Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions hit a record high in 2018, the latest report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) found. Emissions rose 1.7 percent to reach a historic 33.1 gigatons (Gt) of carbon dioxide. It was the highest rate of emissions growth since 2013 and 70 percent higher than the average increase since 2010. The record emissions were caused by increasing energy demand due partly to a growing economy. Ironically, climate change also played a role in sending more global warming gasses into the atmosphere. That is because nearly a fifth of the increased energy demand was driven by extreme cold and hot temperatures around the world that led people to rely more on heating and cooling systems. "It seems like a vicious cycle," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told The Financial Times. "Heating and cooling are one of the biggest drivers of energy demand growth." Overall, energy consumption increased by 2.3 percent, almost two times the average growth rate since 2010. While renewable energy grew, it did not grow fast enough to meet the increased demand. Nearly 70 percent of the growth was met by fossil fuels. "[D]espite major growth in renewables, global emissions are still rising, demonstrating once again that more urgent action is needed on all fronts," Birol said, according to Reuters. One of the most alarming findings was the persistent use of coal, the report found: In fact, coal-fired power plants were the single largest contributor to the growth in emissions observed in 2018, with an increase of 2.9%, or 280 Mt, compared with 2017 levels, exceeding 10 Gt for the first time. Further, the IEA calculated the contribution of fossil fuels to global temperature increases for the first time and found that coal had been responsible for more than 0.3 degrees Celsius of the one degree Celsius rise in global temperatures since pre-industrial times, making it the fuel that has most contributed to global warming.<doc-sep>Coal-fired power generation continues to be the single largest emitter, accounting for 30 percent of all energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. Coal is the single largest source of global temperature increase. Humanity's hunger for energy – and its reliance on fossil fuels – shows few signs of letting up. In fact, as the world's economy boomed last year, power plants fueled by coal emitted their highest level of carbon dioxide on record, a new report said. "As a result of higher energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions rose 1.7 percent last year and hit a new record, according to the report, which was released Monday by the International Energy Agency (IEA). "We have seen an extraordinary increase in global energy demand in 2018, growing at its fastest pace this decade," said the agency's executive director Fatih Birol in a statement. "Higher energy demand was propelled by a global economy that expanded by 3.7 percent in 2018," the report said. "China, the United States and India together accounted for nearly 70 percent of the rise in energy demand." The report is the latest assessment of global energy consumption and energy-related carbon dioxide emissions for 2018, the IEA said. Coal remains the planet's top source for electricity. While many countries are slowly phasing out coal in favor of other fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal use rose, thanks to a fleet of relatively new plants in Asia. "The majority of coal-fired generation capacity today is found in Asia, with 12-year-old plants on average, decades short of average lifetimes of around 50 years," Monday's report said. Overall, China, India and the U.S. account for 85 percent of the increase in emissions, the report said. The total amount of global emissions in 2018 was 33.1 billion tons, the highest on record. Unstoppable:Global carbon emissions rose in 2017, dimming hopes to rein in climate change Though also a main contributor to air and water pollution, global warming is coal’s most serious, long-term, global impact, the Union of Concerned Scientists said. Global warming is caused by burning fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal. That burning emits carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, causing temperatures to rise to levels that cannot be explained by natural factors. The IEA has said that burning coal has been responsible for over 0.3 degrees C of the 1-degree increase in Earth's temperatures since the late 1800s. The report released Monday had some good news for renewable energy sources: Solar and wind generation in 2018 grew at a double-digit pace, with solar alone increasing by 31 percent. Still, that was not fast enough to meet higher electricity demand around the world that also drove up the use of coal. The goal of the landmark 2016 Paris Agreement was to reduce global carbon emissions, keep the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Except for the United States, every nation signed the agreement. Though the U.S. originally signed on, President Donald Trump announced in 2017 that it would withdraw, claiming the agreement would hinder the economy. More:UN's 'dire' warning: Act now on Earth's environment as human health 'increasingly threatened' But as global carbon emissions continue to rise, “the clock is ticking in our struggle to keep warming below 2 degrees," Stanford University professor Rob Jackson said in December. Experts said that to slow or stop the unnatural warming of the planet, people must reduce burning fossil fuels and shift to renewable, carbon-free energy. "The level of drastic, large-scale action we urgently need has yet to been seen," a 2018 report from the United Nations said.<doc-sep>
LONDON (Reuters) - Global energy-related carbon emissions rose to a record high last year as energy demand and coal use increased, mainly in Asia, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday. An aeroplane flies underneath the jet stream of another aircraft above the Italian city of Padova September 18, 2013. REUTERS/David Gray Energy-related CO2 emissions rose by 1.7 percent to 33.1 billion tonnes from the previous year, the highest rate of growth since 2013, with the power sector accounting for almost two-thirds of this growth, according to IEA estimates. The United States’ CO2 emissions grew by 3.1 percent in 2018, reversing a decline a year earlier, while China’s emissions rose by 2.5 percent and India’s by 4.5 percent. Europe’s emissions fell by 1.3 percent and Japan’s fell for the fifth year running. Carbon dioxide emissions are the primary cause of global average temperature rise which countries are seeking to curb to avoid the most devastating effects of climate change. For the first time, the IEA assessed the impact of fossil fuel use on the increase in global temperature and found that CO2 emitted from coal consumption was responsible for over 0.3 degrees Celsius of the 1 degree rise in global average temperature since pre-industrial times. Global energy demand grew by 2.3 percent in 2018, nearly twice the average rate of growth since 2010, driven by a strong global economy and higher heating and cooling demand in some parts of the world, the IEA said. “We have seen an extraordinary increase in global energy demand in 2018, growing at its fastest pace this decade,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director. “Last year can also be considered another golden year for gas ... but despite major growth in renewables, global emissions are still rising, demonstrating once again that more urgent action is needed on all fronts,” he added. By country, China, the United States, and India together accounted for nearly 70 percent of the rise in energy demand. Global gas demand increased at its fastest rate since 2010, up 4.6 percent from a year earlier, driven by higher demand as switching from gas to coal increased. Demand for energy from renewable sources rose by 4 percent but the use of renewables needs to expand much more quickly to meet long-term climate goals, the report said. Oil demand grew by 1.3 percent in 2018, while coal consumption was up 0.7 percent as higher demand in Asia outpaced declines everywhere else. “Coal-to-gas switching avoided almost 60 million tonnes of coal demand, with the transition to less carbon-intensive natural gas helping to avert 95 million tonnes of CO2 emissions,” the IEA said. “Without this coal-to-gas switch, the increase in emissions would have been more than 15 percent greater,” it added.