Chapter 13: Environment And Emissions

Chapter 13: Environment And Emissions

Chapter 13: Environment And Emissions - Infographic

1 Introduction

1.1 This chapter provides information about the impact of transport on certain aspects of the environment with a focus on greenhouse gas emissions and air quality.  Statistics include atmospheric pollutants and emissions of greenhouse gases by types of transport as well as details of emissions levels of road vehicles.  Data from other chapters within Scottish Transport Statistics are referred to in the analysis.

Key points

  • Transport accounts for just under a quarter of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions under the definition set out in the Climate Change Scotland Act.
  • Road transport makes up 72% of transport emissions.
  • Through September of the current year (2015) there were 1,050 Ultra Low Emission Vehicles registered in Scotland for the first time – 70% up on the corresponding period in 2014.  
  • In  2014, transport accounted for 41% of emissions of oxides of nitrogen and 13% of particulate matter (PM10). As at 15 December 2016, there were 37 active Air Quality Management Areas related to these pollutants.

2 Main Points

Air pollutant emissions

2.1 The main pollutants of current concern in Scotland are:

  • Oxides of nitrogen (NOx);
  • Particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5);
  • Sulphur dioxide (SO2);
  • Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs);
  • Ground-level ozone (O3); and
  • Ammonia (NH3).

2.2 Of these, transport is a significant contributor to emissions of oxides of nitrogen and particulate matter.  Transport is also linked to ground level ozone, which is a secondary pollutant produced by chemical reactions involving oxides of nitrogen.

2.3 Historically, transport was also a major contributor to emissions of lead and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs). The significant decline in lead emissions (99% since 1990) has been mainly driven by the progressive phasing out of leaded petrol. The lead content of petrol was reduced from around 0.34 g/l to 0.143 g/l in 1986. From 1987, sales of unleaded petrol increased, particularly as a result of the increased use of cars fitted with three-way catalysts. Leaded petrol was phased out from general sale at the end of 1999. For NMVOCs, transport sector emissions declined significantly during the 1990s due to the increased use of catalytic converters and fuel switching from petrol to diesel cars. (Chart 13.1a)

2.4 Emissions of nitrogen oxides were estimated to be 91kt in 2014 of which transport accounted for 41%.  Since 1990, transport emissions have declined by 70%. Transport emissions have declined due to a number of reasons including the requirement for new petrol cars to be fitted with three-way catalysts since 1989 and, in more recent years, “Euro standards” for new cars have driven a reduction in emissions, although studies show that the diesel Euro 5 cars have not performed as well as expected. Since 2008, there has been a general reduction in the emissions from passenger cars, mainly driven by improvement in catalyst repair rates. (Table 13.1a)

2.5 Emissions of PM10 were estimated to be 18kt in 2014, of which transport accounted for 13%.  Since 1990, transport emissions have declined by 44%. For particulate matter, the main source of road transport emissions is exhaust gases from diesel engines. Emissions from diesel vehicles have been growing due to the growth in heavy-duty vehicle traffic and the move towards more diesel cars. Since around 1992, however, emissions from diesel vehicles have been decreasing due to the penetration of new vehicles meeting tighter PM10 emission regulations ("Euro standards" for diesel vehicles were first introduced in 1992), while non-exhaust emissions from tyre and brake wear and road abrasion are increasingly more important. (Table 13.1a)

Air quality

2.6 Concentrations of air pollutants are sampled at automatic monitoring sites and the information is held in the “Scottish Air Quality Database” on the “Air Quality in Scotland” website (http://www.scottishairquality.co.uk/) and also in summary form in the Scottish Government database “Scottish Environment Statistics Online” (http://www.gov.scot/seso/Datasets.aspx?TID=2).  The data section of the “Air Quality in Scotland” website provides detailed information on all sites while the publication section of the website includes reports showing trends. Table 13.b in this publication shows concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, ozone and PM10 at a mixture of urban and rural monitoring sites with long time series. Air quality is monitored against standards set as air quality objectives (see Notes and Definitions section, page 225).

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)

2.7 For some of the selected monitoring sites, nitrogen dioxide concentrations show a downward trend. In 2015, 8 of the 11 operational selected sites that recorded nitrogen dioxide concentrations with a data capture rate of over 75% had the lowest concentrations recorded over the period 2005-2015.  In 2010, concentrations at nine of the selected sites were higher than in the previous year and all subsequent years. In 2015, 70 sites in Scotland recorded nitrogen dioxide concentrations with a  data capture rate of over 75%, of which 58 were roadside or kerbside locations.  Of these 70 sites, 8 had concentrations in excess of the air quality strategy objective of 40 g/m3 as an annual mean.  All 8 sites were located at the roadside or kerbside. (Table 13.1b)

Ozone (O3)

2.8 Though transport emissions contribute to ozone formation, levels of ozone are generally higher in rural areas due to the long-range transportation of primary pollutants from urban sources. In addition, ozone  reacts with nitric oxide, which is more abundant in urban areas due to traffic emissions, to form nitrogen dioxide; therefore ozone  levels are usually lower in urban areas. While at the selected monitoring sites there has been some indication of a downward trend in the number of occurrences of maximum daily concentrations exceeding 100 g/m3, this has since levelled off. There appears to be no trend in average annual concentrations. In 2015, out of all 11 sites in Scotland recording ozone with a  data capture rate of over 75%, none had more than 10 occurrences of maximum daily concentrations exceeding 100 g/m3. (Table 13.1b)

Particulate matter (PM10)

2.9 PM10 concentrations show a general downward trend at the selected sites.  In 2015, of the 64 sites in Scotland recording PM10 with a data capture rate over 75%, 4 (all kerbside or roadside) had concentrations greater than the air quality objective of 18 g/m3 as an annual mean.  Three of these sites, and 1 other, also exceeded the air quality objective set as 7 occurrences of a daily mean above 50 g/m3. (Table 13.1b)

Air Quality Management Areas

2.10 Whenever it appears that one or more of the air quality objectives is unlikely to be met by the required date, the local authority concerned must declare an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) covering the area of concern. The authority must then prepare and implement an action plan outlining how it intends to tackle the issues identified.  Table 13.c summarises active AQMAs and the pollutants of concern. As at 15 December 2016, there were 38 active AQMAs, all but one of which related to either NO2 or PM10, or both.

