Indicator Assessment

EEA-32 Nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions

Indicator Assessment

Prod-ID: IND-166-en

Also known as: APE 002

Published 15 Feb 2010 Last modified 11 May 2021

19 min read

This is an old version, kept for reference only.

Go to latest version

Topics: Environment and health Industry

This page was archived on 25 Aug 2017 with reason: A new version has been published

EEA-32 emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) have decreased by 31% between 1990 and 2007. In 2007, the most significant sources of NO_x emissions were the road transport sector (36%), combustion processes from within the energy industries sector (21%) and industrial energy use (15%) and the non-road transport sector (16%).
The largest reduction of emissions 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. In the electricity/energy production sector reductions have also occurred, in these instances 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 (SCR) and selective non-catalytic (SNCR) reduction techniques) and fuel-switching from coal to gas.
The National Emission Ceilings Directive (NECD) specifies NO_x emission ceilings for Member States that must be met by 2010. In general, the newer Member States have made substantially better progress towards meeting their respective NOx ceilings than the older Member States of the EU-15. Eleven of the twelve post-2004 Member States have already reduced emissions beyond what is required under the NECD, or are very close to doing so (Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia). In contrast, only one EU-15 Member State (Portugal) has emissions within its respective national ceiling. Many Member States therefore must make significant cuts to NO_x emissions in the immediate coming years if they are to meet their obligations under the NECD.
Environmental context: NO_x contributes to acid deposition and eutrophication. 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. It is NO₂ that is associated with adverse affects on human health, as at high concentrations it can cause inflammation of the airways. NO₂ also contributes to the formation of secondary particulate aerosols and tropospheric ozone in the atmosphere - both are important air pollutants due to their adverse impacts on human health.

Emission trends of nitrogen oxides (EEA member countries, EU-27 Member States)

Note: 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 emission ceiling and aggregated projections reported by Member States are shown.

Data source:

Downloads and more info

Change in emissions of nitrogen oxides compared with the 2010 NECD and Gothenburg protocol targets (EEA member countries)

Note: The reported change in nitrogen oxide emissions (NOx) for each country, 1990-2008, in comparison with the 2010 NECD and Gothenburg protocol targets.

Data source:

Downloads and more info

Distance-to-target for EEA member countries

Note: Data are for NOx emissions. The 'distance to target' results are shown in green (countries need to do more to be on track to meet their ceiling in 2010) and purple (countries are on track to meet their ceiling in 2010).

Data source:

EEA aggregated and gap-filled air emission dataset, based on 2009 officially reported national total and sectoral emissions to UNECE LRTAP Convention, the EU NEC Directive and EU-MM/UNFCCC.

Downloads and more info

EEA-32 NO_x emissions have decreased by 31% between 1990 and 2007. The majority of EEA-32 countries have reported lower emissions of NO_x in 2007 compared to 1990. The exceptions to this are Austria (+14% increase between 1990 and 2007), Cyprus (+24%), Greece (+25%), Malta (20%), Portugal (+2%), Spain (+20%) and Turkey (85%).

In general, the newer Member States of the European Union have made substantially better progress towards meeting their respective NO_x ceilings than the older EU-15 Member States. Eleven of the twelve post-2004 Member States have already reduced emissions beyond what is required under the NECD, or are very close to doing so (Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia). In contrast, only one EU-15 Member State (Portugal) has emissions within its respective national ceiling.

Many Member States are not considered to be on track towards meeting their obligations under the NECD. In particular Austria, Spain, Ireland, Malta, France, Belgium and Greece must still make significant cuts to NO_x emissions in the immediate coming years if they are to meet their obligations under the NECD. Emissions have actually increased in Austria (+14%), Cyprus (+24%), Greece (+25%), Malta (20%), Portugal (+2%) and Spain (+20%) during the period 1990 to 2007, despite all countries having obligations to reduce emissions under the NECD and Gothenburg Protocol.

The EFTA-4 (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and CC-3 (Croatia, FYR of Macedonia and Turkey) countries are not members of the European Union and hence have no emission ceilings set under the NECD. However, Switzerland and Norway have ratified the Gothenburg Protocol, requiring them to reduce their emissions to the agreed ceiling specified in the protocol by 2010. Switzerland is close to meeting its Gothenburg Protocol ceiling, whilst Norway, which has not yet met its national ceiling still must make a significant reduction to NO_x emissions.

