§ Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide his estimate of the levels of emission of carbon dioxide and of other chemical substances contributing to acid rain from Britain(a) during the last two months and (b) the comparable figure for the same period in 1989.
§ Mr. TrippierData on emissions of selected gases into the atmosphere are published annually in the Digest of Environmental Protection and Water Statistics, the latest of which (No. 12) contains figures for 1978–88 and has been placed in the Library of the House. Monthly figures are not available. Emissions of carbon dioxide and of the main contributors to acid rain, sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen for 1987–88 are as follows:
United Kingdom Estimated Emissions 1987 1988 Carbon dioxide1 (million tonnes) 159 158 Sulphur dioxide (thousand tonnes) 3,863 3,664 Nitrogen oxides2 (thousand tonnes) 2,429 2,480 1 Expressed in terms of weight of carbon emitted 2 Expressed as nitrogen dioxide equivalent