EU emissions down 11 per cent

Greenwise Staff

6th April 2010

Greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted by the big polluters operating in the European Union’s Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) fell by 11 per cent in 2009, according to latest data.

The emissions reductions, which were more acute than in 2008, were brought on by the recession and were felt across all sectors and all countries, according to data from the European Commission’s Community Independent Transaction Log (CITL) published on April 1.

Some 1,887 million tonnes (Mt) GHG were emitted by around 10,000 installations participating in EU ETS in 2009, compared to 2,120 Mt in 2008.

According to Point Carbon, provider of market intelligence, news, analysis, forecasting and advisory services for the energy and environmental markets, the data confirms that the economic downturn has had an even greater impact on industrial production and power demand than in 2008, when the economic slump resulted in a six per cent reduction in emissions compared to 2007.

Commenting on the data, Kjersti Ulset, manager of European carbon analysis at Point Carbon Trading Analytics & Research, said:“This data certainly confirms that 2009 was a year of almost unprecedented economic downturn in Europe and most of the world. Emissions were down in all sectors and in all countries as the slump has deepened and widened considerably over the past 12 months."

While emissions were down in all sectors, the largest relative change was in the metals sector, where emissions were down 29 percent. The cement, lime and glass sector also saw a big dip (20 per cent).

Emissions reductions occurred across all countries whose emissions were verified, but most significantly in Italy and Spain, where they fell by 16 per cent, followed by Great Britain (13 per cent) and Germany (eight per cent).

“The data was in line with Point Carbon’s predictions and was more or less what the market expected,” said Ulset. “However, the small uptick in the price of carbon after the data was released might suggest that market participants had feared even lower emissions in 2009, and that market confidence improved once the data was released.”

Last week, the Government released UK provisional figures for 2009 GHG emissions, which showed a fall of 8.6 per cent compared to 2008.