Carbon emissions may have stalled in 2014, without stalling economy: report

Energy consumption is normally linked to economic activity - as more people have more money they have more stuff which uses energy.

A preliminary report by the International Energy Agency claims that last year C02 emissions stalled according to IFLScience.

If this is confirmed, it means that last year was the first time in 40 years that emissions have remained unchanged or dropped in the absence of an economic crisis.

"For the first time, greenhouse gas emissions are decoupling from economic growth,”  IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol said in a statement.

The good news may be due to the increased use of green energy sources such as solar and wind power, the fact that last year was unusually hot, which means less energy used to heat homes, and the low price of oil.

When oil is cheap, companies use it instead of coal, as it releases fewer emissions per unit of energy released.