State faces penalties over greenhouse gas emissions

The State is facing censure and possible trading restrictions for its lack of progress in reducing the airborne emissions of some chemicals.

Details of the State's difficulty in reducing greenhouse gases and other emissions were given in a report published by the Environmental Protection Agency yesterday.

The report, Emissions of Atmospheric Pollutants in Ireland 1990 to 1998, shows the State's emissions, including greenhouse gases, in 1998 were already higher than limits agreed for the year 2010 under the Kyoto Protocol.

According to the EPA, the major contributory factor was a large increase since 1990, about 30 per cent, in carbon dioxide. The report also found that the State emits the highest levels of ammonia, methane and nitrous oxides per head of the population than any other EU country. Agriculture was said to be the major source of these emissions.

The greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland in 1990 amounted to 53.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. The corresponding figure for 1997 was 60.7 million tonnes, an increase of 13 per cent, the net growth allowed by the Kyoto Protocol up to 2010.

In failing to reduce the level of greenhouse gases, the State is in breach of legally-binding limits set by the Kyoto Protocol. Similar limits for other gases are imminent and cover almost all other compounds mentioned in the EPA report.

According to Mr Michael McGettigan, a co-author of the report, the State faces the censure of other signatories to the Kyoto Protocol and a possible restriction on goods manufactured using processes that do not conform to the reduced-emissions policy.

Eight compounds which contribute to environmental problems of air pollution, global warming and acidification are covered by the review.

The figures represent a major challenge for the State, which is to ensure that no net growth in greenhouse gases arises between the years 1997 and 2010, which is thought to represent a net reduction on year 2000 levels. In this scenario, a zero net growth figure would not be enough.

The EPA report acknowledges that "the scope for achieving rapid stabilisation in greenhouse gas emissions, followed by largescale reductions, appears to be limited, particularly in the short term".

The EPA says the current booming economic conditions are contributing to the rise in gas emissions, and the formulation of a successful abatement strategy must consider the high levels of fossil fuels and the limited availability of nuclear or renewable energy.

As well as the Kyoto Protocol, the State is bound by other agreements to reduce its airborne chemical emissions. Under the Gothenburg Protocol, total ammonia emissions are required to be cut to 116,000 tonnes by 2010, a reduction of 10,000 tonnes on the 1998 level.

Further details of the EPA report are available at www.ireland.com