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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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Emission trends of ammonia (EEA member countries, EU-27 Member States): This chart shows past emission trends of ammonia in the EEA-32 and EU-27 group of countries. In addition - for the EU-27 - the 2010 and 2020 emission ceilings and paths are shown.
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Sector share of ammonia emissions (EEA member countries): The contribution made by different sectors to emissions of ammonia in 2010.
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Air pollution by ozone and health (CLIM 006) - Assessment published Nov 2012: Ozone is both an important air pollutant and a GHG. Excessive exposure to ground-level ozone is estimated to cause about 20000 premature deaths per year in Europe. Attribution of observed ozone exceedances, or changes therein, to individual causes, such as climate change, is difficult. Future climate change is expected to increase ozone concentrations but this effect will most likely be outweighed by reduction in ozone levels due to expected future emission reductions.
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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.
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Change in acidifying pollutants emissions for each sector and pollutant between 1990 and 2006: No data available for Iceland.
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Distance-to-target for EEA member countries: The 'distance to target' results are shown in light yellow (countries need to do more to be on track to meet their ceiling in 2010) and green (countries are on track to meet their ceiling in 2010)
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Change in emissions of ammonia compared with the 2010 NECD and Gothenburg protocol targets (EEA member countries): Data are for NH3 emissions. Gothenburg protocol targets are shown for the non-EU countries (e.g Switzerland and Norway). Neither Iceland nor Turkey has signed the Gothenburg protocol. Liechtenstein has signed but not yet ratified the Gothenburg protocol. Data for Iceland, Liechtenstein and Turkey not available.
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Emission trends of acidifying pollutants: The 'with measures' (WM) projections reported by Member States take into account currently implemented and adopted policies and measures
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Contribution to total change in acidifying pollutant emissions for each sector and pollutant (EEA member countries): Contribution to change plots show the contribution to the total emission change between 1990-2005 made by a specified sector/ pollutant
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