Change in nitrogen oxides emissions for each sector between 1990 and 2008 (EEA member countries)

Note: Percentage change in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions for each sector between 1990 and 2008.

Data source:

Downloads and more info

Contribution to total change in nitrogen oxides emissions for each sector (EEA member countries)

Note: The contribution made by each sector to the total change in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions between 1990 and 2008.

Data source:

Downloads and more info

Reductions of NO_x have occurred in all economic sectors. The three sectors responsible for the vast majority of the decline in NO_x emissions are 'road transport' (contributing 46% of the total reduction in NO_x emissions reported by countries), 'energy industries' (contributing 28%), and 'industry (energy)' (contributing 9%).

Significant reductions have occurred in the 'road transport' sector since the early 1990s (36% reduction between 1990 and 2007). This has been achieved despite the general increase in activity within this sector over the period. The emission reductions have primarily been achieved as a result of fitting catalysts to vehicles (driven by the legislative 'Euro' standards). However, across Europe there is also an increasing awareness of the contribution made to NO_x pollutant emissions by national and international ship traffic (a more detailed discussion of this issue is contained in the TERM indicator fact sheet TERM03 - Transport emissions of air pollutants).

Emissions of NO_x have also declined in the 'energy industries' (21% reduction between 1990 and 2007). In the electricity/energy production sector this has been achieved through the implementation of measures such as combustion modification, introduction of flue-gas abatement techniques and a fuel-switching from coal to gas. One of the most common forms of combustion modification is to use low NO_x burners, which typically can reduce NO_x emissions by up to 40%. Flue gas treatment techniques (e.g. NO_x scrubbers and selective (SCR) and selective non-catalytic (SNCR) reduction techniques) can also be used to remove NO_x from the flue gases. Emissions of NO_x are higher from coal-fired power plants than from gas-fired plants as a result of coal containing significant amounts of nitrogen (unlike gas) and their less efficient combustion processes.

The newer Member States of the European Union have in a number of cases also undergone significant economic structural changes since the early 1990s which has led to a general decline in certain activities which previously contributed to high levels of NO_x emissions e.g. heavy industry and the closure of older inefficient power plants.

Supporting information

Indicator definition

The indicator tracks trends since 1990 in anthropogenic emissions of nitrogen oxides.
The indicator also provides information on emissions by sectors: Energy industries; road and other transport; industry (processes and energy); other (energy); fugitive emissions; waste; agriculture and other (non energy).
Geographical coverage: EEA-32. The EEA-32 country grouping includes countries of the EU-27 (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) EFTA-4 (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Norway) and Turkey.
Temporal coverage: 1990-2007

Units

ktonnes (1000 tonnes)

Rationale

Justification for indicator selection

Nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) are together referred to as nitrogen oxides (NO_x). Combustion of fossil fuels is by far the dominant source of NO_x emissions. The emissions are not dependent solely on the amount of nitrogen in the fuel but also on the air - fuel mix ratio. High temperatures and oxidation-rich conditions generally favour NO_x formation in combustion.

NO_x contributes to acid deposition and eutrophication which in turn can lead to potential changes occurring in soil and water quality. 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. In many cases, the deposition of acidifying and eutrophying substances still exceeds the critical loads of the ecosystems (see EEA indicator CSI 005 'Exposure of ecosystems to acidification, eutrophication and ozone'). Further details concerning emissions of acidifying pollutants are provided in EEA's Core Set Indicator CSI 001 'Emissions of acidifying substances'.

It is NO₂ that is associated with adverse affects on human health, as at high concentrations it can cause inflammation of the airways. NO₂ also contributes to the formation of secondary particulate aerosols and tropospheric ozone (O₃) in the atmosphere - both are important air pollutants due to their adverse impacts on human health. NO_x is therefore linked both directly and indirectly to effects on human health. Further details concerning the contribution of NO_x to emissions of tropospheric ozone precursors and particulate matter are contained in EEA's Core Set Indicators CSI 002 'Emissions of ozone precursors' and CSI 003 'Emissions of primary particles and secondary particulate precursors'.

