1 April 2011 | Tierney Smith
Carbon, Energy, Europe

 

UK greenhouse gas emissions rose by 2.8 per cent from 2009 to 2010, with CO2 emissions rising by almost 4 per cent, according to provisional figures released yesterday (31 March).

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) blamed the rise on “inefficient and draughty homes” which failed to keep the heat in during last years’ cold weather, with the residential sector being the worst emitters, 13.4 per cent higher than 2009.

Chris Huhne, Energy and Climate Change Secretary said: “Britain’s blighted by inefficient and draughty homes which is why we want to help people waste less money through the Green Deal and install cleaner technologies to heat their homes.

“As we come out of recession the Coalition’s determined to reduce our reliance on fossil duels. That’s why we are pushing on all fronts to turn around Britain’s woeful record on renewables.”

All main sectors saw emissions increase - 3.3 per cent from the energy supply sector and 2.4 per cent from the businesses sector. Emissions from the transport sector remained fairly stable with a decrease of 0.1 per cent.

Carbon dioxide accounts for 84 per cent of UK emissions - 491.7 million tonnes compared to 473.7 million tonnes in 2009. The increase in CO2 emissions has been attributed to the rise in residential gas use, combined with fuel switching away from nuclear power to coal and gas for electricity generation, and an increase in growth coming out of the recession.

However, Doug Parr, Chief Scientist at Greenpeace said: “Climate-changing pollution should be falling, not going up – so what these figures show is that the UK is moving in the wrong direction. Politicians can’t blame it on the beginning of the economic recovery because whilst the economy has grown slowly, carbon emissions have grown faster.”

However, the Government has made progress towards its EU-Renewables target, with their share in gross electricity consumption from renewables increasing from 6.6 per cent to 7.3 per cent.

While onshore wind generation was hit by slow wind speeds, falling by 7.7 per cent and hydro falling by 32.4 per cent due to low rainfall, offshore wind generation increased by 74.8 per cent, meaning overall electricity generation from renewables rose by 0.4 per cent.

This latest announcement comes the same week that the Carbon Trust released an analysis of offshore wind in the UK, revealing global offshore wind is set to grow by 10 per cent every year and the UK could capture a 10 per cent share of the global market.

They say this could be worth an estimated £170 billion per year by 2050, could employ up to 230,000 people in the UK within the same time frame, and could drive green growth in the UK.

Benj Sykes, director of innovations at the Carbon Trust, said: “This analysis confirms that offshore wind is a strategically important economic asset for the UK that can deliver long term growth and energy security. If we seize this green growth opportunity, the UK will benefit from hundreds of thousands of new jobs, a booming new export market and billions of pounds of business benefits.”

The research looked at jobs and revenues by industry sector including turbines, foundations, collection and transmission, installation and the operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms.

 

Image1: Bert Kaufmann | flickr

Image 2: Chauncey Davis | flickr

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