Greenhouse gases

2.11 In 2014, Transport (including international aviation and shipping) accounted for 13.0 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e).  This represents 27.8 per cent of net greenhouse gas emissions allocated to Scotland in the Greenhouse Gas Inventories, up from 25.4 per cent in 2013.  Total net emissions from all sources fell by 8.6 per cent between 2013 and 2014, before making an adjustment to account for the EU Emissions Trading System while in transport total emissions increased by 0.01 per cent.  Within Transport’s emissions, Road Transportation accounted for approximately 72.5 per cent of the transport total, (Passenger Cars contribute 43.5 per cent alone).  Heavy Goods Vehicles and Light Goods Vehicles were the other significant contributors to road emissions (12.9 per cent and 11.8 per cent respectively).  International Aviation and Shipping contributed roughly 17.5 per cent and Domestic Aviation 5.5 per cent of transport’s total emissions. The contribution from rail, 1.3 per cent, was roughly half the contribution of domestic maritime, 2.5 per cent.  It should be noted that these estimates use a methodology designed to produce internationally-comparable figures so apparent year-to-year fluctuations could be due in part to limitations in or changes to the underlying data or calculations.  See Table 13.2 for more detail and emissions from earlier years and Section 4.2  below for more detail on the methodology used.

2.12 Figure 13.2 shows transport emissions over time, by mode.  Estimated car emissions have fallen by 9.2 per cent since 2004.  Traffic levels have remained relatively stable over the last few years so the reduction in emissions seen will be due to the introduction of more fuel efficient vehicles as well as other more fuel efficient driving, particularly in the business fleet.  More detail on car emissions is set out from paragraph 2.7 of this chapter while more details on traffic volumes by mode can be found in chapter 5 of STS.  Details of personal modal choice can be found in chapter 11. 

2.13 The Greenhouse Gas Inventories report the emissions of the six gases that are listed under the Kyoto Protocol.  In the case of transport, the quantities of gases involved are relatively small except for carbon dioxide, which accounts for about 99 per cent of transport’s total. (Table 13.3).

2.14 Table 13.4 presents some comparisons between the UK as a whole and Scotland.  Overall, Scotland’s emissions account for 8.2 per cent of UK transport emissions.  At 8.6 per cent, Scottish road emissions are marginally above a proportionate share of the UK total while bus, 12.5 per cent, and domestic aviation 20.7 per cent, are significantly above that benchmark  At 5.3 per cent, Scotland’s total aviation emissions sit well below a proportionate share.

2.15 Estimates of carbon dioxide emissions per passenger-km for different modes of transport are available only for GB/UK as a whole.  The lowest emitting modes of transport per passenger-km are national coaches and national rail - 29 and 49 grams of CO2e respectively.  Air travel tends to be the highest emitter per passenger-kilometre, particularly domestic flights, which account for 147 grams of CO2e per passenger kilometre (Table 13.5).  The basis of these estimates is described in section 13.5 page 300.

Car emissions 

2.16 Newly registered cars are becoming more fuel efficient and thus emit fewer emissions per kilometre. Figure 13.3 shows the steady downward trend in average CO2 emissions for newly registered cars in Scotland.  Average CO2 emissions in Scotland for new car registrations has fallen by 27 per cent over the last ten years and by 2.4 per cent in the last year.  (Table 13.6a)

2.17 More detail of this trend is shown in figure 13.4.  The proportion of newly registered cars with emissions of 140g/km or lower has increased from 20 per cent in 2005 to 83 per cent in 2015.  Cars with emissions of over 200g/km have decreased from 14 per cent of new cars to under 2 per cent.   These changes are at least in part the result of changes to vehicle excise duty bandings made by the UK Government in recent years.

Ultra low emission vehicles (ULEV)

2.18 The number of ultra-low emission vehicles registered in Scotland so far in 2016 is 15% up on the corresponding figure in 2015 (January – September).   Almost all of these sales have been supported by Plug-in-Grant scheme for cars and vans. At the end of Q3 2016 there are 4,506 ULEVs registered in Scotland (Table 13.7 and 13.8)

Registrations by type of vehicle

2.19 The overwhelming majority (99.3 per cent) of vehicles licensed for use on the roads in Scotland are though still powered by either petrol or diesel.  Historically petrol powered vehicles have been outsold by diesel vehicles but overall there are more petrol vehicles on the road than diesel ones.  While 29 per cent of all diesel vehicles are body types other than cars only 5 per cent of petrol vehicles were not cars. (Table 13.9 and 13.10)

 

