Progress! U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions dropped 3% in 2023

Based on analysis in the most recent U.S. Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions report, U.S. energy-related CO₂ emissions decreased by 3%, about 134 million metric tons (MMmt), in 2023.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), more than 80% of the emissions reductions occurred in the electric power sector, caused largely by decreased coal-fired electricity generation, displaced by increased generation from solar and natural gas. Electric power sector emissions decreased to about 1,425 MMmt in 2023, about 7% less than in 2022.

Per principal contributor Kevin Nakolan, emissions also decreased in the residential and commercial sectors by a combined 6% in 2023, to about 561 MMmt, due to milder weather leading to less energy demand for space heating and cooling in buildings.

Emissions from the industrial and transportation sectors remained relatively unchanged, with differences of less than 1% from 2022.