The global emissions of CO2, which is about three-quarters of all greenhouse gases, stood at 36.8 Gt in 2022. A third of the CO2 comes from power production. Reduction of CO2 intensity, therefore, is crucial for a few reasons. First, it reduces the present emissions. More importantly, a cleaner grid catalyses future decarbonisation of other industries via electrification.
The carbon intensity of electric grids, expressed as grams of CO2 per kWh of electricity produced, is presented below.
You can see in the plot that the global average is ca. 436.34 gCO2/kWh. Coupled that with 28,528 Terrawat-hour (TWh) of electricity production in 2022, you get 436.34 (gCO2/kWh)* 28528 (TWh) /1e6 = 12.45 Gt CO2.
There are two commonly used units for the power production of an area – energy produced and the installed power. And they often cause some confusion. That is next.
Reference
CO2 Emissions in 2022: IEA
Electricity production: Enerdata
Carbon Dioxide Emissions From Electricity: world-nuclear.org
Greenhouse gas emissions: Our World in Data
Electricity Mix: Our World in Data
Electricity sector in India: Wiki
Renewable energy in India: Wiki