Table 13.1a Emissions of air pollutants by type of transport allocated to Scotland1
  1990 1995 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
  thousand tonnes of pollutant
Oxides of nitrogen (NOx)
Road transport 105.5 85.3 50.0 47.9 47.0 45.5 42.9 35.8 33.9 31.5 29.9 28.3 26.7
Buses and coaches 6.4 6.2 4.8 4.7 4.7 4.8 4.3 4.2 4.1 3.6 3.3 3.1 2.8
Passenger cars 70.5 53.4 23.8 22.2 21.3 19.4 18.8 14.8 13.7 13.1 12.8 12.5 12.3
HGVs 19.4 17.3 15.0 14.8 14.9 15.1 13.8 11.1 10.4 9.3 8.3 7.1 5.9
Light goods vehicles 9.1 8.3 6.3 6.1 6.1 6.1 5.9 5.6 5.6 5.4 5.4 5.5 5.6
Mopeds and motorcycles 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
Railways 2.1 2.2 2.8 2.9 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.9 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
Aviation 0.6 0.7 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.9
Shipping 9.7 10.3 8.0 8.0 7.3 7.3 7.3 6.6 6.4 5.5 5.3 4.7 4.9
Other transport 4.1 3.5 2.9 2.7 2.8 3.0 2.8 2.7 2.6 2.4 2.2 2.0 1.7
Total Transport 122.1 102.0 64.7 62.5 61.0 59.7 56.9 48.9 46.6 43.3 41.1 38.8 37.2
Non-transport emissions 170.7 128.5 88.6 88.3 97.1 88.7 76.7 68.2 69.7 58.5 59.1 58.0 53.6
Emissions from all sources 292.8 230.5 153.3 150.8 158.1 148.4 133.6 117.0 116.3 101.8 100.3 96.8 90.8
Transport % of all NOx emissions 42% 44% 42% 41% 39% 40% 43% 42% 40% 43% 41% 40% 41%
Particulate matter (PM10)
Road transport2 3.01 3.44 2.64 2.58 2.56 2.50 2.40 2.30 2.24 2.08 2.00 1.91 1.82
Buses and coaches 0.34 0.33 0.15 0.14 0.14 0.14 0.13 0.12 0.12 0.11 0.10 0.10 0.09
Passenger cars 1.12 1.40 1.24 1.23 1.25 1.23 1.24 1.23 1.18 1.11 1.09 1.06 1.02
HGVs 0.95 0.85 0.56 0.55 0.54 0.52 0.47 0.41 0.40 0.37 0.35 0.33 0.31
Light goods vehicles 0.59 0.85 0.67 0.65 0.62 0.60 0.56 0.53 0.54 0.49 0.46 0.42 0.39
Mopeds and motorcycles 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01
Railways 0.09 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.11 0.10 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11
Aviation3 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01
Shipping4 0.78 0.73 0.54 0.55 0.49 0.35 0.34 0.32 0.30 0.27 0.26 0.24 0.25
Other transport5 0.15 0.13 0.13 0.12 0.13 0.13 0.12 0.11 0.10 0.10 0.09 0.08 0.07
Total Transport 4.03 4.42 3.42 3.37 3.29 3.11 2.98 2.85 2.76 2.57 2.47 2.35 2.25
Non-transport emissions 28.78 20.65 14.08 13.58 15.38 14.94 14.22 13.24 15.36 14.04 14.55 15.52 15.52
Emissions from all sources 32.81 25.07 17.51 16.95 18.67 18.04 17.21 16.09 18.13 16.61 17.02 17.86 17.77
Transport % of all PM10 emissions 12% 18% 20% 20% 18% 17% 17% 18% 15% 15% 15% 13% 13%

Source: National Atmoshpheric Emissions Inventory - Not National Statistics
1. From the Air Quality Pollutant Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: 1990 - 2014.
Emissions are available annually only with effect from 1998. All the figures in this table are updated annually to reflect changes to the methodology used.
2. The Road Transport emissions database uses emission factors (g/km) for different types of vehicles, which depend on the fuel type (petrol or diesel) and are influenced by the drive cycle or average speeds on the different types of roads; traffic activity for each DA region, including distance and average speed travelled by each type of vehicle on each type of road;
DA-specific fleet data on petrol/diesel car mix, car engine size and fleet composition (including age).
The sum of emissions across all parts of the UK equates to the total for the UK inventory where that total is normalised using fuel sales data of petrol and DERV.
3. Only take-off and landing emissions are reported.
4. Includes emissions from coastal shipping, shipping betweeen Scotland and the Overseas Territories, fishing vessels, marine engines, personal watercraft, inland goods-carrying vehicles, motorboats and sail boats with auxiliary engines.
5. Includes military aviation and naval vessels, aircraft support vehicles and railways stationary combustion.

 

