The US and Europe erased China's first-quarter decline in power-sector CO2 emissions

China, the world's largest CO2 emitter, recorded its biggest first-quarter decline in power-sector CO2 emissions since 2020. However, global CO2 emissions from power generation remained virtually unchanged due to rising emissions in the US and Europe. The international news agency Reuters reported, citing data from Ember.

The United States and Europe emitted a total of 801 million tonnes of CO2 from power generation in the first quarter of this year. That is 53 million tonnes, or 7%, more than in the same period in 2024.

According to Reuters, the increase in CO2 emissions from power generation in Europe was driven mainly by lower output from wind farms. Forexample, German wind farms generated a quarter less electricity in the first quarter of this year than a year earlier. As a result, output from gas-fired power plants in Europe rose by 8%, while coal-fired generation increased by 6%.

According to Reuters, rising electricity demand and strong support for fossil fuels from the new administration of President Donald Trump were the main drivers of higher CO2 emissions from the US power sector.

"However, sharply rising natural gas prices forced utilities to favour cheaper coal-fired power plants, boosting their output by 23% in January–March 2025 compared with the same months in 2024. Gas-fired generation fell by 4%," Reuters reported.

Weak Chinese economy

Despite the increase in CO2 emissions from power generation in the US and Europe, global CO2 emissions from power generation remained virtually unchanged, thanks to a year-on-year decline of 60 million tonnes in China's emissions.

China's weak economy, affected by the property crisis and a new trade war with the US, weighed on electricity demand in the first months of this year. As a result, power companies there were able to cut fossil-fuel power generation by 4% year on year.

Reuters noted, however, that the recently announced 90-day truce in the ongoing trade war with the US will lead to an increase in industrial production and therefore electricity consumption, driving up fossil-fuel power generation and, in turn, CO2 emissions.