Carbon Dioxide Emissions Plummet
Research for Online Investors

by John Dalt

With the congress working on a carbon tax, or cap and trade legislation, the following press release may be of interest to you. One of my thoughts during this debate is let the market determine energy usage. There is no reason to tax carbon, carbon based energy usage will decline as the price increases.

Basic understanding of economics dictates this truth. I am no trained economist, just a free market advocate. It has always amazed me that some people do not understand that we are economic animals. We order our lives, and allocate our funds to the best use for the results that we desire. Any dictate or regulation is a dictum affecting our desires.

Crude oil usage will go down without government intervention. The FREE MARKET will allocate those scarce resources to their highest and best use. Consumers will reduce usage of gasoline as the price increases without government intervention.

Electric cars that burn no gas look attractive for short trips to the store (I have one). Natural gas as a transportation fuel is a natural (Honda builds one and FSYS sells conversion kits). Today’s car engines run on natural gas without internal modification, you just fuel them in your garage at night. You avoid all highway gas taxes, and pay the equivalent of less than a dollar per gallon. The side benefit is natural gas burns cleaner than gasoline! Cheaper and cleaner, what is not to like?

If you feel like me, you may want to print out this report for future reference.

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Energy Information Administration

Washington, DC 20585

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 20, 2009

U.S. Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions Declined by 2.8 Percent in 2008  U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels decreased by 2.8 percent in 2008, from 5,967 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (MMTCO2) in 2007 to 5,802 MMTCO2 in 2008, according to preliminary estimates released today by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This is the largest annual decline in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions since EIA began annual reporting on greenhouse gas emissions.

The economy, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), grew by 1.1 percent in 2008, notwithstanding the economic downturn at the end of the year. Energy demand declined by 2.2 percent indicating that energy intensity (energy use per unit of GDP) fell by 3.3 percent in 2008. Carbon dioxide intensity (carbon dioxide emission per unit of GDP) fell by about 3.8 percent.

Factors that influenced the emissions decrease included record-high oil prices and a decline in economic activity in the second half of the year. Oil-related emissions declined by 6 percent, accounting for the bulk of overall reduction in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions.

Total U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions have grown by 15.9 percent since 1990. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions account for over 80 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Preliminary fossil fuel consumption data for 2008 indicate that:

• Transportation-related emissions, which account for about a third of total energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, decreased by 5.2 percent in 2008. Since 1990 the next largest yearly decline in the transportation sector was 1.3 percent in 1991. Only one other year in the 1990 to 2008 time period experienced a decline - 1.2 percent in 2001.
• Carbon dioxide emissions from the residential sector declined by 1.1 percent in 2008. Heating degree-days rose by 5.6 percent, but the summer was also cooler than 2007 and cooling degree-days fell by 8.7 percent, which helped to offset the increase in heating-related energy demand.
• The commercial sector, which includes all non-residential, non-industrial buildings, such as stores, office buildings, schools, hospitals, and government buildings, experienced an emissions increase of 0.5 percent in 2008.
• Industrial carbon dioxide emissions fell by 3.2 percent in 2008, continuing a trend of falling industrial sector emissions since 2004. In addition to manufacturing, the industrial sector includes agriculture, construction and mining.
• When electric power sector emissions are considered as a whole rather than being allocated to the end-use sectors that consume electricity, they are the largest single source of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, representing about 41 percent of total emissions. In 2008, emissions from the electric power sector decreased by about 50 MMTCO2 or 2.1 percent, while power generation decreased by 1.0 percent. The decrease in the emissions intensity of generation of 1.1 percent in 2008 reflected, among other factors, an increase in wind-powered generation. From 1990 to 2008, the carbon dioxide intensity of the economy fell by 29.3 percent or 1.9 percent per year. From 1990 to 2007 (the latest year of data for all greenhouse gases), carbon dioxide intensity had fallen by 26.4 percent and emissions of total greenhouse gases per dollar of GDP had fallen by 28.0 percent.

EIA will continue to refine its estimates of 2008 carbon dioxide emissions as more complete energy data become available. A full inventory of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2008 to be issued in late 2009 will include updated energy data and provide a further analysis of trends. The preliminary estimates are on EIA's web site at:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/flash/flash.html
The analysis described in this press release was prepared by the Energy Information Administration, the independent statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. The information contained in the press release and the analysis should be attributed to the Energy Information Administration and should not be construed as advocating or reflecting any policy position of the Department of Energy or any other organization.

The information presented in this newsletter is based on generally available news releases, corporate filings, current events, interviews and the editor’s opinions. It may contain errors and you should not make investment decisions based solely on what you believe you have read here. Do your own research, it is your money. If you lose it, it is your responsibility, not ours or your grandmothers! The editor may or may not have a position in any securities discussed. The editor may have held a position in a security earlier, or in the future.

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