Monday 4 February 2019

Carbon Brief: Why the UK’s CO2 emissions have fallen 38% since 1990

Fascinating.

From Carbon Brief:

The most significant factors include a cleaner electricity mix based on gas and renewables instead of coal, as well as falling demand for energy across homes, businesses and industry...

* Emissions would have been twice as large today if underlying factors had not changed. Electricity-sector emissions would have been nearly four times higher.
* The largest driver has been a cleaner electricity mix based on gas and renewables instead of coal. This was responsible for 36% of the emissions reduction in 2017.
* The next largest driver is reduced fuel consumption by business and industry, responsible for about 31% of the emissions reduction in 2017.
* Reduced electricity use – mostly in the industrial and residential sectors – was responsible for 18% of the emissions reductions.
Changes in transport emissions from fewer miles driven per capita and more efficient vehicles accounted for around 7%...


Lest anybody jump to the conclusion that industry's falling CO2 emissions is because we manufacture less and import more, they've covered that as well:

* Domestic emissions reductions were largely offset by increased CO2 embodied in imported goods until the mid-2000s. However, reductions since around 2007 have not been offset by CO2 in imported goods.

All good stuff, in other words.

3 comments:

L fairfax said...

"The largest driver has been a cleaner electricity mix based on gas and renewables instead of coal. This was responsible for 36% of the emissions reduction in 2017."
Should we thank Thatcher for reducing the size of the British Coal industry?

benj said...

And how much was due to higher prices?

Mark Wadsworth said...

LF, tee hee.

BJ, isn't demand for electricity very price insensitive.