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NEC Directive status report 2012: Reporting by the Member States under Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants
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National Emission Ceilings (NEC) Directive Inventory: Data on emissions of air pollutants (NH3, NMVOC, NOX, SO2) reported annually by Member States to the European Commission (with copies to EEA) under Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on National Emission Ceilings for certain pollutants.
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Large Combustion Plants (LCP) opted out under Article 4(4) of Directive 2001/80/EC: The Directive on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from large combustion plants (LCP Directive, 2001/80/EC) applies to combustion plants with a rated thermal input equal to or greater than 50 MW, irrespective of the type of fuel used (solid, liquid or gaseous).
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Emissions of ozone precursors (CSI 002) - Assessment published Dec 2012: Emissions of the main ground-level ozone precursor pollutants have decreased across the EEA-32 region between 1990 and 2010; nitrogen oxides (NO X ) by 42%, non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) by 53%, carbon monoxide (CO) by 61%, and methane (CH 4 ) by 32%. This decrease has been achieved mainly as a result of the introduction of catalytic converters for vehicles, which has significantly reduced emissions of NO X and CO from the road transport sector, the main source of ozone precursor emissions. The EU-27 as a whole has not met its 2010 target to reduce emissions of NO X , one of the two ozone precursors (NO X and NMVOC) for which emission limits exist under the EU's NEC Directive (NECD). Whilst total NMVOC emissions in the EU-27 were below the NECD limit in 2010, a number of individual Member States did not meet their ceilings for one or both of these two pollutants. Of the three non-EU countries having emission ceilings for 2010 set under the UNECE/CLRTAP Gothenburg protocol (Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), all reported NMVOC emissions in 2010 that were lower than their respective ceilings, however Liechtenstein and Norway reported NO X emissions higher than their ceiling for 2010.
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Emissions of ozone precursors
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions (APE 002) - Assessment published Dec 2012: EEA-32 emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO X ) decreased by 42% between 1990 and 2010. In 2010, the most significant sources of NO X emissions were the 'Road transport' (41%), 'Energy production and distribution' (22%) and the 'Commercial, institutional and households' and 'Energy use in industry' (both 13%) sectors. The largest reduction of emissions in absolute terms since 1990 has occurred in the road transport sector. These reductions have been achieved despite the general increase in activity within this sector since the early 1990s and have primarily been achieved as a result of fitting three-way catalysts to petrol fuelled vehicles. However, ambient urban concentrations of NO2 in EU-27 countries in recent years have not fallen by as much as reported emissions. From 2001 to 2010, NO2 annual mean concentrations at urban background sites fell by just 10.6% on average (CSI004 - Fig 5) during which time the reported NO X emissions for the EU-27 decreased by 24.9%. The disparity between trends in NO X emissions and ambient NO2 concentration is due in part to increased penetration of diesel vehicles, and the ‘real-world’ emission performance of modern diesel vehicles not showing the improvements that were indicated by the test cycle emission factors used for emission inventories. It is also due to the increased proportion of NO X emitted directly as NO2 from the exhaust of more modern diesel vehicles which use catalyst systems for controlling emissions of other pollutants. As a result of this difference, a number of member states' NO X emissions could be significantly higher than currently calculated. In the electricity/energy production sector reductions have also occurred as a result of measures such as the introduction of combustion modification technologies (such as use of low NO X burners), implementation of flue-gas abatement techniques (e.g. NO X scrubbers and selective catalytic and non-catalytic reduction techniques, i.e. SCR and SNCR) and fuel-switching from coal to gas. The National Emission Ceilings Directive (NECD) specifies NO X emission ceilings for Member States that must have been met by 2010. In general, the newer EU Member States have made substantially better progress towards meeting their respective NO X ceilings than the older Member States of the EU-15. Eleven of the twelve post-2004 Member States had reduced their 2010 emissions beyond what is required under the NECD [1] , with the remaining one reporting NO X emissions just 2% above the NECD target. In contrast, only four of the EU-15 Member States reported emissions for 2010 within their respective national ceilings. Of the three non-EU countries having emission ceilings set under the UNECE/CLRTAP Gothenburg protocol (Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), only Switzerland reported 2010 emissions below the level of their 2010 ceiling. Environmental context: NO X contributes to acid deposition and eutrophication of soil and water. The subsequent impacts of acid deposition can be significant, including adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems in rivers and lakes and damage to forests, crops and other vegetation. Eutrophication can lead to severe reductions in water quality with subsequent impacts including decreased biodiversity, changes in species composition and dominance, and toxicity effects. NO2 is associated with adverse effects on human health, as at high concentrations it can cause inflammation of the airways and reduced lung function, increasing susceptibility to respiratory infection. It also contributes to the formation of secondary particulate aerosols and tropospheric ozone in the atmosphere, both of which are important air pollutants due to their adverse impacts on human health and other climate effects. [1] Emissions data reported by EU member states under NECD is used for comparison with NECD ceilings, and data reported under CLRTAP is used for all other calculations unless otherwise stated.
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions
Sector contributions of ozone precursor emissions in 2010 (EEA member countries): The contribution made by different sectors to emissions of the tropospheric (ground-level) ozone precursors in 2010.
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Emission trends of ozone-precursor pollutants 1990-2010 (EEA member countries, EU-27): This chart shows past emission trends of nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compunds (NMVOC), carbon monoxide (CO) and methane (CH4) in the EEA-32 and EU-27 group of countries. In addition - for the EU-27 - the aggregated Member State 2010 and 2020 emission ceilings for NOx and NMVOC are shown.
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Sector share of nitrogen oxides emissions (EEA member countries): The contribution made by different sectors to emissions of nitrogen oxides in 2010.
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Distance-to-target for EEA member countries: The distance-to-target indicator shows how current emissions compare to a linear emission reduction 'target-path' between 2010 emission levels and 2020 Gothenburg emission ceilings for each country. Negative percentage values indicate the current emissions in a country are below the linear target path; positive values show that current emission lie above a linear target path to 2020.
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Emission trends of nitrogen oxides (EEA member countries, EU-27 Member States): This chart shows past emission trends of nitrogen oxides in the EEA-32 and EU-27 group of countries. In addition - for the EU-27 - the 2010 NECD and 2020 Gothenburg target paths and emission ceilings are shown.
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs