Greenhouse Gas Emissions

HC Deb 14 October 1996 vol 282 c805W

Mr. Hardy

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the level of greenhouse gas emissions in(a) 1995–96 and (b) 1990. [40245]

Mr. Clappison

Estimates of the United Kingdom's emissions of the main greenhouse gases for 1990 and 1994 were published in the 18th "Digest of Environmental Statistics":

	Estimated emissions (million tonnes of gas)
	1990	1994
Carbon dioxide (CO2)	583	544
Methane (CH4)	4.44	3.88
Nitrous oxide (N2O)	0.11	0.09
Nitrogen oxides (NO2)	2.71	2.22
Carbon monoxide (CO)	6.42	4.86
Non-methane volatile organic compounds	2.28	2.03

1994 is the most recent year for which we have a published inventory of the United Kingdom's emissions of greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide emissions are provisionally estimated to have been 548 million tonnes in 1995.

These figures were calculated by the national environmental technology centre using the methodology developed by the intergovernmental panel on climate change.