Cold winter and AI boom pushed US emissions increase in 2025
By AFP
January 13, 2026
Data center buildout helped push significant growth in US power sector emissions in 2025, according to a Rhodium Group analysis
Issam AHMED
Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States rose last year, snapping a two-year streak of declines as cold winter temperatures drove demand for heating fuel and the AI boom led to a surge in power generation, a think tank said Tuesday.
The 2.4 percent increase in the world’s largest economy came as President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress enacted a series of policies hostile to climate action, though the authors of the Rhodium Group report said the full impact of those decisions will only be felt in the coming years.
Rich nations, including Europe’s largest economies Germany and France, are slowing the pace of planet-warming gas reductions even as global temperatures continue to soar, with 2025 set to be confirmed as the third-hottest year on record.
US emissions fell in 2024 by 0.5 percent and in 2023 by 3.5 percent, after the economy rebounded from the Covid pandemic and emissions rose in both 2021 and 2022, by 6.3 percent and 1.2 percent respectively.
Building emissions rose 6.8 percent, followed by the power sector where emissions increased by 3.8 percent, the report found.
“Weather is bumpy year-to-year — we tend to see building emissions bump around like this due to higher fuel use for heating,” Rhodium Group analyst and the report’s co-author Michael Gaffney told AFP.
“But in the power sector this is about growing significant demand from data centers, cryptocurrency mining operations and other large load customers,” he added.
Compounding matters, high natural gas prices driven by heating demand and increasing liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports allowed a comeback for coal, the “dirtiest” fossil fuel, which accounted for 13 percent more electricity generation than in 2024.
Still, solar had a strong year, surging by 34 percent and helping lift the grid share of zero-emitting power sources by one percentage point to a record-high 42 percent — even as wind growth slowed and nuclear and hydropower output held steady.
In transport, the highest-emitting sector, emissions were nearly flat despite a fifth straight year of record road traffic, as the vehicle fleet became more efficient and consumers rushed to buy electric and hybrid vehicles before tax credits expired.
– Solar energy up –
The United States is the world’s second-largest emitter after China, but has the highest cumulative emissions since the start of the industrial era in the mid-19th century.
US greenhouse gas emissions have generally trended downward since peaking in 2007, averaging a decline of around one percent per year despite periods of flat or rising emissions, driven by natural gas replacing coal, a growing share of renewables in power generation, improved energy efficiency and more.
Since taking office, Trump has declared war on renewable energy — from abruptly halting wind farm permits to signing into law legislation that brought an early end to clean energy tax credits and revoking electric vehicle incentives.
He has also opened more public lands to drilling, while his administration has sought to repeal regulations aimed at limiting emissions of the super-pollutant methane from oil and gas facilities.
But co-author Ben King told AFP that growth in solar generation and electric vehicle sales still pointed to “sustained progress.”
What this all means for the medium and long term remains unclear, though the United States is far off track to meet its previous Paris Agreement target of cutting emissions 50–52 percent by 2035 relative to 2005 levels, set under former president Joe Biden.
“Solar, wind, batteries, these are some of the cheapest things to bring onto the grid right now and some of the most available things,” said King.
“So there’s some economic impetus to be doing that, regardless of whether the White House or Congress, or whoever likes it or doesn’t.”
The Rhodium Group generates its annual estimates using a combination of official data and — because government greenhouse gas inventories have a significant lag — supplements this with modeling based on economic and power-generation data.
But since the Trump administration is no longer expected to collect relevant data, future forecasts are set to become more difficult.
RESULTS OF TRUMP'S WAR ON RENEWABLES
By AFP
January 13, 2026
Data center buildout helped push significant growth in US power sector emissions in 2025, according to a Rhodium Group analysis
- Copyright AFP/File ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS
Issam AHMED
Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States rose last year, snapping a two-year streak of declines as cold winter temperatures drove demand for heating fuel and the AI boom led to a surge in power generation, a think tank said Tuesday.
The 2.4 percent increase in the world’s largest economy came as President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress enacted a series of policies hostile to climate action, though the authors of the Rhodium Group report said the full impact of those decisions will only be felt in the coming years.
