The United States accounted for about a third of the rise in global carbon emissions in 2025, according to an Energy Institute report. This increase was largely due to higher gas prices, which led power producers to switch back to coal. As a result, US coal consumption jumped 10% last year, reversing a shift towards cleaner fuels and helping lift overall emissions.

Global Energy Trends

Global carbon emissions from the energy sector rose 1.1% to 35,806 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. More than a third of this increase came from the US. North America’s increase bucked the 10-year trend of emissions falling by 0.7%. Global energy-related demand continued to grow, with total energy supply rising 1.7% from 2024. Renewables contributed the biggest share of that increase, with renewable power generation climbing 9.1%, led by a 30% surge in solar.

Europe’s carbon emissions from the energy sector increased by 0.5%, while China’s rose by 0.7% in 2025. Electricity demand rose faster than supply, increasing 3% year-on-year, driven by electric vehicles, data centers, and artificial intelligence. Global oil consumption rose 1.3% in 2025 to 103 million barrels per day, compared with a 1.1% increase in 2024, while production grew 3.5%.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.