What is the percentage (%) growth of CO2 emissions from power sector during…

Concept: Percentage growth between two years is always measured against the earlier year. Growth % = (Final value − Initial value) ÷ Initial value × 100. The earlier year supplies the base of the fraction; the later value never sits in the denominator, and the unit of the two readings cancels, so the result is a pure percentage.

Application to this table:

1. Read the Power column for the starting year 2005: the entry is 500 million metric tons. This is the initial value.

2. Read the same Power column for the closing year 2009: the entry is 800 million metric tons. This is the final value.

3. Absolute increase over the span = 800 − 500 = 300 million metric tons.

4. Growth % = (300 ÷ 500) × 100 = 0.6 × 100 = 60%.

Cross-check: raising 500 by 60% gives 500 × 1.60 = 800, which is exactly the 2009 Power entry, so the figure is consistent with the table.

Where the near-miss figures come from:

• 700 million metric tons is the Power entry for 2008, so stopping the span at 2008 instead of 2009 yields a 40% rise.

• Dividing the increase by the later reading, 300 ÷ 800 = 37.5%, uses the wrong base; the denominator must be the 2005 reading.

• The Domestic column moves from 100 to 180 over the same span, an 80% rise, so that figure belongs to a different sector.

• A 50% rise on 500 would put the 2009 Power entry at 750, a value the table does not show.