According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA),the amount of CO2 generated from the use of fossil fuels in America fell by 2.8% last year, the largest drop since 1982.
The reason? Recession and high oil prices. Consumers bought less stuff and travelled to less places. And as a result, businesses shipped less goods and people around.
All of which caused the demand for energy to drop by 2.2% and transport-related CO2 emissions - about 30% of the US total- to drop by 5.3% from 2007. In fact GDP actually grew by 1.1% in 2008 which means that the amount of CO2 emitted per unit of GDP fell by 3.8%.
Source: Energy Information Administration estimate for 2008
We pointed out before that there's an inherent tension between economic recovery and sustainability. The truth is, in terms of production and emissions based on consumption, what's bad for consumer confidence and theeconomy at large is good news for the planet.
[Seen on GreenBiz]
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