Rich nations, including Europe’s largest economies Germany and France, are slowing the pace of planet-warming gas reductions even as global temperatures continue to soar, with 2025 set to be confirmed as the third-hottest year on record.
US emissions fell in 2024 by 0.5 percent and in 2023 by 3.5 percent, after the economy rebounded from the Covid pandemic and emissions rose in both 2021 and 2022, by 6.3 percent and 1.2 percent respectively.
Building emissions rose 6.8 percent, followed by the power sector where emissions increased by 3.8 percent, the report found.
“Weather is bumpy year-to-year — we tend to see building emissions bump around like this due to higher fuel use for heating,” Rhodium Group analyst and the report’s co-author Michael Gaffney told AFP.
“But in the power sector this is about growing significant demand from data centers, cryptocurrency mining operations and other large load customers,” he added.
Compounding matters, high natural gas prices driven by heating demand and increasing liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports allowed a comeback for coal, the “dirtiest” fossil fuel, which accounted for 13 percent more electricity generation than in 2024.
Still, solar had a strong year, surging by 34 percent and helping lift the grid share of zero-emitting power sources by one percentage point to a record-high 42 percent — even as wind growth slowed and nuclear and hydropower output held steady.
In transport, the highest-emitting sector, emissions were nearly flat despite a fifth straight year of record road traffic, as the vehicle fleet became more efficient and consumers rushed to buy electric and hybrid vehicles before tax credits expired.
– Solar energy up –
The United States is the world’s second-largest emitter after China, but has the highest cumulative emissions since the start of the industrial era in the mid-19th century.
US greenhouse gas emissions have generally trended downward since peaking in 2007, averaging a decline of around one percent per year despite periods of flat or rising emissions, driven by natural gas replacing coal, a growing share of renewables in power generation, improved energy efficiency and more.
Since taking office, Trump has declared war on renewable energy — from abruptly halting wind farm permits to signing into law legislation that brought an early end to clean energy tax credits and revoking electric vehicle incentives.
He has also opened more public lands to drilling, while his administration has sought to repeal regulations aimed at limiting emissions of the super-pollutant methane from oil and gas facilities.
But co-author Ben King told AFP that growth in solar generation and electric vehicle sales still pointed to “sustained progress.”
What this all means for the medium and long term remains unclear, though the United States is far off track to meet its previous Paris Agreement target of cutting emissions 50–52 percent by 2035 relative to 2005 levels, set under former president Joe Biden.
“Solar, wind, batteries, these are some of the cheapest things to bring onto the grid right now and some of the most available things,” said King.
“So there’s some economic impetus to be doing that, regardless of whether the White House or Congress, or whoever likes it or doesn’t.”
The Rhodium Group generates its annual estimates using a combination of official data and — because government greenhouse gas inventories have a significant lag — supplements this with modeling based on economic and power-generation data.
But since the Trump administration is no longer expected to collect relevant data, future forecasts are set to become more difficult.
France climate goals off track as emissions cuts slow again
By AFP
January 13, 2026
CAPITALI$M IS UNSUSTAINABLE
Wealthy economies need to make faster, deeper cuts to the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change - Copyright AFP FABRICE COFFRINI
Julien MIVIELLE
France’s cuts to greenhouse gas emissions slowed for a second straight year in 2025 and remain well off track to meeting its climate goals, according to provisional government-commissioned estimates published on Tuesday.
The slowdown comes as government appetite for climate action flags and major economies struggle to make good on their pledges to reduce planet-warming pollution.
France’s emissions were estimated to have declined 1.6 percent year-on-year, said Citepa, a non-profit organisation tasked by France’s ecology ministry with tallying the country’s greenhouse gas inventory.
The reduction of 5.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent was “far below the pace needed to reach 2030 targets”, which would require cuts nearly three times larger, Citepa said.
“The decrease in emissions is confirmed for 2025. This is an encouraging sign but it is not enough,” Monique Barbut, France’s ecological transition minister, said in a press release.
She said all sectors needed to double their efforts to make cuts in greenhouse gases.
The result echoes a slowdown in neighbouring Germany, where emissions fell just 1.5 percent in 2025, the Agora Energiewende expert group said in its annual report last week.
