Sulphur Dioxide Emissions

HC Deb 18 June 1986 vol 99 cc552-3W

Mr. Donald Stewart

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the figures for total sulphur dioxide emissions in the United Kingdom for each of the past 10 years; and if he will break down each yearly figure by the following sources (a) power stations, (b) refineries, (c) other industrial sources, (d) transport, (e) agriculture, (f) commercial and public services and (g) domestic.

Mrs. Rumbold

The information requested is published annually in my Department's "Digest of Environmental Protection and Water Statistics", a copy of which is in the Library. The figures for 1975 to 1984 are as follows:

	River length classed as of bad or poor quality (km)	All classified river length (km)	Per cent. of all river length classed as of bad or poor quality
North West
1978–79	866	5,625	15.4
1979–80	877	5,656	15.5
1980–81	895	5,656	15.8
1981–82	876	5,656	15.5
1982–83	882	5,656	15.6
1983–84	1,141	5,900	19.3
1984–85	1,180	5,900	20.0
Northumbrian
1978–79	125	1,500	8.3
1979–80	123	1,500	8.2
1980–81	114	1,500	7.6
1981–82	105	1,500	7.0
1982–83	97	1,500	6.5
1983–84	90	1,500	6.0
1984–85	90	1,500	6.0
Severn-Trent
1978–79	697	6,198	11.2
1979–80	675	6,192	10.9
1980–81	617	6,190	10.0
1981–82	565	6,202	9.1
1982–83	511	6,202	8.2
1983–84	497	6,202	8.0
1984–85	496	6,202	8.0
South West
1978–79	137	2,640	5.2

	River length classed as of bad or poor quality (km)	All classified river length (km)	Per cent. of all river length classed as of bad or poor quality
1979–80	158	2,716	5.8
1980–81	156	2,722	5.7
1981–82	130	2,722	4.8
1982–83	178	2,722	6.5
1983–84	132	2,620	5.0
1984–85	177	2,631	6.7
Southern
1978–79	118	1,921	6.1
1979–80	97	2,061	4.7
1980–81	93	2,016	4.6
1981–82	78	2,011	3.9
1982–83	68	2,011	3.4
1983–84	112	2,010	5.6
1984–85	83	2,010	4.1
Thames
1978–79	290	2,408	12.0
1979–80	356	2,408	14.8
1980–81	370	2,408	15.4
1981–82	184	2,408	7.6
1982–83	125	2,408	5.2
1983–84	210	2,418	8.7
1984–85	159	2,418	6.6
Welsh
1978–79	358	4,781	7.5
1979–80	358	4,781	7.5
1980–81	337	4,781	7.0
1981–82	332	4,781	6.9
1982–83	326	4,781	6.8
1983–84	299	4,781	6.3
1984–85	309	4,781	6.5
Wessex
1978–79	97	1,955	5.0
1979–80	97	1,955	5.0
1980–81	114	2,094	5.4
1981–82	106	2,094	5.1
1982–83	95	2,011	4.7
1983–84	95	2,011	4.7
1984–85	88	2,011	4.4
Yorkshire
1978–79	787	6,031	13.0
1979–80	772	6,031	12.8
1980–81	760	6,031	12.6
1981–82	708	6,031	11.7
1982–83	690	6,031	11.4
1983–84	772	6,033	12.0
1984–85	769	6,033	12.7
England and Wales
1978–79	4,070	37,415	10.9
1979–80	3,937	37,651	10.5
1980–81	3,999	37,837	10.6
1981–82	3,598	37,846	9.5
1982–83	3,427	37,763	9.1
1983–84	3,765	37,921	9.9
1984–85	3,777	37,932	10.0

Source: Water Authorities Association.

Notes

The classification of rivers follows that set out in the National Water Council's report "River quality—the 1980 survey and future outlook". Poor quality rivers are those which are polluted to such an extent that fish are absent or sporadically present. Such rivers may be used for low-grade industrial abstraction purposes. Bad quality rivers are those which are grossly polluted and are likely to cause a nuisance.

The Table is based on monitoring performed by individual water authorities and in some cases the lengths of rivers monitored differs from the national surveys, and so the results cannot be directly compared.