Table 13.1b Atmospheric concentrations of selected pollutants (*, a) recorded at Air Quality Monitoring Stations
Air Quality monitoring station 1 Type of monitoring station 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Nitrogen dioxide 2 micrograms per cubic metre
Aberdeen Errol Place Urban background 24 27 24 25 26 * 23 21 * 22 23
Aberdeen Union Street Roadside 64 49 53 55 * 59 44 53 48 47 46
Bishopbriggs, Kirkintilloch Road Roadside * 33 32 33 33 33 * 30 31 29 27
Dumfries, A780 Roadside 36 37 38 37 35 40 32 33 30 30 30
Dundee Lochee Road Roadside .. * 53 53 54 55 * 53 52 46 48
Dundee Union Street Kerbside .. * 36 43 45 40 36 32 31 29 28
Eskdalemuir Rural 4 4 5 5 4 3 3 3 3 2 2
Edinburgh Gorgie Road Roadside 34 .. 41 42 38 41 37 39 38 34 32
Edinburgh St Leonards Urban background 25 27 27 31 24 31 25 24 22 * *
Glasgow Centre, St Enoch's Square Urban centre 33 31 31 35 42 44 34 * .. .. ..
Glasgow Kerbside, Hope Street Kerbside 62 68 70 82 78 84 72 72 67 68 60
Glasgow Byres Road Roadside 38 41 40 43 40 47 * 39 44 * 38
Glasgow City Chambers Urban background 46 47 47 48 46 49 * .. .. .. ..
Inverness, Telford Street Roadside 21 21 22 21 21 24 27 29 21 21 *
Perth High Street Roadside 28 28 29 27 25 30 27 26 22 22 22
Ozone 3 micrograms per cubic metre
Edinburgh St Leonards Urban background 53 52 48 49 52 33 40 49 49 * 45
Eskdalemuir Rural 51 58 54 57 56 55 53 51 60 58 57
Strath Vaich Rural 67 72 68 73 67 61 64 67 70 69 70
  Number of daily maximums (measured as an 8-hour running mean) exceeding 100ug/m3
Edinburgh St Leonards Urban background 13 16 9 14 3 0 0 4 2 * 3
Eskdalemuir Rural 1 23 11 16 20 2 10 7 14 7 9
Strath Vaich Rural 18 47 17 65 4 4 14 12 23 17 10
Particulates (PM10) 4 micrograms per cubic metre
Aberdeen Errol Place Urban background 19 20 17 16 15 13 14 12 13 15 12
Aberdeen Union Street Roadside 25 26 19 22 18 18 22 21 20 18 *
Bishopbriggs, Kirkintilloch Road Roadside 25 22 22 17 19 19 17 15 * * *
Dundee Broughty Ferry Roadside .. 20 18 15 15 16 16 14 16 15 13
Dundee Union Street Kerbside .. 24 22 17 17 17 19 16 15 16 17
Edinburgh Queen Street Roadside .. .. 26 18 17 18 16 16 17 17 15
Edinburgh St Leonards Urban background 18 20 19 15 * 14 15 * 14 * 10
Glasgow Byres Road Roadside 27 27 25 10 19 23 * 13 * * 10
Glasgow Waulkmillglen Reservoir Rural 14 15 15 12 11 12 12 11 12 * 11
Glasgow Kerbside, Hope Street Kerbside 29 38 32 27 26 29 * * 23 * *
Glasgow Centre, St Enoch's Square Urban centre 20 21 20 19 25 * 17 * .. .. ..
Inverness, Telford Street Roadside 15 16 14 12 12 14 12 11 12 11 9
Perth High Street Roadside 19 21 20 16 16 19 19 15 16 14 13

Source: Scottish Government - Not National Statistics
1. The sites chosen are a mixture of urban and rural site types with long time series
2. Annual mean concentration of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide.
3. Annual mean ground level ozone concentration.
4. Annual mean atmospheric PM10 concentration.
(*) Since 2003, results where data capture is less than 75% are not shown.
(..) Site not in operation for given year
(a) those to which transport is understood to contribute significantly - see text.

 

Table 13.1c Number of active Air Quality Management Areas by pollutant and local authority, as at 15 October 2016
Local authority Pollutant(s) All pollutants
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) only Particulate Matter (PM10) only Both NO2 and PM10 Sulphur dioxide
Aberdeen City Council - - 3 - 3
City of Edinburgh Council 5 - - - 5
Dundee City Council - - 1 - 1
East Dunbartonshire Council - - 2 - 2
East Lothian Council 1 - - - 1
Falkirk Council 1 1 1 1 4
Fife Council 1 - 1 - 2
Glasgow City Council 2 - 1 - 3
Highland Council 1 - - - 1
North Lanarkshire Council - 5 - - 5
Perth & Kinross Council - - 2 - 2
Renfrewshire Council 2 - 1 - 3
South Lanarkshire Council 1 2 - - 3
West Lothian Council - 1 2 - 3
Scotland 14 9 14 1 38

Source: Scottish Air Quality website - Not National Statistics

Figure 13.1: Index of air pollutant emissions from transport in Scotland, 1990-2014 (1990=100)

Figure 13.1: Index of air pollutant emissions from transport in Scotland, 1990-2014 (1990=100)

 

Table 13.2 Emissions of greenhouse gases by type of transport allocated to Scotland 1
  1990 1995 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
  thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent
Transport
Road transportation 2 9,182 9,262 9,871 9,969 10,139 10,303 9,919 9,595 9,498 9,336 9,402 9,352 9,434
Buses & coaches 596 598 510 509 517 545 497 500 522 482 468 481 480
Passenger cars 5,789 5,843 6,233 6,228 6,288 6,305 6,139 5,962 5,762 5,683 5,709 5,620 5,658
Heavy Goods Vehicles 1,788 1,712 1,735 1,789 1,840 1,883 1,777 1,650 1,695 1,650 1,683 1,693 1,675
Light Goods Vehicles 957 1,067 1,300 1,347 1,399 1,474 1,410 1,393 1,434 1,437 1,461 1,481 1,542
Mopeds & motorcycles 39 27 41 41 38 41 39 38 34 34 33 32 34
Other road3 14 14 52 55 57 55 57 51 51 49 48 46 45
Railways 124 126 155 155 159 170 171 170 171 168 172 171 174
Aviation and Maritime 4,037 3,975 3,934 4,180 4,562 4,538 4,571 4,246 3,787 3,825 3,571 3,491 3,407
International Aviation & international shipping 4 2,558 2,587 2,414 2,605 2,986 2,957 3,062 2,883 2,505 2,604 2,389 2,337 2,278
Domestic Aviation 849 745 951 1,006 1,036 1,036 954 846 780 766 741 743 714
Domestic Shipping and Maritime 581 592 489 483 452 456 468 434 423 372 357 323 325
Other aviation and maritime5 49 51 80 85 88 90 87 82 79 82 85 88 91
Total transport 13,343 13,363 13,960 14,303 14,860 15,012 14,661 14,011 13,456 13,329 13,145 13,014 13,015
Non-transport net emissions 63,871 64,288 53,316 51,637 54,217 49,241 47,293 43,319 45,620 39,007 39,651 38,196 33,780
Net emissions all sources 6 77,214 77,651 67,276 65,940 69,077 64,253 61,954 57,329 59,076 52,335 52,796 51,210 46,795
Transport % of
Total net emissions 3 17.3 17.2 20.8 21.7 21.5 23.4 23.7 24.4 22.8 25.5 24.9 25.4 27.8

