The CO2 emissions chart from the EIA should not be a surprise as the step-up in 2021 and 2022 is a recovery from the economic contraction and habit changes associated with COVID, and the projected increases in 2021 and 2022 are combined lower than the step down in 2020, suggesting that the trend is still negative. The problem is that the trend is not negative enough and as we have written about at length, it will not trend lower fast enough without all corrective opportunities at play – more renewable power, more conservation, and a lot of CCS. See our ESG and Climate work for more.
Source: EIA, September 2021