Scientific references

No rationale references available

Policy context and targets

Context description

A number of policies have been implemented that directly or indirectly reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxides. These include:

The National Emission Ceilings Directive 2001/81/EC (NECD) which entered into force in the European Community in 2001. The NECD sets emission ceilings for four important air pollutants (NO_x, sulphur dioxide (SO₂), ammonia (NH₃) and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs)) to be achieved from 2010 onwards for each Member State. The ceilings are designed to improve the protection in the Community of the environment and human health against risks of adverse effects arising from acidification, eutrophication and ground level ozone. The NECD is presently under review, the European Commission may adopt a proposal for a revised Directive during 2010.
The Gothenburg Protocol (1999) to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's (UNECE) Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention) to abate acidification, eutrophication and ground-level ozone. A key objective of the protocol is to regulate emissions on a regional basis within Europe and to protect eco-systems from transboundary pollution by setting emission reduction ceilings to be reached by 2010 for the same 4 pollutants as addressed in the NECD (i.e. SO₂, NO_x,NH₃ and NMVOCs). Overall for the EU Member States, the ceilings set within the Gothenburg protocol are generally either slightly less strict or the same as the emission ceilings specified in the NECD.
The Large Combustion Plant Directive (2001/80/EC) is important in reducing emissions of NO_x, SO₂ and dust from combustion plants having a thermal capacity equal to or greater than 50 MW. Installations within the scope of this Directive include power stations, petroleum refineries, steelworks and other industrial processes running on solid, liquid and gaseous fuels. "New" plant must meet the emission limit values (ELVs) given in the LCPD. However Member States can choose to meet obligations for existing plant (i.e. those in operation per-1987) by either complying with the ELVs or they can operate within a national emission reduction plan (NERP) that sets a ceiling for each pollutant. The interaction of the LCPD and the IPPC Directive (see below) is currently being examined as part of a review of the IPPC Directive.
The Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (96/61/EC) entered into force in 1999. It aims to prevent or minimise pollution to air, water or land from various industrial sources throughout the European Union. Those installations covered by Annex I of the IPPC Directive are required to obtain authorisation from the authorities to operate. New installations and existing installations, which are subject to 'substantial changes' have been required to meet the requirements of the IPPC Directive since 30^th October 1999. Other existing installations must have been brought into compliance by the 30^th October 2007. The emission limit values outlined in the permit conditions must be based on the best available techniques (BAT). The Commission has been undertaking a review of the IPPC Directive and related legislation on industrial emissions and on the 21^st December 2007 adopted a proposal for a Directive on industrial emissions. The proposal recasts seven existing Directives relating to industrial emissions (including IPCC and the LCPD) into a single legislative instrument.
The aim of the Directive 96/62/EC on ambient air quality assessment and management (the 'Air Quality Framework Directive') is to maintain and improve air quality within the European Community by establishing objectives for ambient air, drawing up common methods and criteria for assessing air quality and obtaining and disseminating information. The first "Daughter" Directive 99/30/EC entered into force in 1999 and set limit values for hourly and annual average nitrogen dioxide concentrations to be achieved throughout the community by 1^st January 2010.
Since the early 1990s standards on NO_x emissions from new cars sold in Europe have been in place. This first came about with EU Directive 91/441/EC, which effectively mandated the fitting of three-way catalysts to all new petrol cars to significantly reduce emissions of CO, hydrocarbons and NO_x. Standards for this Directive, frequently referred to as Euro 1, were followed by Euro 2 standards implemented by Directive 94/12/EC during the mid 1990s. Yet more stringent EU Directives have been put in place to reduce NO_x emissions further, the most recent being (98/69/EC) setting emission limits for petrol cars sold after 2000 and then after 2005 (Euro 3 and 4 standards respectively).
NO_x emissions from diesel vehicles have also been regulated since the early 1990s (since 1988 for heavy duty vehicles) with a succession of more stringent EU Directives. The legislation currently in force for heavy duty vehicles is 2005/55/EC and 2005/78/EC (implementing provisions) which define the emission standard currently in force, Euro IV, as well as the next stage (Euro V) which entered into force in October 2008.
In parallel with vehicle technology developments, improvements in the quality of petrol and diesel fuels have been made as a result of the EU Directive on fuel quality (98/70/EC as amended by 2003/17/EC). Fuel quality has little effect on NO_x emissions directly, but improvements in fuel quality have allowed the fitting of exhaust after-treatment technologies and provided better catalyst performance, hence helping to reduce NO_x emissions further.
Directive 97/68/EC on the emissions of pollutants from internal combustion engines installed in non road mobile machinery sets emission standards and type approval procedures for engines fitted to non road mobile machinery.

