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Carbon Emissions

Volume 455: debated on Thursday 18 January 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what the total carbon emissions of the UK were for road transport in the most recent year for which information is available; (115438)

(2) what the total carbon emissions of the UK were for (a) power generation and (b) domestic consumption in the most recent year for which information is available.

The UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory published in 2006 contains final estimates of emissions to 2004, which is the latest year for which information is currently available.

The total UK emissions of carbon dioxide from road transport, power generation and the domestic sector in 2004, as reported in the Inventory, are set out in the following table.

Sector

Total UK emissions of carbon dioxide in 2004 (Megatons (Mt))

Road transport

119.8 carbon dioxide or 32.7 carbon

Power generation

171.4 carbon dioxide

Domestic sector

87.9 carbon dioxide

Provisional DTI figures, published in March 2006, suggest small increases in emissions in 2005. Final statistics for 2005 from the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory will be available on 31 January.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's targets are for the reduction in total carbon emissions of the UK for (a) road transport, (b) power generation and (c) domestic consumption by (i) 2020, (ii) 2030 and (iii) 2050. (115439)

The new Climate Change Bill announced in the Queen's speech will make the Government's long-term goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60 per cent. by 2050 a statutory target. How this target is measured and how progress is reported, are fundamental issues that are still being considered. Appropriate interim targets are being looked at.

The Government do not have specific carbon dioxide emission reduction targets for individual sectors. However, the 2006 UK climate change programme (UKCCP) sets out the measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in six broad sectors: energy supply; business; transport; domestic; agriculture, forestry and land management; and public and local government.

The 2006 UKCCP also contains data on recorded emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases covered by the Kyoto protocol, and projected emissions of these gases to 2020.

The 2006 UKCCP can be accessed on the Defra website at:

http://defraweb/environment/climatechange/uk/ukccp/