Recently it was determined that China was drastically increasing their fossil fuel use. China has increased their fossil fuel use so much in the first quarter of the year that they have set back their energy efficiency by 3.2 percent in just this time frame. China’s use of fossil fuels in the last six months has led to the largest increase of greenhouse gas emissions by a country in history over a six month period.
Such a situation is being linked to the growth of China’s economy and has been somewhat expected due to their massive growth. This situation can also be applied to other developing nations, such as India. A recent government study in India has determined that their emissions have also drastically increased, however not to the extent of China’s.
An Indian government study has found that greenhouse gas emissions increased approximately sixty percent between 1994 and 2007. The total emissions of India were 1.2 billion tons in 1994 and 1.9 billion tons in 2007. India’s increase in emissions has helped propel them into a top emitter position alongside the likes of China and the United States.
The growth of India’s greenhouse emissions are largely attributed to an increase in electricity use, transportation and cement production. India was one of the nations at the Copenhagen climate talks that disagreed with overall greenhouse emissions reductions without including per capita data. India argues that their emissions are not comparable to the likes of China and the United States due to their per capita emissions being lower than other major emitters.
