The US last year recorded its largest ever decline in carbon dioxide emissions, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA).

 

The agency says that energy-related CO2 emissions shrunk by 405 million tons, or 7.0% - the biggest drop since records began in 1949.

 

EIA Administrator Richard Newell said much of the decline was a result of the economic downturn, but he also attributed it to the “ongoing trend toward a less energy-intensive economy and a decrease in the carbon-intensity of the energy supply.” 

 

The US GDP last year fell 2.4%, while the energy intensity of the economy shrank by the same amount. The carbon intensity of the energy supply – the CO2 per unit of energy consumed - was 2.3% lower.

 

The latter two factors led to a decline in the overall carbon intensity of the economy of more than 4.5%, the EIA said.

 

Emissions declined on average by 0.9% between 2000 and 2009.