Targets

Emissions of NO_x are covered by the EU National Emission Ceilings Directive (NECD) (2001/81/EC) and the Gothenburg protocol under the United Nations Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention) (UNECE 1999). The NECD generally involves slightly stricter emission reduction targets than the Gothenburg Protocol for EU-15 countries for the period 1990-2010. The Gothenburg Protocol entered into force on 17 May 2005, after ratification by 16 countries early in 2005.

Table: Percentage reduction (^#) required by 2010 from 1990 levels by country, for emissions of NO_x

	1990 - 2010: NECD ceilings (%)	1990 - 2010: CLRTAP Gothenburg Protocol ceilings (%)
Austria	-46%	-44%
Belgium	-54%	-52%
Bulgaria	2%	10%
Cyprus	45%	-
Czech Republic	-61%	-61%
Denmark	-54%	-54%
Estonia	-19%	-
Finland	-43%	-43%
France	-58%	-56%
Germany	-63%	-62%
Greece	15%	15%
Hungary	-17%	-17%
Iceland *	-	-
Ireland	-48%	-48%
Italy	-51%	-50%
Latvia	-10%	24%
Liechtenstein	-	-30%
Lithuania	-19%	-19%
Luxembourg	-53%	-53%
Malta	-16%	-
Netherlands	-52%	-50%
Norway	-	-25%
Poland	-31%	-31%
Portugal	9%	14%
Romania	-5%	-5%
Slovakia	-41%	-41%
Slovenia	-31%	-31%
Spain	-31%	-31%
Switzerland	-	-49%
Sweden	-51%	-51%
Turkey	-	-87%
United Kingdom	-57%	-57%

^#The actual 2010 emission ceilings specified in the NECD and Gothenburg Protocol are expressed as absolute emissions of SO2, NOx, NH3 and NMVOC (in ktonnes). For the purposes of this indicator 1990 is considered as a 'base year' and the percentage change to emissions to meet the ceilings is calculated. Reported emissions for past years may change reflecting e.g. updated and revised emission inventory guidance, and so the % reduction required to meet the CLRTAP and NECD targets as shown here may change slightly in the future.

* Emissions data not available for Iceland.

Methodology

Methodology for indicator calculation

Indicator is based on officially reported national total and sectoral emissions to UNECE/EMEP (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe/Co-operative programme for monitoring and evaluation of the long-range transmission of air pollutants in Europe) Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention), submission 2009. Recommended methodologies for emission inventory estimation are compiled in the EMEP/CORINAIR Atmospheric Emission Inventory guidebook, EEA Copenhagen (EEA, 2009). Base data are available from the EEA Data Service (http://dataservice.eea.europa.eu/dataservice/metadetails.asp?id=1096) and the EMEP web site (http://www.ceip.at/). Where necessary, gaps in reported data are filled by ETC/ACC using simple interpolation techniques (see below). The final gap-filled data used in this indicator is available from the EEA Data Service (http://dataservice.eea.europa.eu/dataservice/metadetails.asp?id=1058).

Base data, reported in SNAP, draft NFR or NFR are aggregated into the following EEA sector codes to obtain a common reporting format across all countries and pollutants:

'Energy industries': emissions from public heat and electricity generation, oil refining and production of solid fuels;
'Fugitive emissions': Emissions from extraction and distribution of solid fossil fuels and geothermal energy;
'Industry (Energy)': emissions from combustion processes used in the manufacturing industry including boilers, gas turbines and stationary engines;
'Industry (Processes)': emissions derived from non-combustion related processes such as the production of minerals, chemicals and metal production;
'Road transport': light and heavy duty vehicles, passenger cars and motorcycles;
'Off-road transport': railways, domestic shipping, certain aircraft movements, and non-road mobile machinery used in agriculture & forestry;
'Other (energy-related)': emissions principally occurring from fuel combustion in the services and household sectors;
'Other (Non Energy)': non-combustion related emissions mainly in the services and households sectors including activities such as paint application, dry-cleaning and other use of solvents;
'Agriculture': manure management, fertiliser application, field-burning of agricultural wastes
'Waste': incineration, waste-water management;
'Unallocated': The difference between the reported national total and the sum of the sectors reported by a country.

