Gas-Fired Plants Become Europe's Largest Power Sector Emitter
By Jaime Llinares Taboada
Gas-fired power plants overtook lignite coal stations as
Europe's largest power sector polluter in 2020 for the first time,
data from the EU's Emissions Trading System shows.
Energy think tank Ember said Friday that gas made up a record
34% of the power sector's total emissions last year. Carbon-dioxide
emissions generated by burning gas to produce electricity fell to
236 million metric tons in 2020 from 250 million tons in 2019.
Emissions from lignite plants decreased further, to 206 million
tons. Hard coal emissions declined to 154 million tons.
Total power-sector emissions fell 17% to 692 million tons last
year. The industry is responsible for half of all emissions in the
Emissions from gas-fired stations have increased 23% since 2013,
as they replace power from coal plants--which are being phased out
across the continent. Ember said coal-reliant countries such as
Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria are pursuing a similar path
to reduce their own emissions, and said gas will have to be phased
out in the 2030s to meet climate targets.
"That gas power emitted 236 million tons of emissions in 2020
demonstrates that this sector is already a large contributor to
greenhouse gas emissions. Further growth will only exacerbate the
problem," the think tank said.
Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at firstname.lastname@example.org;
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 16, 2021 05:28 ET (09:28 GMT)
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