(Credit: Pixabay)Power plant carbon emissions were 34% lower last year than they were at their peak and zero-carbon energy generation represented 40% of all power in the United States, according to a report from Ceres.
Carbon dioxide emissions in the nation’s power sector did rise by 7% in 2021, but that was coming off of a 2020 where they dropped by a one-year record of 10%. The increase in emissions last year shows that the industry still has room to improve and should use energy incentives included from tools like the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, Ceres says.
Overall, zero-carbon energy generation includes renewable energy, hydropower, and nuclear power, according to the report, and the 2021 production hit an all-time high. Ceres says those methods will continue to grow, and electric power will continue to account for a significant share of energy consumption as industries like transportation electrify as well as a focus on a clean power grid becomes a pathway to net-zero.
The incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act, which include nearly $370 billion toward energy programs, will also keep clean energy methods at the forefront, including nuclear power, Ceres says. California recently agreed to keep its remaining nuclear power plant operational as part of a sweeping range of energy and sustainability bills as well as a power crunch due to an extreme heat wave. Nuclear power accounts for about 19% of US energy generation.
The Ceres report says renewable energy generation increased by one percentage point between 2020 and 2021. That needs to be 3% to 4% each year to hit the nation’s emissions reduction targets, which are 40% by 2030 based on 2005 levels.
Despite the increase in clean and renewable power generation, the Ceres report finds that coal generation increased by 16% in 2021 from the year before, and natural gas production fell by 3%. Those figures are the main contributors to the increase in emissions last year. Still, coal power production has been cut by about half of what it was in 2011.
The report analyzed emissions from the 100 largest US power producers. It used publicly reported emissions data from the Energy Information Administration and the EPA. According to the EIA, electric power generation accounted for about 32% of the US’s energy-related carbon emissions in 2021. Coal accounted for 59% of that and natural gas 40%.
The 100 largest power producers accounted for more than 80% of the industry’s total power generation and reported emissions, Ceres says. Those figures come from nearly 3,500 power plants.
Ninety of those power producers generated energy from zero-carbon resources in 2020. Of the non-hydro renewables, 68% came from wind, 29% from solar, and 3% from geothermal sources.
Geothermal energy was recently singled out for a program by the Department of Energy to lower costs and advance technology to increase its use. The DOE says more than 5 terawatts of heat resources exist in the US and tapping into that potential could play a key role in hitting net-zero targets.
The Ceres report also says sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide power plant emissions were 94% and 88% lower, respectively, in 2020 than they were in 1990.
