Carbon efficiency failing to fight warming - study

US: A surge in carbon emissions from power demand in the developing world is overwhelming progress by nations including China and the United States in improving efficiency, new research shows.

Seeking to cut costs, numerous nations in recent years have scaled back or revamped the dirtiest plants that use coal, which among major forms of energy is the highest emitter of carbon blamed for the planet's rising temperatures.

But a database set up by the Center for Global Development, a Washington think tank, found that the greater efficiency was far offset by emissions from electricity, which grew by 13.6 percent globally from 2004 to 2009.

In the developing world, the planet's top emitter China and India both reduced the intensity of their carbon emissions by nearly 10 percent during the period. In the United States, the intensity went down by 7.3 percent. "Reducing carbon intensity by 10 percent over five years is laudable, but I wonder if we're not stuck in a trend where everyone is focused on the little efficiency gains they squeeze out here and there," said Kevin Ummel, project manager of the center's Carbon Monitoring for Action database. "At the end of the day, these just pale in comparison to the rate of consumption. In terms of climate, we're really losing the battle, even if we're making small gains here and there," he said. AFP