CO2 Conundrum

In 2022, US coal-related CO2 electricity generation emissions declined 7% due to an 8% reduction in coal-fired power generation. That capacity was, however, replaced by natural gas, solar, and wind such that CO2 emissions from electricity generation declined just 4%. Yet overall, 2022 emissions still rose 0.7% due to increases elsewhere in energy consumption. With coal down to just 20% of electricity production, reducing CO2 emissions gets increasingly more difficult.