Congratulations! Rise in CO₂ emissions halved

Congratulations! You've done it! Your hard work and effort to reduce your carbon footprint last year has paid off and, we would like to think, Planet Earth is just a little bit happier to hear that the worldwide rise in CO₂ levels slowed by half in 2008. Now, we understand that just slowing the rate means CO₂ levels are still increasing but you have to slow down and stop before you can go in reverse. We are also aware that a large part of the decline has to do with the high price of oil and the global economic slowdown which has had negative effects on lots of people, but if there is a silver lining to those financial storm clouds to be had, this may well be it.

The good news comes to us via a study by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) which points out that the use of biofuels and an increase in the use of renewables has helped achieve the encouraging result. It's also worth noting that America actually reduced emissions by 3 percent and that the continuing increases are mostly occurring in developing countries. One final positive worth underlining is that 2008 was the first year investment in renewables was greater than investments in fossil-fuelled technologies. So, keep it up and hopefully we'll have an even better result to celebrate next year!

[Source: Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency via Green Car Congress]