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This air emissions accounts release reports data on residence principle emissions by NACE sector.
Residence principle emissions are emissions by resident units of the Irish economy. They differ from territorial principle emissions, which are emissions produced on the territory of Ireland. Territorial principle emissions are reported annually by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and are used to determine whether Ireland has met its legally binding emissions targets.
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. They are compiled using the same principles and classifications as National Accounts to ensure compatibility with economic indicators. Emissions from transport are assigned to the NACE sector of the vehicle operator.
In 2022, greenhouse gas emissions by resident units in Ireland rose by 10% to 73.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, while territorial greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2% to 60.6 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 2022 was mainly due to a rise in emissions from aviation after the reduction in air transport activity during the COVID-19 pandemic (See Figure 1 and Table 1).
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector was the source of 32% of greenhouse gas emissions by resident units in Ireland in 2022. The Services sector was responsible for 27% of the total, the Industry sector emitted a further 25%, and the remaining 16% of greenhouse gas emissions originated with the Household sector (See Table A).
In 2022, 39% of carbon dioxide emissions were from the Services sector which includes aviation, 35% were emitted by the Industry sector and 23% came from Households (See Figure 2 and Table 2).
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector was the source of 94% of methane emissions and 93% of nitrous oxide emissions in 2022 (See Figure 2 and Tables 3-4).
Emissions of all air pollutants by resident units of the Irish economy decreased in 2022 (See Tables 8-14).
In 2022, the Household sector was the source of 74% of carbon monoxide emissions, 58% of sulphur oxide emissions, and 56% of 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 | ||||||||||
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2022/2021 | 2022/2021 | 2022 | ||||||
| Territorial Principle Emissions (EPA) | 63.5 | 60.9 | 58.7 | 61.8 | 60.6 | -1.2 | -2% | ||||||
| - Non-resident Activity in Ireland | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.8 | -0.0 | -5% | ||||||
| + Irish Resident Activity Abroad | 17.4 | 18.0 | 6.2 | 6.4 | 14.1 | 7.7 | 120% | ||||||
| Residence Principle Emissions (SEEA1), of which | 79.9 | 77.8 | 64.4 | 67.3 | 73.8 | 6.6 | 10% | ||||||
| Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | 23.2 | 22.3 | 22.7 | 23.5 | 23.4 | -0.1 | -0% | 32% | |||||
| Industry | 19.5 | 18.3 | 17.5 | 19.4 | 18.8 | -0.6 | -3% | 25% | |||||
| Services | 23.6 | 23.9 | 11.6 | 11.8 | 19.8 | 8.0 | 68% | 27% | |||||
| Households | 13.6 | 13.3 | 12.7 | 12.6 | 11.8 | -0.7 | -6% | 16% | |||||
| 1System of Environmental Economic Accounting | |||||||||||||
| Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing | Industry | Services | Households | |
| 2013 | 20.93573061 | 18.36906878278 | 15.49105681815 | 13.864594807 |
| 2014 | 20.427506093 | 19.0873236897 | 15.91708716881 | 13.078223432 |
| 2015 | 20.98004868 | 20.01726480045 | 16.89678888528 | 13.460363933 |
| 2016 | 21.551980197 | 20.98147315962 | 19.85809899017 | 13.902882138 |
| 2017 | 22.337278282 | 20.52906975481 | 22.30111319384 | 13.251094448 |
| 2018 | 23.224654692 | 19.54889081917 | 23.58511213081 | 13.560917763 |
| 2019 | 22.312370309 | 18.29090043632 | 23.90799917221 | 13.252327228 |
| 2020 | 22.660293685 | 17.51229989691 | 11.60286263944 | 12.656269027 |
| 2021 | 23.487661946 | 19.39359799263 | 11.84017593724 | 12.570165941 |
| 2022 | 23.414132869 | 18.76341565789 | 19.83740407787 | 11.829148806 |
| Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing | Industry | Services | Households | |
| Carbon dioxide | 1.6505330845 | 17.38862758595 | 19.51759675683 | 11.398570932 |
| Methane | 16.67642871132 | 0.83688510332 | 0.013238974 | 0.13152281156 |
| Nitrous oxide | 5.0859867844 | 0.239327171 | 0.10208929695 | 0.0620198474 |
| Fluorinated gases | 0.0011842893 | 0.29857579749 | 0.20447905148 | 0.2370352162 |
| Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing | Industry | Services | Households | |
| Sulphur oxides | 0.361048010632046 | 38.454248874021 | 3.67518754674413 | 57.5095155686028 |
| Nitrogen oxides | 40.367986929971 | 20.24036105086 | 22.5546116178982 | 16.8370404012709 |
