CO2 intensity of electricity and heat generation

Annual emissions of CO₂ in UNFCCC reporting format (In Mt = million tonnes).

For CO₂ only, the (national) totals do not include emissions from biomass burning or emissions or removals from land-use change and forestry (LULUCF – CFR 5). The energy sector (CFR 1) is responsible for energy-related emissions, such as those arising from fuel combustion activities and fugitive emissions from fuels. Fuel combustion activities include: energy industries, manufacturing industries and construction, transport, other sectors and other stationary or mobile emissions from fuel combustion. Fugitive emissions from fuels include: solid fuels and oil and natural gas.

Emissions of CO₂ from fossil combustion in electricity and heat production contribute significantly to total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. The indicator estimates to what extent changes in efficiency, fuel mix and pollution abatement have influenced the CO₂ intensity of electricity and heat production.

The trends evident in this factsheet, together with projections in other factsheets (e.g. see EN01), indicate that additional policy measures will need to be implemented in order to meet the EU’s longer-term emissions reduction targets, particularly for CO₂. In addition to the EU’s commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (of which CO₂ is the main gas) under the Kyoto Protocol, In March 2007, the Council of the European Union decided that EU would make a firm independent commitment to achieving at least a 20 % reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared to 1990. It also endorsed an EU objective of a 30 % reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared to 1990 provided that other developed countries commit themselves to comparable emission reductions. This was further strengthen in the The EU climate and energy package (E&E), setting a 20 % reduction in GHG, 20% reduction in energy consumption and 20% reduction in primary energy use (knows as the "20-20-20" targets) be reached by 2020. The E&E primarily focuses on energy efficiency and includes the Effort Sharing decision targets as well as more stringent renewable targets. With the ‘Roadmap for moving to a low-carbon economy in 2050’ the European commission is looking beyond the 2020 targets with the aim of keeping global warming below the 2 degree threshold limit. Transport will play an important role in the move to a low carbon economy. The recently published White paper sets out over 60 measure to move towards a sustainable transport across Europe. 

The total emissions of CO₂ from electricity and heat production depend on both the amount of electricity and heat produced as well as the CO₂ intensity per unit produced (which are also fuel specific). Therefore the policies and measures to reduce emissions need to address both demand (e.g. through improvements in the energy efficiency of buildings and appliances) to stem the rapid increase in electricity and heat production, as well as CO₂ intensity per unit of electricity and heat produced (e.g. by fuel switching, generation efficiency).

A number of EU policies have contributed to efforts to curb total electricity and heat produced and CO₂ intensity per unit produced. For example, the Directives establishing rules for the common market for electricity (2003/54/EC) and gas (2003/55/EC) have encouraged switching to cheaper and more efficient technologies, in particular to gas. The market liberalisation and competition resulting from these Directives also contributed to cheaper energy prices in the 1990s which may have encouraged energy consumption. However the steep increases in energy prices since 2000 and particularly after 2004, may help to constrain energy demand.

Another important policy is the EU ETS which sets a cap on overall emissions of GHG from the industrial sector (factories, power plants and other installations in the system). The Effort sharing decision is now being added to regulated sectors outside the EU ETS to ensure all sources are captured and controlled through emission targets.

The integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) Directive (96/61/EC) requires plants of less than 20MW to meet a set of basic energy efficiency provisions. For larger plants energy efficiency is covered by the plants’ participation within the EU greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme established by Directive 2003/87/EC. Under the Directive, each Member State was required to draw up a National Allocation Plan that included caps on CO₂ emissions from all thermal electricity generating plant greater than 20 MW. A shift to less carbon intensive fuels for electricity generation, such as gas, and improvements in efficiency are important options to help generators meet their requirements under the directive.

The EC’s Green Paper on Energy Efficiency (COM(2005)265 final) highlighted opportunities to improve the efficiency of electricity and heat production by ensuring that: the most efficient CCGT technology is used; research is expanded to improve the efficiency of coal generation; the use of distributed generation is expanded particularly to make greater use of waste heat, and that in combination with this a greater use of combined heat and power (cogeneration) technology is realised. The Green Paper identified that 20% of EU energy use could be saved. The EC’s  Action Plan for Energy Efficiency (COM(2006) 545 final) moved towards realising these savings and includes initiatives to make energy appliances, buildings, transport and energy generation more efficient, and introduces stringent new energy efficiency standards and financing mechanisms to support more energy efficient products. The EC also created a Covenant of Mayors of the 20 to 30 most pioneering cities in Europe and an international agreement on energy efficiency.

Energy data have been traditionally compiled by Eurostat through the annual Joint Questionnaires, shared by Eurostat and the International Energy Agency, following a well-established and harmonised methodology. However a certain level of uncertainty added due to the fact that for EU-27 countries sometimes reported differently than in joint questionnaires (e.g. CHP, municipal waste, etc) to comply with the new energy regulation.

Methodological information on the annual Joint Questionnaires and data compilation can be found in Eurostat's web page for metadata on energy statistics. http://europa.eu.int/estatref/info/sdds/en/sirene/energy_sm1.htm.

Emissions: Officially reported data following agreed procedures. E.g. CO₂ data are based upon annual submissions under the UNFCCC.