Source: Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (see sources section for more details) - Not National Statistics
1. From the Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: 1990 - 2013. Some headings below are own aggregations
Emissions estimates are available for 1990, 1995 and then annually from 1998. All the figures in this table reflect the current methodology used in the calculation of emissions within the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory.
2. The method used to estimate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from road transport is based on vehicle kilometre travelled data constrained so that the sum of emissions across all parts of the UK equates to the total for the UK inventory, where that total is derived from fuel sales data of petrol and DERV within the UK as specified in the reporting guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Further detail can be found in Section 3.3 of the report and in Annex 2.
3. Other road includes urea used as part of an addative for certain categories of diesel engine, LPG use and road vehicle engines.
4. A split between International aviation and international shipping can be found in the Carbon Accout for Transport
5. Aviation support vehicles at airports
6. Net emissions take account of removals of carbon dioxide due to carbon sinks.

 

Table 13.3 Emissions of greenhouse gases1 by Transport 2 allocated to Scotland
  1990 1995 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
  thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent
Greenhouse gases - excluding international aviation and shipping
Carbon dioxide 10,509 10,485 11,315 11,468 11,647 11,831 11,395 10,940 10,768 10,537 10,564 10,479 10,534
Methane 99 73 31 28 26 23 21 16 14 13 11 10 9
Nitrous Oxide 128 166 120 117 113 111 95 90 90 92 96 100 104
All greenhouse gases - excluding international aviation and shipping 10,736 10,724 11,466 11,613 11,786 11,965 11,512 11,045 10,872 10,642 10,671 10,589 10,646
Greenhouse gases - international aviation and shipping
Carbon dioxide 2,536 2,565 2,393 2,583 2,961 2,932 3,036 2,858 2,484 2,582 2,368 2,317 2,258
Methane 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Nitrous Oxide 20 21 20 22 24 24 25 23 20 21 20 20 19
All greenhouse gases - international aviation and shipping 2,558 2,587 2,414 2,605 2,986 2,957 3,062 2,883 2,505 2,604 2,389 2,337 2,278
All transport greenhouse gases 13,294 13,311 13,880 14,218 14,772 14,922 14,573 13,928 13,378 13,246 13,060 12,926 12,924

Source: Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (see sources section for more details) - Not National Statistics
1. The footnotes to Table 5.12 also apply to this table, including revision of the figures; though note that emisions of methane and nitrous oxide from road transport are estimated using vehicle kilometre data in both of the calculation methods, and the total emissions of these GHGs from the two methods are identical.
There are no emissions of other greenhouse gases by Transport in the Inventory.
2. The figures for greenhouse gas emissions are expressed in terms of their Global Warming Potential in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. To convert from tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent to tonnes of other gases multiply by the following factors:
GWP methane - 25, GWP nitrous oxide - 298.

 

Table 13.4 Comparison of transport greenhouse gas emissions Scotland and UK as a whole
  Scottish emissions 2014 Scottish emissions as a % of UK emissions 2014 Change in Scottish emissions (2013-2014) Change in UK emissions (2013-2014) Change in Scottish emissions (1990-2014) Change in UK emissions (1990-2014)
All Transport 12,924 8.2% 0.0% 0.4% -2.8% 8.4%
All Transport (excl. International Aviation and Shipping) 10,646 9.0% 0.5% 1.1% -0.8% -3.3%
Road Transport1,2 9,434 8.6% 0.9% 1.4% 2.7% -1.2%
of which:
Cars 5,658 8.3% 0.7% 0.8% -2.3% -5.1%
Heavy Goods Vehicles 1,675 9.0% -1.0% 1.4% -6.3% -9.1%
Light Goods Vehicles 1,542 8.9% 4.1% 4.0% 61.2% 48.1%
Buses & coaches 480 12.5% -0.1% -0.7% -19.5% -27.0%
Motorcycles 34 6.5% 4.5% 3.9% -2.3% -32.4%
Rural 4,629 10.8% 1.0% 2.1% -0.1% 2.4%
Urban 2,969 7.3% 1.0% 1.0% -12.7% -17.2%
Motorway 1,776 7.1% 0.5% 0.8% 58.7% 29.7%
Rail 174 7.9% 1.7% 1.3% 40.0% 4.2%
Aviation (Domestic) 622 20.7% -5.0% -8.6% -22.2% -44.2%
Aviation (Including International) 1,918 5.3% 1.7% -0.1% 38.2% 72.1%
Maritime (Domestic) 325 11.0% 0.8% 0.1% -44.0% -19.6%
Maritime (Including International) 1,398 13.3% -7.9% -7.0% -46.2% -15.2%

Source: Carbon Account for Transport (see sources section for more details) - Not National Statistics
1. Road transport excludes the 'other' category shown in Table 13.2
2. The comparisions shown by category of road excludes emissions from the 'other' category of road transport and emissions generated from cold starts

Figure 13.2: Greenhouse gas emissions attributed to Scotland by mode of transport

Figure 13.2: Greenhouse gas emissions attributed to Scotland by mode of transport

 

