EU: Net greenhouse gas emissions, 2011 and Kyoto 2008-2012 target
Ireland: Total net greenhouse gas emissions, 2002-2011
- Under the Kyoto protocol, EU countries agreed to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU by 8% on 1990 levels for the period 2008-2012. Ireland's Kyoto burden-sharing target is to ensure that average levels in the 2008-2012 period are no more than 13% above the 1990 emissions.
- Ireland exceeded the 2008-2012 Kyoto target of 113 for greenhouse gas emissions in 2002 when it was 125% of the 1990 level, (see graph).
- Between 2002 and 2008 the level of emissions from Ireland was in the range of 125% to 128% of the 1990 level. However, Irish emissions fell sharply in 2009 to 114% of the 1990 level and decreased steeply again in 2011 to 106%, (see graph).
- In 2011 Ireland's level of emissions, at 106%, was considerably higher than the EU average of 83 and the EU 15 average of 87 and was the joint seventh highest in the EU.
EU: Gross inland consumption of energy divided by GDP
EU: Gross inland consumption of energy divided by GDP, 2011
- Ireland's energy intensity ratio deteriorated slightly from 89 in 2007 to 92 in 2010 before improving to 83 in 2011. This ratio is calculated by dividing total usage of coal, electricity, oil, natural gas and renewable energy by GDP and is expressed in terms of kilogramme of oil equivalent (kgoe) per €1,000 GDP.
- Ireland had the lowest energy intensity ratio in the EU in 2011, while Bulgaria had the highest at 712. The EU average was 144.
- The ten countries with the highest ratios in 2011 were all new EU member states.
Ireland: Particulate matter in urban areas, 2002-2012
Ireland: Particulate matter in urban areas, 2002-2012
- The average readings for particulate matter (PM10) in Dublin rose from 23 µg/m3 in 2002 to 26 in 2003, fell to 20 in 2004 and then remained at around this level between 2005 and 2010.
- However in 2011 the average readings for particulate matter in Dublin dropped to 14 µg/m3 and fell slightly again to 13 in 2012.
- The levels for Cork were in the range of 22 to 26 µg/m3 between 2002 and 2004 before dropping to less than 20 between 2005 and 2009. Levels then rose to 22 in 2010, before falling slightly to stand at 17 in 2012.
- The average readings for particulate matter in towns other than Dublin or Cork have been more variable, ranging from a high of 32 µg/m3 in 2002 to low of 18 in 2008.
- European legislation contains limit values which permit particulate matter to exceed 50µg/m3 on not more than 35 days per annum from 2005. This limit was regularly broken in Dublin in the 1990s but has not been broken since then anywhere in Ireland, although the limit was close to being broken in 2010 for towns other than Dublin or Cork.
Ireland: Acid rain precursor emissions, 2000-2008
Ireland: Acid rain precursor emissions, 2000-2008
- The level of acid rain precursor emissions in Ireland has been decreasing every year since 2000, from 464.6 SO2 equivalent per 1,000 tonnes of gas emitted to 318.1 in 2008. The decrease is mainly due to much lower levels of sulphur dioxide emissions.
- The Gothenburg Protocol 2010 target emissions level is 306. Ireland's emissions were 52% above this target in 2000, but by 2008 the levels had reduced to just 4% above the target, (see graph).
Ireland: Total municipal waste generated, recovered and landfilled 2003-2011
Ireland: Total municipal waste generated, recovered and landfilled 2003-2011
- The quantity of municipal waste generated in Ireland increased each year between 2003 and 2007 resulting in an increase of 13.2% over this period. However between 2007 and 2011 the amount of waste generated decreased sharply by 16.9%.
- Waste recovered as a percentage of waste generated rose from 24.2% in 2003 to 42.6% in 2011. Waste landfilled as a percentage of waste generated was close to 60% between 2003 and 2009 before falling to 52.5% in 2010 and 47.6% in 2011.
EU: Municipal waste generated and treated, 2011
- 42.6% of municipal waste was recycled in Ireland in 2011, above the EU average of 38.6%. The highest recycling rate was in Germany at 62.5% while the lowest was in Romania at just 1.1%.
- Close to half (47.6%) of municipal waste was landfilled in Ireland in 2011, above the EU average of 36%. Germany, Netherlands and Sweden have extremely low landfill levels (less than 1%) because they recycle and incinerate much of their waste while Switzerland has no landfilled waste at all.
- Ireland had the fourth highest amount of municipal waste generated per person in 2011, at 618kg per person, behind Denmark, Luxembourg and Cyprus.
EU: Passenger cars per 1,000 population aged 15 and over, 2007-2011
- In 2008 the number of cars per 1,000 population aged 15 and over varied from 828 in Luxembourg to 221 in Romania.
- The number of private cars per 1,000 population aged 15 and over in Ireland rose from 548 in 2007 to 550 in 2008 before decreasing to 533 in 2010 followed by a small rise to 542 in 2011.
EU: Share of road transport in total inland freight transport, 2007-2011
EU: Share of road transport in total inland freight transport, 2011
- Road transport accounted for 99% of total inland freight transport in Ireland in 2011. This was the highest proportion in the EU among countries with a rail network, (neither Cyprus nor Malta have railways).
- Only 36.2% of inland freight was transported by road in Latvia while the EU average was 75.5%.