In 2018 in the United States dramatically increased greenhouse gas emissions. This is stated in the study of the company Rhodium Group. If in 2015 emissions in the US decreased by 2.7%, in 2016-by 1.7%, in 2017-by 0.8%, in 2018 they increased by 3.4%. A higher increase in emissions in the United States over the past 20 years was observed only in 2010 — by 3.6%.

Specialists of the Rhodium Group name several reasons for such a sharp increase in greenhouse emissions. “Despite the closure of a record number of coal-fired power plants last year, natural gas-fired power plants not only surpassed renewable energy sources in replacing the energy generated by coal-fired plants, but also became the main source of demand growth in electricity consumption. As a result, greenhouse emissions from the energy sector in the US increased by 1.9% last year,— experts say.— At the same time, the US transport sector has been the main source of emissions for the last three years. Significant demand for diesel and aviation fuel more than compensated for the reduction in demand for gasoline.”

Significant increases in emissions have also been observed in the construction and industrial sectors. This is partly due to the unusually cold weather in the United States at the beginning of last year, believe in the Rhodium Group. At the same time, this situation also shows that in all these sectors has been done too little to decarbonize them (reduce hydrocarbon emissions).