European emissions rose in 2010, with UK second largest emitter
About 56% of the EU increase in GHG emissions was accounted for
by Germany, the United Kingdom and Poland, with a growth in
hydrofluorocarbon emissions becoming a worrying factor. The
figures were supplied by the European Environment Agency today
and cover all greenhouse gas emissions of the 27 member states
of the European Union. They corroborate the figures released
last week from the latest figures from the International Energy
Agency, revealing that global greenhouse gas emissions reached a
record high of 31.6 gigatonnes last year, an increase of 1Gt, or
3.2%, on 2010. EEA Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade said
that “the increase could have been even higher without the fast
expansion of renewable energy generation in the EU.” The report
itself also attributes the reduced increase to “the improved
carbon intensity of fossil fuels, underpinned by strong gas
consumption". Nevertheless, final energy demand increased by
3.7% in 2010, outpacing