U.S Report Predicts 50 Percent Rise In CO2 By 2030

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that major increases in coal use by China and India will cause carbon dioxide emissions to jump to 42 billion tons in slightly more than two decades, a huge increase that bodes ill for efforts to slow global warming. China’s burgeoning economy will drive the jump in CO₂, with its carbon emissions rising from 5.3 billion tons in 2005 to more than 12 billion tons by 2030, the report said. China’s coal consumption is expected to grow by 3.2 percent per year and India’s by 2.4 percent a year. Carbon emissions by the U.S., long the world’s leading emitter of CO₂, are projected to increase from six billion tons in 2005 to 6.9 billion by 2030. Not all analysts agreed with the forecast by the EIA, which is part of the Department of Energy. Some maintain that China’s coal consumption may be somewhat lower as its economy cools and it introduces energy-saving measures.