EU: decrease of CO2 emissions in 2020

Eurostat estimates that in 2020, the year when COVID-19 containment measures were widely introduced by the EU Member States, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel combustion (mainly oil and oil products, coal, peat and natural gas) significantly decreased by 10% in the EU compared with the previous year. CO2 emissions from energy use are a major contributor to global warming and account for some 75% of all man-made EU greenhouse gas emissions. They are influenced by factors such as climate conditions (e.g. cold / long winter or hot summer), economic growth, size of the population, transport and industrial activities.

CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are generated in the country where the fuels are burned for purposes such as electricity generation, transport, steel production etc. Consequently, imports and exports of energy products have an impact: for example, if coal is imported for electricity generation this leads to an increase in emissions in the importing country, while if electricity as such is imported, it has no effect on emissions in the importing country, as these emissions would be reported in the exporting country where the electricity has been produced.

Biggest decreases in CO2 emissions from energy use in Greece and Estonia, lowest in Malta and Hungary

According to Eurostat estimates, emissions fell in 2020 in all EU Member States, with the largest decrease in Greece (-18.7%), followed by Estonia (-18.1%), Luxembourg (-17.9%), Spain (-16.2%) and Denmark (-14.8%). The lowest decreases were seen in Malta (-1.0%), Hungary (-1.7%), Ireland and Lithuania (both -2.6%).

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-eurostat-news/-/ddn-20210507-1?redirect=%2Feurostat%2Fen%2Fweb%2Fproducts-eurostat-news

The underestimated role of methane in global warming

Studies show that methane has a higher impact on global warming than CO2:

"Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important, most cited and best known greenhouse gas. But in global warming, another greenhouse gas plays a considerable role, methane (CH4). If it stays in the atmosphere for much less time than C02, ten years against at least a century, its "warming power" is 28 times higher than that of carbon dioxide. About a quarter of human-caused climate change is believed to come from methane emissions. A study published in the past few days in both the Nature and Science journals shows that the importance of methane has been largely underestimated."

https://www.transitionsenergies.com/methane-rechauffement-sous-estime/ 

See also additional information concerning this topic in this article of MIT News. An MIT research team assessed the extent and the impact of natural gas, i.e. methane, leaks.

"Natural gas, which is mostly methane, is viewed as a significant “bridge fuel” to help the world move away from the greenhouse gas emissions of fossil fuels, since burning natural gas for electricity produces about half as much carbon dioxide as burning coal. But methane is itself a potent greenhouse gas, and it currently leaks from production wells, storage tanks, pipelines, and urban distribution pipes for natural gas. Increasing its usage, as a strategy for decarbonizing the electricity supply, will also increase the potential for such “fugitive” methane emissions, although there is great uncertainty about how much to expect. Recent studies have documented the difficulty in even measuring today’s emissions levels.

This uncertainty adds to the difficulty of assessing natural gas’ role as a bridge to a net-zero-carbon energy system, and in knowing when to transition away from it. But strategic choices must be made now about whether to invest in natural gas infrastructure. This inspired MIT researchers to quantify timelines for cleaning up natural gas infrastructure in the United States or accelerating a shift away from it, while recognizing the uncertainty about fugitive methane emissions.

The study shows that in order for natural gas to be a major component of the nation’s effort to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets over the coming decade, present methods of controlling methane leakage would have to improve by anywhere from 30 to 90 percent. Given current difficulties in monitoring methane, achieving those levels of reduction may be a challenge. Methane is a valuable commodity, and therefore companies producing, storing, and distributing it already have some incentive to minimize its losses. However, despite this, even intentional natural gas venting and flaring (emitting carbon dioxide) continues."

https://news.mit.edu/2019/role-natural-gas-transition-electricity-1216 

Study: digital technology emits more CO2 than air traffic

While air traffic is the new public enemy for climate activits, leading to the neologism of "flygskam" or "shame of flying", a french study finds that other activities are far more harmful for climate.
Digital industry accounts for 4 % of greenhouse gas emissions and therefore higher than air traffic emissions.
As an astonishing example GreenIT states that streaming a video on your smartphone for an hour corresponds to the annual consumption of a refrigerator.
Another big problem so far not solved is the issue of non recyclable minerals used in computerscreens and batteries like antimony or zinc.

"Dans une étude rendue publique lundi 21 octobre, le cabinet militant GreenIT, qui regroupe des associations de protection de l’environnement et des experts, montre que l’industrie numérique produit 4% des émissions mondiales de gaz à effet de serre (4 fois plus que la France) Ce chiffre est aussi sensiblement supérieur à celui du transport aérien. Compte tenu de la croissance rapide du numérique, ces émissions de gaz à effet de serre devraient doubler d’ici 2025, dans seulement six ans, et dans le même temps cette industrie multipliera par trois son impact environnemental notamment par l’utilisation de matières premières.

Car il faut prendre en compte dans le calcul, non seulement la production d’électricité pour faire fonctionner les réseaux, pour utiliser, stocker et échanger des données numériques de plus en plus rapidement et de plus en plus nombreuses et pour recharger les batteries, mais aussi le coût pour l’environnement de la production même des équipements numériques, téléphones, consoles, tablettes, ordinateurs, serveurs, relais de télécommunications…"

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.transitionsenergies.com/numerique-plus-co2-transport-aerien/?fbclid=IwAR1GBLyIdcpWbtsfhtIC9vFol9JbEJFFaru0Teo0jwA9Fm_AwqwqU4PDF7M 

You can find the study (french/english version) via this link:

https://www.greenit.fr/empreinte-environnementale-du-numerique-mondial/