Emissions in the United States meanwhile rose 2.4 percent last year, the Rhodium Group think tank said on Tuesday, spurred by demand for heating and electricity for the AI boom in the world’s biggest economy.
France unveiled in December its updated pathway for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
To stay on track, greenhouse gas emissions need to fall 4.6 percent on average every year until 2030.
After France slashed its output by 3.9 percent in 2022 and 6.8 percent in 2023, the rate slowed sharply to 1.8 percent in 2024.
Citepa had earlier predicted a decline of just 0.8 percent in 2025 but said fresh data and updated methods of calculation had allowed a “more accurate” estimate for the full year.
– Climate risk –
Big polluting nations most responsible for climate change are under pressure to make faster and deeper cuts to the emissions driving record-breaking global temperatures and more extreme weather events.
Scientists say the last three years have been the hottest globally on record.
France encouraged energy saving after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but since then has faltered in decarbonising some of its most polluting industries.
While improvements were recorded in 2025 in heavy-emitting sectors such as industry, agriculture and transport, they remained virtually flat in energy and waste treatment, Citepa said.
The latest assessment highlighted the urgency for France to phase out its use of fossil fuels, said Anne Bringault, a director at Climate Action Network France.
“It is high time to take seriously the climate risk but also the geopolitical risk of making us suffer from our dependence on fossil fuels, which are overwhelmingly imported,” she told AFP.
The European Union has pledged to cut its net greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by 2040 compared to 1990 levels.
It achieved a 37-percent reduction by 2023.
By AFP
January 13, 2026
CAPITALI$M IS UNSUSTAINABLE
Wealthy economies need to make faster, deeper cuts to the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change - Copyright AFP FABRICE COFFRINI
Julien MIVIELLE
France’s cuts to greenhouse gas emissions slowed for a second straight year in 2025 and remain well off track to meeting its climate goals, according to provisional government-commissioned estimates published on Tuesday.
The slowdown comes as government appetite for climate action flags and major economies struggle to make good on their pledges to reduce planet-warming pollution.
France’s emissions were estimated to have declined 1.6 percent year-on-year, said Citepa, a non-profit organisation tasked by France’s ecology ministry with tallying the country’s greenhouse gas inventory.
The reduction of 5.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent was “far below the pace needed to reach 2030 targets”, which would require cuts nearly three times larger, Citepa said.
“The decrease in emissions is confirmed for 2025. This is an encouraging sign but it is not enough,” Monique Barbut, France’s ecological transition minister, said in a press release.
She said all sectors needed to double their efforts to make cuts in greenhouse gases.
The result echoes a slowdown in neighbouring Germany, where emissions fell just 1.5 percent in 2025, the Agora Energiewende expert group said in its annual report last week.
Emissions in the United States meanwhile rose 2.4 percent last year, the Rhodium Group think tank said on Tuesday, spurred by demand for heating and electricity for the AI boom in the world’s biggest economy.
France unveiled in December its updated pathway for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
To stay on track, greenhouse gas emissions need to fall 4.6 percent on average every year until 2030.
After France slashed its output by 3.9 percent in 2022 and 6.8 percent in 2023, the rate slowed sharply to 1.8 percent in 2024.
Citepa had earlier predicted a decline of just 0.8 percent in 2025 but said fresh data and updated methods of calculation had allowed a “more accurate” estimate for the full year.
– Climate risk –
Big polluting nations most responsible for climate change are under pressure to make faster and deeper cuts to the emissions driving record-breaking global temperatures and more extreme weather events.
Scientists say the last three years have been the hottest globally on record.
France encouraged energy saving after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but since then has faltered in decarbonising some of its most polluting industries.
While improvements were recorded in 2025 in heavy-emitting sectors such as industry, agriculture and transport, they remained virtually flat in energy and waste treatment, Citepa said.
The latest assessment highlighted the urgency for France to phase out its use of fossil fuels, said Anne Bringault, a director at Climate Action Network France.
“It is high time to take seriously the climate risk but also the geopolitical risk of making us suffer from our dependence on fossil fuels, which are overwhelmingly imported,” she told AFP.
The European Union has pledged to cut its net greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by 2040 compared to 1990 levels.
It achieved a 37-percent reduction by 2023.
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