Table 13.5 UK Carbon Dioxide emissions: grams per passenger-kilometre, 2016 1
  grams of CO2 per pass-km
Petrol cars 128 2
Diesel cars 122 2
Average petrol hybrid 88 2
All Cars (average) 113 2
Petrol motorbike 120
Bus 102
Coach 29
National rail 49
Light rail and tram 54
Ferry 116
Domestic flights 3 147 4
Short haul international 3 89 4
Long haul international 3 101 4

Source: DEFRA - Not National Statistics
1. Source: http://www.ukconversionfactorscarbonsmart.co.uk/
All figures are estimated using data for GB/UK as a whole so do not specifically relate to Scotland.
2. All Car figures assume an average car occupancy rate of 1.50 passengers based on the latest Transport and Travel in Scotland
3. The long haul estimate is based on a flight length from the Guidelines of of 6482 km, short haul 1108km and domestic 463km.
4. All the factors include the distance uplift of 8% to compensate for planes not flying using the most direct route i.e. flying around international airspace, stacking etc.

 

Table 13.6a: Cars registered for the first time by CO2 emission band, Scotland
  2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
  thousands
Up to 100 g/km 0.0 - 0.0 0.3 1.3 2.3 4.6 13.0 25.6 36.2 39.1
101 - 110 g/km 1.2 3.4 4.0 4.8 8.1 9.2 15.3 17.3 23.5 34.8 46.9
111 - 120 g/km 5.7 5.4 6.4 12.1 24.7 29.7 28.1 31.6 43.1 48.2 41.2
121 - 130 g/km 9.3 10.1 9.4 11.0 15.4 27.6 28.5 39.4 39.7 36.5 33.3
131 - 140 g/km 23.6 25.2 38.2 36.7 41.5 33.9 31.4 30.5 26.3 23.8 23.7
141 - 150 g/km 35.5 31.4 27.5 24.3 24.7 20.5 20.3 18.9 17.0 13.8 12.7
151 - 165 g/km 51.1 47.7 45.8 33.0 32.7 25.3 18.1 14.1 14.1 15.3 13.2
166 - 175 g/km 17.8 22.4 21.5 16.7 10.7 6.2 6.1 5.7 6.4 4.4 4.1
176- 185 g/km 16.7 12.2 12.8 9.5 9.4 7.5 5.4 3.5 2.5 2.6 3.0
186- 200 g/km 14.7 13.2 16.0 11.3 7.4 7.0 4.6 3.9 2.8 2.9 1.3
201 - 225 g/km 12.9 12.6 10.1 6.1 5.1 3.7 1.8 1.5 1.5 1.8 1.6
226 - 255 g/km 6.9 5.7 4.2 2.4 2.3 2.6 2.3 1.8 1.4 1.0 0.6
Over 255 g/km 5.6 5.7 5.2 3.4 2.2 1.2 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4
Not known 2.1 1.4 1.5 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.7
Total 203.2 196.5 202.5 172.7 186.2 177.2 167.8 182.5 205.2 222.4 221.8
Avg CO2 165.6 164.4 162.2 156.3 148.6 143.4 138.2 133.2 128.4 124.4 121.4
  Column Percentages
Up to 100 g/km - 0.0 - - 0.7 1.3 2.7 7.1 12.5 16.3 17.6
101 - 110 g/km 0.6 1.7 2.0 2.8 4.3 5.2 9.1 9.5 11.4 15.7 21.2
111 - 120 g/km 2.8 2.8 3.1 7.0 13.3 16.8 16.8 17.3 21.0 21.7 18.6
121 - 130 g/km 4.6 5.1 4.7 6.4 8.3 15.6 17.0 21.6 19.4 16.4 15.0
131 - 140 g/km 11.6 12.8 18.9 21.3 22.3 19.1 18.7 16.7 12.8 10.7 10.7
141 - 150 g/km 17.5 16.0 13.6 14.1 13.3 11.6 12.1 10.4 8.3 6.2 5.7
151 - 165 g/km 25.1 24.3 22.6 19.1 17.5 14.3 10.8 7.8 6.9 6.9 5.9
166 - 175 g/km 8.8 11.4 10.6 9.7 5.8 3.5 3.6 3.1 3.1 2.0 1.8
176- 185 g/km 8.2 6.2 6.3 5.5 5.1 4.2 3.2 1.9 1.2 1.2 1.3
186- 200 g/km 7.3 6.7 7.9 6.6 4.0 4.0 2.8 2.1 1.4 1.3 0.6
201 - 225 g/km 6.4 6.4 5.0 3.5 2.7 2.1 1.1 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.7
226 - 255 g/km 3.4 2.9 2.1 1.4 1.2 1.5 1.4 1.0 0.7 - -
Over 255 g/km 2.8 2.9 2.6 2.0 1.2 0.7 - - - - -
Not known 1.0 0.7 0.7 0.6 - - - - - - -
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Source: DVLA//DVADfT - GB figures published as DfT table VEH0256

Figure 13.3 New car average CO2 emissions, Scotland 2005-2015

Figure 13.3 New car average CO2 emissions, Scotland 2005-2015

Figure 13.4 First time car registrations, Scotland, by Emissions band, 2005-2015

Figure 13.4 First time car registrations, Scotland, by Emissions band, 2005-2015

 

