Greenhouse gas emissions in Spain stood at 287.7 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) last year, which represents 5.5% less compared to 2022. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), This is the first descent after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
This Wednesday, Statistics released provisional data on the emissions made by resident economic units. There are different greenhouse gases. The main ones, due to their level of emissions, are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Since 2008 – when the accounting series begins – there has been a decrease in Spain of 30.9% in gas emissions that warm the planet.
less emissions in Spain
since 2008, when the accounting series begins.
The maximum of that historical series came in 2008 (416.3 million tons) and the minimum in 2020 (275.3 million). Then there were two years of increases (294.6 million in 2021, and 304.4 million in 2022), and in 2023 there was a decrease (287.7 million).
Carbon dioxide emissions decreased by 5.7% last year, while methane emissions decreased by 1.0% and nitrous oxide emissions by 6.3%.
Households emitted 22.9% of the total, while the manufacturing industry concentrated 22.3% and agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishing, 16.6%.
The branches of activity that most reduced their greenhouse gas emissions were electricity, gas, steam, air conditioning and water supply (-18.1%) and the manufacturing industry (-10.1%). For its part, transportation and storage services increased by 3.1%.
The largest amounts of CO2 emitted last year corresponded to households (63.5 million tons), the manufacturing industry (59.9 million) and transportation and storage services (37.9 million). For its part, the agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishing sector expelled the largest amounts of methane (63.1% of the total) and nitrous oxide (66.9%).
Other emissions
Other environmental problems that cause harmful effects on the environment and health are acidifying gases, precursor gases of tropospheric ozone and particles (fine dust).
In 2023, acidifying gases, which include sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and ammonia (NH3) – measured in tonnes of sulfur dioxide equivalent (tSO2e) based on their degree of acidification – will be decreased by 2.4%.
The precursor gases of tropospheric ozone, which correspond to non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO) -measured in equivalent tons of NMVOC-, decreased by 1.3%. And emissions of particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) fell by 0.5%.
The highest emissions of acidifying gases in 2023 corresponded to agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishing (954,200 tons of tSO2e); manufacturing industry (181,200) and households (130,100).
For its part, the agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishing sector emitted in 2021 the largest quantities of acidifying gases (473,900 tons of NMVOC equivalent), ozone precursor gases (482,500 tons of NMVOC equivalent) and PM2.5 particles (61,900 tons ).
The manufacturing industry expelled 158,000 tons of acidifying gases, while homes emitted 482,500 tons of NMVOC equivalents of ozone precursor gases and 44,800 tons of PM2.5 particles.
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