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Declining consumption of coal in the US last year played a significant role in keeping down global emissions of carbon dioxide, according to a new report.

The Global Carbon Project annual analysis shows that CO2 emissions were almost flat for the third year in a row, despite a rise in economic growth.

The slowdown in the Chinese economy since 2012 has also been a key factor limiting carbon.

Experts believe it is too early to say if global CO2 emissions have peaked.

Impact of recession

The annual output of carbon dioxide from the use of fossil fuels increased by about 3% per annum through the first decade of this century.

Thanks to the global recession, emissions started to slow down in 2010. However they have now stalled for the past three years at around 36.4bn tonnes of CO2.

China's rapid economic expansion, which saw two new coal fired power stations being built every week, drove the global rise in CO2 over the past 16 years.

But there has been a sharp slowdown in coal use since 2012, driving Chinese CO2 emissions down 0.7% in 2015 according to this study, and a further 0.5% in 2016.

"It is hard to say whether the Chinese slowdown is due to a successful and smooth restructuring of the Chinese economy or a sign of economic instability," said Glen Peters, from the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) in Oslo, who co-authored the study.

"Nevertheless, the unexpected reductions in Chinese emissions give hope that the world's biggest emitter can deliver much more ambitious emission reductions."

US emissions in 2016 continued a downward trend that began in 2007. They were down 2.5% in 2015 and a further 1.7% decline is projected for this year.

The drop is due to a reduction in demand for American coal, something that President-elect Trump has vowed to change.

"With all eyes focussing on the fallout of the US election result, it is worth noting that wind, solar, and gas continue to displace coal in US electricity production," said Dr Peters.

Source:BBC.COm