Greenhouse gas emissions from stationary installations by the 27 countries that participate in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), plus Norway, were down last year by 1.4% when compared with the figure for 2011. In 2012, some 1.876mn tonnes of greenhouse gases were emitted.
To a certain part, the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases is due to the slowdown of the economy and lower industrial activity in the EU.
Last year, emissions related to industrial activity fell by 51Mt, or as much as 5%, with slowdown in output especially acute in the cement sector, where production fell by 13% year on year. Construction activity dropped 5%, while crude steel production was down 3% year on year. Nevertheless, activity in the remaining sectors was largely in line with the previous year.
2012’s emissions came in 346 Mt below the 2012 EU ETS cap, the largest annual gap between supply and demand since the market’s inception. The continuously falling emissions in the EU ETS are likely to intensify the discussions about political intervention to reduce the oversupply of allowances.
The two highest emitting countries within the EU ETS; Germany and the UK, saw an increase in emission of 2 Mt (1%) and 10 Mt (5%) respectively, but this was thought to be due to increased coal-fired power generation.
