Carbon Dioxide Emission Reductions as a Result of Fuel Switching from Coal to Natural Gas Fired Electricity Generation

摘要

Between 2001 and 2012, a period of economic expansion and significant rapid economic contraction, annual carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel consumption for electricity generation decreased by over 257 million metric tons (11.9%). Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration suggest that much of the decrease experienced is due to fuel switching from coal fired generation to natural gas fired generation. Analysis of that data show that fuel switching from coal to natural gas is likely to have contributed as much as 61.6% of the CO_2 emission reductions reported between 2001 and 2012. As the discussion of the use of natural gas as a "bridge fuel" to lower and zero-carbon emitting fuels continues, this data should help to inform the discussion that natural gas is more than just a "bridge fuel" and can serve to lower the greenhouse gas emissions from the electric power sector significantly over multiple decades given abundant supplies, as generation is shifted from coal to natural gas combustion.