Understanding CO2 Emissions from the Global Energy Sector

Abstract

The energy sector contributes about 40 percent of global emissions of CO2. Threequarters of those emissions come from six major economies. Although coal-fired plants account for just 40 percent of world energy production, they were responsible for more than 70 percent of energy-sector emissions in 2010. Despite improvements in some countries, the global CO2 emission factor for energy generation has hardly changed over the last 20 years.