This release presents territorial greenhouse gas emissions with a breakdown by emitting sector. Territorial greenhouse gas emissions are emissions produced on the territory of Ireland. They are reported annually by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and are used to determine whether Ireland has met its legally binding emissions targets.
The greenhouse gas emissions shown do not include emissions or emission reductions from land use, land use change, and forestry (LULUCF).
For residence principle emissions see Environment Accounts Air Emissions which report emissions from the Irish economy by NACE/Household sectors. Air Emissions Accounts do not include emissions by non-residents on the territory of Ireland but do include emissions from international transport by Irish residents abroad. The main sector affected by the residence principle adjustment is the transport sector, NACE H, which has significantly higher emissions under the residence principle. When combining NACE H emissions with economic data it should be noted that the economic output of residents abroad is included in National Accounts data.
Residence principle emissions are calculated from territorial principle emissions by removing transport emissions from non-resident units on the territory of Ireland, and by adding transport emissions by Irish resident units abroad.
The economic intensity of greenhouse gas emissions presented in this release combines published economic data from the CSO National Accounts division with greenhouse gas emissions data from the CSO Environment division. The greenhouse gas emission data used in this release to calculate the economic intensity of greenhouse gas emissions covers emissions from all NACE economic sectors (emissions from Households and Non-residents are not included), and is calculated on the territorial principle.
Territorial greenhouse gas emissions are emissions produced on the territory of Ireland. They are reported annually by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and are used to determine whether Ireland has met its legally binding emissions targets. This differs from the economic intensity analysis presented in the CSO's Output and Value Added by Activity release, where residence principle greenhouse gas emissions are used.
Under the residence principle emissions are assigned to the country where the company causing the emission is based ('resident'). The main difference occurs where emissions from international shipping and aviation are assigned to the countries where the airline/shipping company is based, regardless of where the emission takes place.
The greenhouse gas figures used to calculate economic intensity in this release are sourced from the CSO Environment Division’s Economic Trends in High Emitting Sectors releases.
The Gross Value Added, Gross National Income and Modified Gross National Income figures are sourced from the CSO Annual National Accounts releases.
The three main greenhouse gases included in this release are carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). As greenhouse gas emissions from human activities increase, they build up in the atmosphere, warming it through the greenhouse effect. Because many of the major greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere for tens to hundreds of years after being released, their warming effects on the climate persist over a long time and can therefore affect both present and future generations.
Carbon dioxide emissions are the result of burning fossil fuels such as coal, turf and petroleum products for heat, power and transport. Industrial processes such as cement production also emit CO2.
Nitrous oxide emissions arise from nitrogen fertilisers used in agriculture and a small number of industrial processes.
Methane emissions are caused by the digestive systems of ruminant animals, waste water treatment plants and landfill sites.
There are other greenhouse gases: hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3). The emissions from these fluorinated gases (F-gases) account for approximately 1-2% of total greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland.
Greenhouse gas emissions by different gases are compared using the global warming potentials (GWPs) for a 100-year time horizon from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report of 2014. The GWP is a measure of the global warming effect of a given mass of a greenhouse gas compared with the global warming effect of the same mass of carbon dioxide. The GWP for methane is 28 and that of nitrous oxide is 265. The GWPs of fluorinated gases vary, but many are in the thousands or tens of thousands. In this release fluorinated gas emissions are presented in units of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide may be converted into tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by multiplying their masses by their global warming potentials. For example, 35,000 tonnes of methane are equivalent to 980,000 (i.e. 35,000 x 28) tonnes of carbon dioxide for a 100-year time horizon.
The Business Energy Use (BEU) survey was first undertaken in 2009. It has been conducted on an annual basis since then. The primary purpose of the survey is to provide estimates of the quantities and costs of energy products purchased by enterprises in the Industry (including Construction) and Services sectors to operate their businesses.
A kilotonne of oil equivalent (ktoe) is a common unit of measurement which enables quantities of different fuels to be compared and aggregated.
More information is available in the Business Energy Use Background Notes.
The data received by the CSO were classified by tariff category (DUoS). DG1 is urban domestic and DG2 is rural domestic. However, small commercial customers (newsagents, farms, etc.) are sometimes included in these categories. Hence the total consumption by the residential sector is an over-estimate. The large energy users category is a combination of DUoS groups DG8, DG9, DG10 and TCON.
More information is available in the Metered Electricity Consumption Background Notes.
The data were extracted by the CSO from meter data received from the Electricity Supply Board (ESB Networks). Consumption figures are expressed in gigawatt hours (GWh). A kilowatt hour is a unit of energy equivalent to one kilowatt of power sustained over an hour. A gigawatt hour is equivalent to one million kWh.
Networked gas consumption is based on data from Gas Networks Ireland on all connections to the mains gas network. The data are gross calorific values expressed in gigawatt hours (GWh). A gigawatt hour is equivalent to one million kilowatt hours (a unit of energy equivalent to one kilowatt of power sustained over an hour).
More information is available in the Networked Gas Consumption Background Notes.
A Building Energy Rating (BER) is an indication of the energy performance of a building represented in units of kWh/m2/year. A BER is based on the characteristics of major components of the building. The BER certificate indicates the annual primary energy usage and carbon dioxide emissions associated with the provision of space heating, water heating, ventilation, lighting, and associated pumps and fans. The average annual primary energy use figures and carbon dioxide emissions are not based on actual energy use and emissions data.
Energy Products indices cover home production and imports.
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