Table 13.6b: Licensed cars by CO2 emission band, Scotland
  2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
  thousands
Up to 100 g/km 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 1.8 4.1 8.8 22.0 49.2 89.5 133.2
101 - 110 g/km 3.0 6.1 10.5 15.3 23.2 32.5 47.9 67.0 94.1 130.8 176.7
111 - 120 g/km 23.3 28.2 33.9 45.0 68.6 98.9 127.2 158.2 198.5 243.3 279.5
121 - 130 g/km 28.1 38.8 48.6 59.9 74.4 100.1 130.5 170.2 210.9 243.2 267.3
131 - 140 g/km 124.5 145.9 180.6 218.2 254.8 281.4 303.0 321.0 332.6 337.8 335.6
141 - 150 g/km 180.1 207.5 230.1 249.5 265.9 278.2 288.6 293.0 290.9 282.0 265.6
151 - 165 g/km 258.9 306.7 350.7 384.4 407.2 415.2 413.7 401.8 382.5 362.5 336.3
166 - 175 g/km 114.2 136.1 155.7 173.0 180.2 178.7 176.6 172.2 164.0 153.0 139.7
176- 185 g/km 91.4 104.4 115.3 124.1 130.0 130.8 129.2 124.6 116.3 107.7 97.8
186- 200 g/km 83.7 97.2 113.1 125.5 130.5 130.2 128.6 124.1 116.4 108.3 96.9
201 - 225 g/km 77.3 89.9 100.1 106.5 109.6 108.0 104.7 100.1 93.9 87.6 79.7
226 - 255 g/km 45.8 51.9 56.7 59.7 60.9 60.6 60.3 58.6 55.8 52.2 47.2
Over 255 g/km 31.2 37.2 43.4 48.2 50.2 49.8 48.9 46.7 44.2 41.5 37.9
Not known 1,077.7 906.8 762.0 623.4 491.5 386.1 296.3 225.5 169.9 130.1 100.9
Total 2,139.2 2,156.8 2,200.8 2,233.2 2,248.5 2,254.5 2,264.4 2,285.1 2,319.2 2,369.3 2,394.2
Avg CO2 168.8 168.3 167.7 166.7 164.9 162.6 160.2 157.4 153.9 150.1 146.2
  Column Percentages
Up to 100 g/km - - - - - - - 1.0 2.1 3.8 5.6
101 - 110 g/km - - - 0.7 1.0 1.4 2.1 2.9 4.1 5.5 7.4
111 - 120 g/km 1.1 1.3 1.5 2.0 3.1 4.4 5.6 6.9 8.6 10.3 11.7
121 - 130 g/km 1.3 1.8 2.2 2.7 3.3 4.4 5.8 7.4 9.1 10.3 11.2
131 - 140 g/km 5.8 6.8 8.2 9.8 11.3 12.5 13.4 14.0 14.3 14.3 14.0
141 - 150 g/km 8.4 9.6 10.5 11.2 11.8 12.3 12.7 12.8 12.5 11.9 11.1
151 - 165 g/km 12.1 14.2 15.9 17.2 18.1 18.4 18.3 17.6 16.5 15.3 14.0
166 - 175 g/km 5.3 6.3 7.1 7.7 8.0 7.9 7.8 7.5 7.1 6.5 5.8
176- 185 g/km 4.3 4.8 5.2 5.6 5.8 5.8 5.7 5.5 5.0 4.5 4.1
186- 200 g/km 3.9 4.5 5.1 5.6 5.8 5.8 5.7 5.4 5.0 4.6 4.0
201 - 225 g/km 3.6 4.2 4.5 4.8 4.9 4.8 4.6 4.4 4.0 3.7 3.3
226 - 255 g/km 2.1 2.4 2.6 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.4 2.2 2.0
Over 255 g/km 1.5 1.7 2.0 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.6
Not known 50.4 42.0 34.6 27.9 21.9 17.1 13.1 9.9 7.3 5.5 4.2
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Source: DVLA//DVADfT - GB figures published as DfT table VEH0206

 

Table 13.7: Ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV)1 registered for the first time, Scotland, quarterly: January 2012 to September 2016
Vehicles
Year Month Plug-in-Grant Eligible Cars Non Plug-in-Grant Eligible Cars Quadricycles All Cars (inc. quadricycles) Motor cycles & tricycles Plug-in Grant Eligible Vans Non Plug-in Grant Eligible Vans All Vans Other vehicles Total
2012 Jan-Mar 25 1 0 26 1 0 9 9 2 38
2012 Apr-Jun 35 0 13 48 3 5 0 5 8 64
2012 Jul-Sep 34 0 1 35 0 25 5 30 1 66
2012 Oct-Dec 40 3 1 44 0 11 0 11 1 56
2013 Jan-Mar 26 0 0 26 0 4 0 4 0 30
2013 Apr-Jun 66 1 0 67 1 1 1 2 2 72
2013 Jul-Sep 56 0 1 57 0 3 0 3 3 63
2013 Oct-Dec 46 0 0 46 0 1 2 3 1 50
2014 Jan-Mar 130 0 0 130 0 9 0 9 2 141
2014 Apr-Jun 166 0 1 167 3 11 1 12 6 188
2014 Jul-Sep 266 1 2 269 0 10 2 12 5 286
2014 Oct-Dec 272 0 0 272 1 13 1 14 4 291
2015 Jan-Mar 365 0 8 373 2 28 1 29 6 410
2015 Apr-Jun 315 2 2 319 1 15 2 17 1 338
2015 Jul-Sep 278 2 1 281 1 14 2 16 3 301
2015 Oct-Dec 340 1 3 344 1 6 2 8 1 354
2016 Jan-Mar 446 6 1 453 3 26 0 26 3 485
2016 Apr-Jun 271 21 0 292 3 20 0 20 2 317
2016 Jul-Sep 368 18 1 387 2 12 0 12 1 402
2012 Whole year 134 4 15 153 4 41 14 55 12 224
2013 Whole year 194 1 1 196 1 9 3 12 6 215
2014 Whole year 834 1 3 838 4 43 4 47 17 906
2015 Whole year 1,298 5 14 1,317 5 63 7 70 11 1,403

