In Short : The statement indicates that the major economies in Europe have significantly reduced the carbon intensity of their electricity generation. This achievement suggests a successful transition toward cleaner and more sustainable energy sources, potentially including increased use of renewable energy and a decrease in carbon-emitting power generation methods. The reduction in carbon intensity aligns with efforts to mitigate climate change and transition to a low-carbon energy system.
In Detail : LITTLETON, Colorado : The carbon intensity of electricity production across Europe’s largest economies has dropped by nearly a quarter over the past five years, thanks to steep cuts in fossil fuel use for power generation and rapid expansions in renewable electricity output.
Average carbon dioxide emissions per kilowatt hour (KWh) of electricity in Europe’s six largest economies – Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands – was 253 grams through November of 2023, data from electricitymaps.com shows.
That cumulative total is down from more than 330 grams in 2018, and reveals a broad push across key countries to decarbonise power systems as part of efforts to cap overall pollution and slow climate change.
In tonnage terms, the lower carbon intensity of Europe’s six largest power systems has resulted in a decline of 156 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and equivalent gases over the first 11 months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2018, data from think tank Ember shows.
UNEVEN PROGRESS
While all major economies have made cuts to carbon intensity in recent years, progress varies greatly due to the different power system set-ups in each country.
France, which has the lowest overall power system carbon footprint due to its high use of nuclear power, emitted less than 15 million tonnes of CO2 through November.
The country’s carbon intensity in 2023 averaged 44 grams of CO2 per KWh, which is down by 15.2% from 2018’s levels and by more than 38% from the average in 2022, when curtailed nuclear reactor output forced French utilities to burn record volumes of natural gas to generate electricity.
Towards the other end of the power emissions spectrum lies Germany, which as Europe’s largest economy emitted more than 134 million tonnes of CO2 from the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation through November, Ember data shows.
Germany’s power system is 9.5 times more carbon intensive than France’s, averaging 419 grams of CO2 per KWh through November.
That reading sharply exceeds the 376 grams of CO2 in Italy, 305 grams in the Netherlands, 219 grams in the United Kingdom and 154 grams in Spain, electricitymaps.com data shows.
However, Germany’s carbon intensity pales in comparison to the 782 grams of CO2 emitted per KWh of electricity generated in Poland, which has Europe’s most coal-dependent power system.
That said, despite relying on coal for over 60% of total electricity generation, Poland’s power producers have also managed to sharply reduce their overall carbon intensity in recent years, which totalled more than 960 grams of CO2 per KWh in 2018.
STEEP CUTS
Poland’s 18.8% cut to electricity carbon intensity since 2018 roughly matches the scale of the cut seen in Germany over the same period, and exceeds the 14% cut seen in Italy.
However, those cuts trail the 25% reduction in the carbon intensity of electricity production in The Netherlands since 2018, and the nearly 46% drop seen in Spain, where more than 40% of electricity was sourced from wind and solar sources in 2023 compared to less than 30% in 2018.
As every major European economy is set to expand renewables generation further each year through the rest of this decade, the region’s overall carbon intensity will continue to decline, and will likely help the region emerge as the global hub for low-carbon electricity generation by 2030.