The 'unallocated' sector corresponds to the difference between the reported national total and the sum of the reported sectors for a given pollutant / country / year combination. It can be either negative or positive. Inclusion of this additional sector means that the officially reported national totals do not require adjustment to ensure that they are consistent with the sum of the individual sectors reported by countries.

The following table shows the conversion of Nomenclature for Reporting (NFR) sector codes used for reporting by countries into EEA sector codes:

EEA classification	Non-GHGs (NFR)	GHG (CRF)
0 National totals	National total	National totals without LUCF
1 Energy Industries	1A1	1A1
3 Industry (energy)	1A2	1A2
2 Fugitive emissions	1B	1B
7 Road transport	1A3b	1A3b
8 Other transport (non-road mobile machinery)	1A3 (exl 1A3b)	1A3a, 1A3c, 1A3d, 1A3e
9 Industry processes	2	2
4 Agriculture	4 + 5B	4
5 Waste	6	6
6 Other (energy)	1A4a, 1A4b, 1A4b(i), 1A4c(i), 1A5a	1A4, 1A5
10 Other (non-energy)	3 + 7	3 + 7
12 Energy industries (power production)	1A1a	1A1a
14 Unallocated	Difference between national total and sum of sectors (1 - 10)

Methodology for gap filling

EEA/ETC-ACC gap-filling methodology. To allow trend analysis where countries have not reported data for one or several years, data has been interpolated to derive annual emissions. If the reported data is missing either at the beginning or at the end of the time series period, the emission value has been considered to equal the first (or last) reported emission value. It is recognised that the use of gap-filling can potentially lead to artificial trends, but it is considered unavoidable if a comprehensive and comparable set of emissions data for European countries is required for policy analysis purposes.

Methodology references

No methodology references available.

Uncertainties

Methodology uncertainty

The use of gap-filling for when countries have not reported emissions for one of more years can potentially lead to artificial trends, but it is considered unavoidable if a comprehensive and comparable set of emissions data for European countries is required for policy analysis purposes.

Data sets uncertainty

NO_x emission estimates in Europe are thought to have an uncertainty of about ±20% (EMEP, 2009), as the NO_x emitted comes both from the fuel burnt and the combustion air and so cannot be estimated accurately from fuel nitrogen alone. However, because of the need for interpolation to account for missing data, the complete dataset used will have higher uncertainty. The trend is likely to be more accurate than the individual absolute annual values - the annual values are not independent of each other.

Overall scoring: (1-3, 1=no major problems, 3=major reservations)

Relevancy: 1
Accuracy: 2
Comparability over time: 2
Comparability over space: 2

Rationale uncertainty

This indicator on emissions of Nitrogen oxide is produced annually by EEA and is used regularly in its State of the Environment reporting. The uncertainties related to methodology and data sets are therefore of importance. Any uncertainties involved in the calculation and in the data sets need to be accurately communicated in the assessment, to prevent erroneous messages influencing policy actions or processes.

Data sources

Air Emission data set for Indicators
provided by European Environment Agency (EEA)
National Emission Ceilings (NEC) Directive Inventory
provided by Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV)
National emissions reported to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention)
provided by United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

Other info

DPSIR: Pressure
Typology: Performance indicator (Type B - Does it matter?)

Indicator codes

APE 002

EEA Contact Info

Permalinks

Permalink to this version: 455ff4086b4efe1e0bf80a8d35929bce
Permalink to latest version: IND-166-en

Older versions

07 Aug 2008 - Emission trends of nitrogen oxides NOx

20 Oct 2004 - EEA31 NOx emissions

Geographic coverage

Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechia Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom

Temporal coverage

1990-2010

For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/eea-32-nitrogen-oxides-nox-emissions/eea-32-nitrogen-oxides-nox or scan the QR code.

PDF generated on 25 Apr 2024, 01:02 AM

Dates

First draft created:

05 Jan 2010, 12:00 PM

Publish date:

15 Feb 2010, 12:00 AM

Last modified:

11 May 2021, 11:42 AM

Topics

Topics: Environment and health Industry