1. The Department for Transport uses the term 'ultra-low emission vehicles' to refer to vehicles with significantly lower levels of tailpipe emissions than conventional vehicles. In practice, the term currently refers to electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. For the purposes of this indicator, vehicles with fully electric powertrains, and cars with tail-pipe emissions below 75 g/km g/km of CO2 have been included at this stage.
Source: DVLA//DVADfT - Published as DfT table VEH0170
Notes & definitions (https://www.gov.uk/transport-statistics-notes-and-guidance-vehicle-licensing)

 

Table 13.8: Ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV)1 licensed at the end of year, Scotland, quarterly: 2012 q1 to 2016 q3
Vehicles
Quarter Plug-in-Grant Eligible Cars Non Plug-in-Grant Eligible Cars Quadricycles All Cars (inc. quadricycles) Motor cycles & tricycles Plug-in Grant Eligible Vans Non Plug-in Grant Eligible Vans All Vans Other vehicles Total
2012 Q1 97 60 1 158 67 1 117 118 205 548
2012 Q2 131 62 14 207 67 6 119 125 214 613
2012 Q3 167 62 15 244 60 31 122 153 212 669
2012 Q4 207 63 16 286 52 42 121 163 211 712
2013 Q1 242 62 16 320 47 48 121 169 209 745
2013 Q2 314 61 16 391 48 48 125 173 205 817
2013 Q3 367 62 15 444 47 55 120 175 207 873
2013 Q4 418 62 16 496 45 58 119 177 208 926
2014 Q1 543 62 16 621 43 70 119 189 212 1,065
2014 Q2 712 59 15 786 42 80 120 200 209 1,237
2014 Q3 984 63 17 1,064 35 89 120 209 220 1,528
2014 Q4 1,246 61 18 1,325 32 97 125 222 218 1,797
2015 Q1 1,604 61 27 1,692 34 113 126 239 229 2,194
2015 Q2 1,919 56 29 2,004 33 133 116 249 220 2,506
2015 Q3 2,213 41 29 2,283 31 150 109 259 215 2,788
2015 Q4 2,571 43 32 2,646 33 152 118 270 221 3,170
2016 Q1 3,034 45 36 3,115 34 176 115 291 217 3,657
2016 Q2 3,356 66 36 3,458 38 202 115 317 214 4,027
2016 Q3 3,801 83 36 3,920 42 219 116 335 209 4,506

1. The Department for Transport uses the term 'ultra-low emission vehicles' to refer to vehicles with significantly lower levels of tailpipe emissions than conventional vehicles. In practice, the term currently refers to electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. For the purposes of this indicator, vehicles with fully electric powertrains, and cars with tail-pipe emissions below 75 g/km g/km of CO2 have been included at this stage.
Source: DVLA//DVADfT - Published as DfT table VEH0130
Notes & definitions (https://www.gov.uk/transport-statistics-notes-and-guidance-vehicle-licensing)

Figure 13.5 Ultra Low Emission Vehicles licensed in Scotland - growth from 2012 Q1 to 2016 Q3

Figure 13.5 Ultra Low Emission Vehicles licensed in Scotland - growth from 2012 Q1 to 2016 Q3

 

Table 13.9: Number of new registrations by body type and propulsion type in Scotland during 2015 (Thousands)
  Propulsion type
Diesel Electric diesel Electricity Fuel cells Gas Gas bi-fuel Gas-diesel Hybrid electric New fuel tech-nology Petrol Petrol/gas Steam Grand Total
Body type thousand
Agricultural 2.30 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 0.54 ~ ~ 2.84
Buses & coaches 0.89 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 0.90
Cars 100.05 0.14 0.60 ~ ~ ~ ~ 2.95 ~ 118.07 ~ ~ 221.81
Goods - heavy 3.77 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 3.77
Goods - light 27.97 ~ 0.07 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 0.26 ~ ~ 28.31
Motorcycles, mopeds & scooters ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6.35 ~ ~ 6.36
Others 2.24 ~ 0.74 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 0.07 ~ ~ 3.07
Special purpose ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Taxis 0.48 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 0.48
Tricycles ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Grand Total 137.71 0.14 1.43 ~ ~ ~ ~ 2.95 ~ 125.33 ~ ~ 267.58

~ denotes fewer than 50.

 

Table 13.10: Number of licensed vehicles by body type and propulsion type in Scotland as at 31 December 2015 (Thousands)
  Propulsion type
Diesel Electric diesel Electricity Fuel cells Gas Gas bi-fuel Gas-diesel Hybrid electric New fuel tech-nology Petrol Petrol/gas Steam Grand total
Body type thousand
Agricultural 45.82 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 3.69 ~ ~ 49.58
Buses & coaches 14.94 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 0.20 ~ ~ 15.18
Cars 937.39 0.39 1.67 ~ ~ 1.07 ~ 10.93 ~ 1441.95 0.74 ~ 2394.20
Goods - heavy 36.86 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 0.11 ~ ~ 36.99
Goods - light 262.49 ~ 0.27 ~ ~ 0.30 ~ ~ ~ 6.02 0.06 ~ 269.19
Motorcycles, mopeds & scooters 0.06 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 68.28 ~ ~ 68.37
Not recorded 0.32 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 0.07 ~ ~ 0.40
Others 18.55 ~ 3.97 ~ 0.10 ~ ~ ~ ~ 1.15 ~ ~ 23.86
Special purpose 0.33 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 0.39
Taxis 3.75 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 3.76
Tricycles ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 0.85 ~ ~ 0.86
Grand Total 1320.52 0.39 6.00 ~ 0.14 1.40 ~ 10.94 ~ 1522.36 0.85 0.10 2862.76

~ denotes fewer than 50.