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The greenhouse gas emissions data in this release were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on road and air transport, greenhouse gas emissions from these activities were lower in 2020 and 2021 than in previous years.
In 2021, greenhouse gas emissions by resident units in Ireland rose by 5% to 67.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (See Table A). Resident units are economic units such as households and businesses, which have engaged for at least one year in economic activity in Ireland.
The increase in greenhouse gas emissions in 2021 was mainly due to a 12% rise in emissions from the Industry sector, which included an increase of 1.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent from electricity generation (See Figure 1 and Table 1).
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector was the source of 35% of greenhouse gas emissions by resident units in Ireland in 2021. The Industry sector was responsible for 29% of the total, the Services sector emitted a further 17%, and the remaining 19% of greenhouse gas emissions originated with the Household sector (See Table A).
In 2021, 42% of carbon dioxide emissions were from Industry, 27% were emitted by the Services sector and 28% came from Households, while the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector was the source of 94% of methane emissions and 94% of nitrous oxide emissions (See Figure 2 and Tables 2-5).
Emissions by resident units of most air pollutants increased in 2021. The increase in emissions of sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide was due to a rise in emissions of these air pollutants from the electricity generation sector (See Tables 6-12).
In 2021, the Household sector was the source of 77% of carbon monoxide emissions and 58% of sulphur oxide and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions, while 99% of ammonia emissions came from the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector (See Figure 3).
| Table A Greenhouse Gas Emissions by NACE Sector | |||||||||||||
| Million tonnes CO2 equivalent | Change | % change | NACE sector share | ||||||||||
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2021/2020 | 2021/2020 | 2021 | ||||||
| Territorial Principle Emissions (EPA) | 63.4 | 63.7 | 61.2 | 59.1 | 62.1 | 3.1 | 5.2% | ||||||
| - Non-resident Activity in Ireland | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 64.7% | ||||||
| + Irish Resident Activity Abroad | 16.1 | 17.4 | 18.0 | 6.2 | 6.4 | 0.2 | 3.1% | ||||||
| Residence Principle Emissions (SEEA1), of which | 78.7 | 80.2 | 78.1 | 64.7 | 67.7 | 2.9 | 4.5% | ||||||
| Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | 22.6 | 23.4 | 22.5 | 22.9 | 23.7 | 0.8 | 3.6% | 35% | |||||
| Industry | 20.7 | 19.6 | 18.4 | 17.5 | 19.6 | 2.1 | 11.7% | 29% | |||||
| Services | 22.0 | 23.4 | 23.7 | 11.8 | 11.8 | -0.0 | -0.4% | 17% | |||||
| Households | 13.4 | 13.7 | 13.4 | 12.5 | 12.6 | 0.1 | 0.6% | 19% | |||||
| 1System of Environmental Economic Accounting | |||||||||||||
| Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | Industry | Services | Households | |
| 2012 | 20.498151993 | 19.35378324342 | 14.84712083309 | 14.047031372 |
| 2013 | 21.210788436 | 18.44090900318 | 15.35581392876 | 13.917628699 |
| 2014 | 20.691850585 | 19.23677872013 | 15.66800152496 | 13.183254119 |
| 2015 | 21.234657382 | 20.20962283384 | 16.62573757371 | 13.562262908 |
| 2016 | 21.794914775 | 21.1555185032 | 19.63652246431 | 13.987896042 |
| 2017 | 22.564411444 | 20.66728860803 | 22.03618083537 | 13.427383672 |
| 2018 | 23.442112837 | 19.64848672497 | 23.41722406223 | 13.693870841 |
| 2019 | 22.531406692 | 18.43149538978 | 23.69735958416 | 13.397890255 |
| 2020 | 22.856760211 | 17.53370989196 | 11.8146567611 | 12.536939937 |
| 2021 | 23.678058132 | 19.58980727354 | 11.77009837675 | 12.613239453 |
| Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | Industry | Services | Households | |
| Carbon dioxide | 1.3683420672 | 18.09221882713 | 11.53101489502 | 12.102083674 |
| Methane | 16.555306796 | 0.9184 | 0.0126728686 | 0.16286452056 |
| Nitrous oxide | 5.75333216895 | 0.23141906485 | 0.09542112315 | 0.06149872755 |
| Fluorinated gases | 0.0010770996 | 0.3473854068 | 0.13098948981 | 0.28679253076 |
| Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | Industry | Services | Households | |
| Sulphur oxides | 0.206430233157734 | 38.5457349855852 | 2.89890539369531 | 58.3489293875617 |
| Nitrogen oxides | 40.2325924748113 | 20.6849118959796 | 21.8251111102215 | 17.2573845189875 |
| Ammonia | 99.3882941098101 | 0.161976827470139 | 0.0910659386285916 | 0.358663124091141 |
| NMVOC | 37.9086956010023 | 38.1383501732959 | 1.2614179666266 | 22.6915362590753 |
| Carbon monoxide | 1.05113309956928 | 18.5743528455884 | 3.51666689551778 | 76.8578471593245 |
| PM2.5 | 8.46893581977646 | 26.5346821644633 | 6.52014774842389 | 58.4762342673363 |
| PM10 | 31.7548112439299 | 38.9666143408823 | 3.94926050855053 | 25.3293139066373 |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (17 August 2023) released Environmental Accounts Air Emissions 2021.
