According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, gas consumption, carbon from the power sector, power generation from fossil fuels, and emissions for November for the EU were at their lowest in at least 30 years. Returning to coal-fired power generation in some parts of Europe has not prevented strong progress on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
However, only a small proportion of last month’s drop in fossil fuel use should be attributed to the weather. The mild temperatures contributed to a 6% reduction in gas demand outside the power sector while actual demand fell 26%. Within the power sector, milder temperatures can account for two percentage points of the 12% drop in demand, the analysts found.
Lauri Myllyvirta, a lead analyst and author of the report, said the data showed that accusations against the EU of falling back on climate commitments were wrong. «There has been a very widespread perception that Europe is going backward on climate change, because of the Ukraine war» he said. «There were frequent remarks to that effect at Cop27, saying Europe was going back to coal. We are showing that has not been the case – there was a misreading of coal consumption».
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