Despite falling for the previous three years, independent research group the Rhodium Group said that emissions rose 3.4 per cent in 2018 – the largest jump since 2010, in light of the economy bouncing back from the great recession that year.

Rhodium said the marked increase from the world’s second-biggest carbon emitter after China could make it harder for the US to meet the reductions targets it set under the Paris Agreement in 2015.

To reach these targets, the US would have to cut energy-related carbon emissions by 2.6 per cent on average over the next seven years, a pace more than twice that achieved between 2005 and 2017.

“It is certainly feasible, but will likely require a fairly significant change in policy in the very near future and/or favourable market and technological conditions,” the group said.

The report revealed the rise occurred despite a record number of shutdowns of power plants fired by coal – the fuel richest in carbon output when burned – as of last year.

Furthermore, natural gas, which emits around half the carbon of coal, replaced most of the lost coal generation, but also served the clear majority of load growth for electricity, the report said.

The Trump administration, which has announced its intention to withdraw the US from the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, is relaxing Obama-era rules on emissions from power plants and vehicles as it seeks to boost production of oil, gas and coal. The earliest the US can leave the Paris accord is after the 2020 presidential election.

However, environmentalists say the Trump administration needs to speed up the transition from natural gas to renewables such as wind and solar power and energy storage. Many US states are also sticking with the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement in defiance of Trump’s decision, with local governments across the country still working to meet environmental targets.

“Coal’s sharp-dressed cousin is continuing us on a path to irreparable and costly climate damage,” said Greg Cunningham, who works on clean energy and climate at the Conservation Law Foundation. “It is imperative that we shift our clean energy transition into high gear and accelerate our clean car standards to reverse this trend.”

Top lobbying organisation for the US oil and gas industry, the American Petroleum Institute (API), says it does not take a position on forming a carbon tax, which some environmentalists, politicians in both parties and petroleum companies say would harness the power of capitalism to reduce emissions.

Backing voluntary efforts to reduce emissions, Mike Sommers, the head of API, told reporters in a conference call that the US can boost oil and gas and cut emissions at the same time.

In related news, scientists from Cornell University say simply reducing greenhouse gas emissions is not going to sufficient enough for the planet to escape catastrophic damage from climate change.

The researchers highlight in their study “Mission-Driven Research for Stratospheric Aerosol Geoengineering” that additional actions will be required to tackle climate change – one option being solar geoengineering, which could lower temperatures by methods such as reflecting sunlight away from Earth through the deployment of aerosols in the stratosphere.

The study, which senior research associate and senior lecturer in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Cornell University Douglas MacMartin co-authored with Ben Kravitz, assistant professor at Indiana University, focuses on the idea of releasing sulphate aerosols into the stratosphere, mimicking the eruption of a volcano.

Last November, Bill Gates said in an interview that it would be “tragic” if American doesn’t lead in technological innovation for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Despite falling for the previous three years, independent research group the Rhodium Group said that emissions rose 3.4 per cent in 2018 – the largest jump since 2010, in light of the economy bouncing back from the great recession that year.

Rhodium said the marked increase from the world’s second-biggest carbon emitter after China could make it harder for the US to meet the reductions targets it set under the Paris Agreement in 2015.

To reach these targets, the US would have to cut energy-related carbon emissions by 2.6 per cent on average over the next seven years, a pace more than twice that achieved between 2005 and 2017.

“It is certainly feasible, but will likely require a fairly significant change in policy in the very near future and/or favourable market and technological conditions,” the group said.

The report revealed the rise occurred despite a record number of shutdowns of power plants fired by coal – the fuel richest in carbon output when burned – as of last year.

Furthermore, natural gas, which emits around half the carbon of coal, replaced most of the lost coal generation, but also served the clear majority of load growth for electricity, the report said.

The Trump administration, which has announced its intention to withdraw the US from the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, is relaxing Obama-era rules on emissions from power plants and vehicles as it seeks to boost production of oil, gas and coal. The earliest the US can leave the Paris accord is after the 2020 presidential election.

However, environmentalists say the Trump administration needs to speed up the transition from natural gas to renewables such as wind and solar power and energy storage. Many US states are also sticking with the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement in defiance of Trump’s decision, with local governments across the country still working to meet environmental targets.

“Coal’s sharp-dressed cousin is continuing us on a path to irreparable and costly climate damage,” said Greg Cunningham, who works on clean energy and climate at the Conservation Law Foundation. “It is imperative that we shift our clean energy transition into high gear and accelerate our clean car standards to reverse this trend.”

Top lobbying organisation for the US oil and gas industry, the American Petroleum Institute (API), says it does not take a position on forming a carbon tax, which some environmentalists, politicians in both parties and petroleum companies say would harness the power of capitalism to reduce emissions.

Backing voluntary efforts to reduce emissions, Mike Sommers, the head of API, told reporters in a conference call that the US can boost oil and gas and cut emissions at the same time.

In related news, scientists from Cornell University say simply reducing greenhouse gas emissions is not going to sufficient enough for the planet to escape catastrophic damage from climate change.

The researchers highlight in their study “Mission-Driven Research for Stratospheric Aerosol Geoengineering” that additional actions will be required to tackle climate change – one option being solar geoengineering, which could lower temperatures by methods such as reflecting sunlight away from Earth through the deployment of aerosols in the stratosphere.

The study, which senior research associate and senior lecturer in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Cornell University Douglas MacMartin co-authored with Ben Kravitz, assistant professor at Indiana University, focuses on the idea of releasing sulphate aerosols into the stratosphere, mimicking the eruption of a volcano.

Last November, Bill Gates said in an interview that it would be “tragic” if American doesn’t lead in technological innovation for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.