| Ammonia | 99.3601217105519 | 0.195463253759591 | 0.0996210470392705 | 0.34479398864921 |
| NMVOC | 38.8955306839289 | 39.1196052073526 | 1.26904419128118 | 20.7158199174373 |
| Carbon monoxide | 1.5923830885477 | 19.8264657227983 | 4.4158305027684 | 74.1653206858856 |
| PM2.5 | 9.07055158165209 | 27.7173235723588 | 7.44343296572347 | 55.7686918802657 |
| PM10 | 15.4284980450142 | 48.4624491177668 | 5.78315498401208 | 30.3258978532069 |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (14 June 2024) released Environmental Accounts Air Emissions 2022.
Commenting on the release, Clare O'Hara, Statistician in the Environment Division, said: "This release from the CSO contains data on greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutant emissions by resident units in Ireland from 2013 to 2022. 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 2022
Greenhouse gas emissions by resident units were 73.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2022, up 6.6 million tonnes, or 10%, on 2021 figures. The rise in emissions mainly resulted from increased aviation by Irish airlines as the impact of COVID-19 on air travel lessened.
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector was the source of 32% of total greenhouse gas emissions by resident units in Ireland in 2022. A further 27% was emitted by the Services sector, 25% by the Industry sector, and the remaining 16% came from the Household sector (See Table A).
Trends in Greenhouse Gas Emissions by NACE Sector, 2013-2022
In the period 2013-2022, greenhouse gas emissions from Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing were at their highest in 2021 at 23.5 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 2% in 2020 and again by 4% in 2021. In 2022, emissions were close to the 2021 level at 23.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Between 2013 and 2022, emissions from the Industry sector were at their highest in 2016 at 21.0 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, thereafter falling each year up to and including 2020, when they were at their lowest. In 2021 Industry emissions rose by 11% before falling again by 3% in 2022 to 18.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
The Services sector includes air and road transport services, so it is affected by the residence principle adjustment. 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 from this sector rose in each year from 2012 to 2019 inclusive and were at their highest in 2019, at 23.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. They were at their lowest in 2020 at 11.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, when emissions from air transport fell due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A 68% increase in 2022 to 19.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent was mainly due to emissions from aviation as air transport activity increased after the pandemic.
There was a fall of 6% in emissions from Households in 2022 to 11.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent compared with 12.6 million in 2021. This was the lowest level of emissions from Households of the period. Household emissions are mainly due to transport in private cars and heating. In 2022, despite an increase of 7% in emissions from household transport, overall emissions from Households fell due to a decrease of 16% in emissions from household heating (See Figure 1 and Table 1).
Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Gas and NACE Sector
In 2022, 39% of carbon dioxide emissions were from the Services sector, 35% were emitted by Industry and 23% came from Households, while the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector was the source of 94% of methane emissions and 93% of nitrous oxide emissions (See Figure 2 and Tables 2-4). Fluorinated gas emissions were 1% of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 (See Table 5).
Territorial and Residence Principle Emissions
Territorial greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2% to 60.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2022. Territorial 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.
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 (See Table 7). Examples can be found in the Background Notes of the release.
Air Pollutant Emissions
Emissions of all air pollutants decreased in 2022. In 2022, the Household sector was the source of 74% of carbon monoxide emissions, 58% of sulphur oxide emissions, and 56% of fine particular matter (PM2.5) emissions. The Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector was the source of 99% of ammonia emissions (See Figure 3 and Tables 8-14)."