Commenting on the release, Clare O'Hara, Statistician in the Environment and Climate Division of the CSO, said: "This release from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) contains data on greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutant emissions by resident units in Ireland from 2012 to 2021. The term resident units is used to describe economic units of a country, such as households and businesses, which have engaged for at least one year in economic activity in that territory.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions in 2021
Greenhouse gas emissions by resident units were 67.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2021, an increase of 3 million, or 5%, on 2020. The rise in emissions mainly consisted of an increase of 2.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent from the Industry sector, including a rise of 1.6 million from electricity generation, and an increase of 0.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent from the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector.
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector was the source of 35% of total greenhouse gas emissions by resident units in Ireland in 2021. A further 29% was emitted by the Industry sector, 17% by the Services sector, and the remaining 19% came from the Household sector (See Table A).
Trends in Greenhouse Gas Emissions by NACE Sector
In the period 2012-2021, greenhouse gas emissions from Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing were at their highest in 2021 at 23.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Emissions from this sector increased in each year from 2015 to 2018 inclusive before falling by 4% in 2019. They then rose by 1% in 2020 and again by 4% in 2021.
Emissions from the Industry sector were at their highest of the period 2012-2021 in 2016 at 21.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, thereafter decreasing each year up to and including 2020, when they were at their lowest of the period. In 2021 Industry emissions increased by 12% to 19.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
The Services sector includes air and road transport services, so it is affected by the residence principle adjustment, i.e. carbon dioxide emissions from Irish airlines operating abroad have a large impact on the level of emissions attributed to the Services sector. Greenhouse gas emissions were at their highest of the period 2012-2021 in 2019, at 23.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. They were at their lowest in 2020 and 2021 at 11.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, when emissions from air transport decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Emissions from this sector rose in each year from 2012 to 2019 inclusive until the 50% decrease in emissions in 2020.
There was a slight rise in emissions from Households in 2021, at 12.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent compared with 12.5 million in 2020. This was an increase of 0.6% on 2020, which had the lowest emissions of the period 2012-2021. Household emissions are mainly due to transport in private cars and heating. In 2020 and 2021 emissions from Household transport were lower than in previous years.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Gas and NACE Sector
In 2021, 42% of carbon dioxide emissions were from Industry, 27% were emitted by the Services sector and 28% came from Households, while the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector was the source of 94% of methane emissions and 94% of nitrous oxide emissions. Fluorinated gas emissions were 1% of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2021 (See Table 5).
Territorial and Residence Principle Emissions
Territorial greenhouse gas emissions increased by 5% to 62.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2021. Territorial emissions are emissions produced on the territory of Ireland. They are reported annually by the Environmental Protection Agency and are used to determine whether Ireland has met its legally binding emissions targets. Emissions from Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) are not included in this release.
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. Examples are provided in the Background Notes to the release. Residence principle emissions are compiled using the same principles and classifications as National Accounts to ensure compatibility with economic indicators.
Air Pollutant Emissions
Emissions of the air pollutants sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, non-methane volatile organic compounds and ammonia all increased in 2021, while emissions of particulate matter showed little change. An increase in emissions of sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide from electricity generation was the main factor in the rise in emissions of these air pollutants. In 2021, the Household sector was the source of 77% of carbon monoxide emissions and 58% of sulphur oxide and fine particular matter (PM2.5) emissions, while the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector was the source of 99% of ammonia emissions."