Vietnam’s emissions of carbon dioxide rose by 376 percent from 1990 to 2005.

These numbers aren’t a surprise. Vietnam is racing to catch up with other developing states. Further, according to testimony given the National Assembly last summer, it uses energy very inefficiently. Not only does Vietnam use twice as much energy input per unit of output as the developed nations; it also lags well behind ASEAN neighbors Malaysia and Thailand.

While Vietnam’s numbers may be understandable, they aren’t sustainable.

According to analysis of the Oak Ridge data posted on the website www.mongabay.com, China topped the rankings in terms of total carbon emissions growth over the period. China’s carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion, cement manufacturing, and gas flaring increased by 133 percent to 1.53 billion tons of carbon (5.62 billion tons CO2) in 2005. Most of the increase came from coal burning, which accounted for 1.116 billion tons of the country’s carbon emissions in 2005. China’s emissions have since climbed by another 25 percent to 1.923 billion tons of carbon in 2008, according to preliminary reports.

In the United States between 1990 and 2005, carbon emissions grew by 20 percent. China displaced the US as the world’s largest carbon emitter in 2005.

The biggest drop in emissions between 2000 and 2005 came in Germany, which reduced carbon emissions by 6.4 million tons of carbon or 3 percent of its total emissions. Belgium had the greatest rate of reduction at 7 percent over the period.

PV