Emissions and emissions trading
11-06-08
This mostly comprises of carbon dioxide - 554.5 million tonnes a year - but also gases like methane and oxides of nitrogen.
The UK has actually reduced its emissions quite considerably compared to 1990 - a 16.4% reduction on the 779.9 million tonnes of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere back then. But, much of this was because of a widespread changeover from coal power plants to more efficient, cleaner gas turbines - the so-called "dash for gas" - during the mid-1990s.
As a result, the UK should comfortably meet its global "Kyoto Protocol" commitment of a 12.5% decrease (compared to 1990) by 2012. However, decreases in emissions have been much slower in recent years - 2006 marked a 0.5% decrease in emissions compared to the year before.
The UK government is currently predicting a 23.6% decrease in emissions (compared to 1990 levels) in 2010, meeting its own domestic target of 20% by that year.
With a transformation in the energy sector now on the cards, the UK has set its sights on reductions of at least 60% by 2050. Environmentalists are demanding an 80% reduction by that year, and the government has suggested that increasing its 60% goal could happen if the science backs such a move as necessary to avert major climate change.
