World continues to lose carbon war
Despite the desperate spin being applied to the recent BP data by some advocates, the numbers continue to tell the dispassionate truth. In the war that matters - that of decarbonizing the global energy supply and reducing CO2 emissions, the world continues to increase its use of fossil fuels over the low-carbon alternatives.
Over the last ten years, fossil fuel use has increased by an average of 252 million tonnes of oil equivalent each year. Low-carbon energy of all types (wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, traditional hydro and nuclear) increased by an average of only 36 mtoe per year. Non-hydro renewables (Mostly wind, with a tiny bit of solar power) increased by an average of about 17.5 mtoe/year.
CO2 emissions (which are what really count in this war) are keeping pace with our fossil fuel use. The intensity of carbon emissions from global energy use are not dropping. For every 1.0 tonne of oil equivalent of primary energy used, the emission of 0.75 tonnes of carbon has remained ruler-flat for the past decade.
At this point, though we will continue to fight, we have have probably lost the battle for the biosphere.
