses in the top 10 polluting countries increase CO2 emissions to a record 24.5 billion tons when generating electricity. This is 2.5% more than in 2022. The top three are China, the US and India.
Such data was released in its report "Statistical Review of World Energy 2024" by the Energy Institute.
It is noted that more than 53% of all emissions last year in energy generation come from these three leaders in terms of pollution.
The top 10 countries that emit carbon dioxide during energy generation are shown in the diagram:
Source: Energy Institute
And here is how the level of CO2 emissions in each of these countries has fluctuated since the beginning of the millennium:
Source: Energy Institute
China's industry produced a record 11.2 billion tons of CO2. This is 642 million tons more than in 2022 and is the largest annual increase since 2011. Reason: the resumption of economic activity in the country after restrictions due to COVID-19 and the onset of a credit crisis in the construction sector. At the same time, the still low level of production of construction steel and cement will slow down the growth of emissions in 2024.
India also updated its maximum CO2 emissions. Their annual volume increased by 8%, which is equivalent to 219 million tons, and reached 2.8 billion tons. Emissions will continue to rise for several years, as more than 75% of the country's electricity is generated from coal. A decline can only be predicted when India accelerates the pace of building renewable energy capacity.
In the United States, annual CO2 emissions from industry fell by 158.5 million tons to 4.64 billion tons. This is due to the simultaneous very rapid deployment of renewable energy capacity and the reduction in coal-fired power generation. Experts expect the US to achieve additional emissions reductions in the industrial sector by the end of this decade.
Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran showed traditional growth in CO2 emissions in 2023 – at the level of 1.6 billion tons, 620.4 million tons, 683.6 million tons, respectively.
The 10 countries that have seen the largest changes in the amount of CO2 generated from energy production in 2023 can be seen below:
Source: Energy Institute
Previously, EcoPolitic wrote that according to the forecasts of the International Energy Agency, the share of fossil fuels in global generation will decrease from 61% in 2023 to 54% in 2026.
Global coal consumption has reached an all-time high thanks to China and India.
EcoPolitic also told about 5 trends for the global electricity and renewable energy markets.
