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Scottish emissions of air pollutants 2007 results
13/10/2009
Scotland's Chief Statistician today announces the release of a report on Scottish emissions of carbon monoxide, ammonia, nitrogen oxides, sub-10 micron particulate matter (PM10), sulphur dioxide, lead and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) on the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory website.
The main findings are:
- Over the long term there have been reductions in emissions for all the pollutants. Since 1990, there have been decreases of 17 per cent for ammonia, 45 per cent for nitrogen oxides, 52 per cent for PM10, 62 per cent for NMVOCs, 75 per cent for sulphur dioxide, 77 per cent for carbon monoxide and 99 per cent for lead.
In 2007
- Ammonia - Scottish emissions accounted for 13 per cent of UK emissions. The main source of Scottish emissions was agriculture responsible for 95 per cent of emissions.
- Nitrogen oxides - Scottish emissions accounted for 10 per cent of UK emissions. Power generation accounted for 28 per cent of Scottish emissions, road transport 26 per cent, 13 per cent from industrial combustion and 6% from residential combustion.
- PM10 - Scottish emissions accounted for 10 per cent of UK emissions. Twenty six per cent of Scottish emissions came from transport sources, 21 per cent from commercial and residential combustion and 15 per cent from power generation.
- NMVOCs - Scottish emissions accounted for 16 per cent of UK emissions. Industrial processes accounted for 39 per cent of Scottish emissions, solvent processes 22 per cent, oil and gas processes 25 per cent and road transport 5 per cent.
- Sulphur dioxide - Scottish emissions accounted for 13 per cent of UK emissions. Sixty two per cent of Scottish emissions came from power generation, 10 per cent from industrial combustion, 11 per cent national navigation, 8 per cent from refineries and 5 per cent from residential combustion.
- Carbon monoxide - Scottish emissions accounted for 8 per cent of UK emissions. Road transport accounted for 36 per cent of Scottish emissions, residential and commercial combustion 32 per cent and 15 per cent came from industrial combustion.
- Lead - Scottish emissions accounted for 4 per cent of UK emissions. Residential combustion and energy industries both accounted for 23 per cent of Scottish emissions and industrial combustion accounted for a further 20 per cent.
The 1990-2007 figures in this Statistics Release are from the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory report "Air Quality Pollutant Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: 1990 - 2007", produced by AEA Energy & Environment for the Scottish Government, the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Department of Environment.
Emissions from the offshore oil and gas exploration sector are not attributed to a specific country but are reported within an "unallocated" category.
Air pollutant emissions are reviewed every year, and the whole historical data series is revised to incorporate methodological improvements and new data.
There are uncertainties associated with all estimates of pollutant emissions. The uncertainty rating are "high" for ammonia, carbon monoxide and PM10, "moderate" for NMVOCs and lead and "low" for nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide. However, although for any given year considerable uncertainties may surround the emission estimates, it should be noted that trends over time are likely to be more reliable.