Isra-Mart srl:UK carbon emissions edge up four per cent

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The government has blamed last year's freezing temperatures for a 13.5 per cent rise in carbon emissions from households, which led to an increase in overall UK carbon emissions of just under four per cent.

The increase, confirmed today in statistics published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), is likely to heap further pressure on the the government to step up efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, particularly after research this week revealed that the UK has dropped out of the top 10 of worldwide renewable energy investors.

The emissions statistics show that the UK pumped out 473.7 million tonnes of CO2 in 2009, while provisional figures show that 491.7 million tonnes were emitted in 2010 - an increase of 3.8 per cent

The residential sector saw the biggest leap with emissions from households reaching their highest level in a decade, standing 13 per cent above 1990 levels.

Last year was the coldest year on average since 1986 and DECC said that the increased emissions were largely the result of plunging temperatures encouraging people to turn on gas-powered space heaters.

The UK's overall emissions now sit at around 17 per cent below 1990 levels and a spokesman for the department denied that the sharp increase would put at risk the UK's target of cutting CO2 emissions 34 per cent by 2020.

"The figures show how energy inefficient British homes are and that's why we're focusing on policies like the Green Deal," he told BusinessGreen. "We're still well on course to meet the targets."

His comments were later echoed by energy and climate change secretary Chrish Huhne.

"Britain's blighted by inefficient and draughty homes which is why we want to help people waste less energy through the Green Deal and install new cleaner technologies to heat their homes," Huhne said in a statement. "As we come out of recession the Coalition's determined to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. That's why we are pushing on all fronts to turn around Britain's woeful record on renewables."

CO2 emissions in the business and energy sectors also crept up 2.4 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively, largely as a result of the cold temperatures and gradual economic recovery. Meanwhile, transport emissions stayed relatively stable despite a fall in the overall emissions from UK cars.

Overall, 2010 also saw a 2.8 per cent increase in UK emissions of the six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol - carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride - partly reversing an 8.7 per cent decrease the year before.

Green campaign group Friends of the Earth said the drop in clean energy investment and insufficient action to decouple growth from oil consumption meant emissions were likely to grow further as the economy moved out of recession.

"The Government has repeatedly promised to build a low-carbon economy to tackle climate change and insulate us all from yo-yoing fuel prices, but the Treasury refuses to lay the foundations or pay for the bricks," said executive director Andy Atkins.

"If the Government is going to get serious on climate change it must accept the Climate Change Committee's advice in full and set tougher targets for cutting UK emissions."

However, there was some better news for renewable energy in the annual government energy statistics, which were also released today.

Offshore wind generated almost 75 per cent more electricity in 2010 than 2009 following the opening of a number of new wind farms, and the UK made some progress towards its EU renewables target, increasing renewable energy's share of gross electricity consumption from 6.6 per cent to 7.3 per cent in 2010.

Total renewable electricity capacity increased 12 per cent as onshore wind capacity grew by 14 per cent to 476MW and offshore capacity increased by 42 per cent to 400MW.

However, the 25TWh of electricity produced by renewables in 2010 represented just a 0.1 per cent increase on the previous year and the overall share of UK electricity generation fell from 6.7 per cent in 2009 to 6.6 per cent in 2010, according to provisional statistics.

Onshore wind generation fell by 7.7 per cent due to low wind speeds, while hydroelectric output fell by 32.4 per cent due to low rainfall.