Chapter 13: Environment And Emissions

Chapter 13: Environment And Emissions

Infographic Chapter 13: Environment And Emissions

Environment And Emissions

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.

1.2 Three new tables have been added to this chapter providing information on the number of public Electric Vehicle (EV) charge points that are now available in Scotland on the ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) network.

Key points

  • Transport (including international shipping and aviation) accounts for 37% of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions under the definition set out in the Climate Change Scotland Act.
  • Road transport makes up 69% of transport greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Through September of the current year (2019) there were 3,537 Ultra Low Emission Vehicles registered in Scotland for the first time – 39% up on the corresponding period in 2018.
  • In  2017, transport accounted for 60% of emissions of oxides of nitrogen, 18% of particulate matter PM10 and 24% of particulate matter PM2.5. As at 15 October 2019, there were 38 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 (NOx) were estimated to be 93kt in 2017 of which transport accounted for 60%.  Since 1990, transport emissions have declined by 71%. 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. In 2017, diesel cars and light goods vehicles (LGVs) accounted for 36% of NOx emissions from transport compared with less than 2% in 1990 (Table 13.1a).

2.5 Emissions of PM10 were estimated to be 15kt in 2017, of which transport accounted for 18%.  Since 1990, transport emissions have declined by 63%. For particulate matter, the main source of transport emissions is non-exhaust emissions from tyre and brake wear and road abrasion. In 2017, these accounted for 50% of PM10 emissions from transport compared with 14% in 1990. Since 1990, exhaust emissions from road transport have decreased by 79% due to the penetration of new vehicles meeting tighter PM10 emission regulations ("Euro standards" for diesel vehicles were first introduced in 1992). Over the same period emissions from shipping fell by 82% (Table 13.1a).

2.6. Emissions of PM2.5 were estimated to be 8kt in 2017 of which transport accounted for 24%.  Trends in emissions of PM2.5 from transport follow a similar pattern to those for PM10. PM2.5 accounts for all road transport exhaust PM10 emissions and most of such emissions from shipping but only around 55% of PM10 emissions due to road abrasion and tyre and brake wear.

Air quality

2.7 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/),  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)

2.8 For some of the selected monitoring sites, nitrogen dioxide concentrations show a downward trend. In 2018, 9 of the 11 selected operational  sites that recorded nitrogen dioxide concentrations with a data capture rate of over 75% had the lowest concentrations recorded over the period 2008-2018.  In 2010, concentrations at eight of the selected sites reached their highest value over the period 2008-2018. Note that this excludes figures for years where the data capture rate was 75% or lower. In 2018, 74 sites in Scotland recorded nitrogen dioxide concentrations with a  data capture rate of over 75%, of which 50 were roadside or kerbside locations.  Of these 74 sites, 6 had concentrations in excess of the air quality strategy objective of 40 g/m3 as an annual mean.  All 6 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 2018, out of all 11 sites in Scotland recording ozone with a data capture rate of over 75%, two sites (Aberdeen Errol Place and Glasgow Townhead) did not have 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 2018, of the 61 sites in Scotland recording PM10 with a data capture rate over 75%, two roadside sites (Edinburgh Queensferry Road and Edinburgh Salamander St.) had concentrations greater than the air quality objective of 18 g/m3 as an annual mean.  Whilst no site exceeded the air quality objective set as 7 occurrences of a daily mean above 50 g/m3, it was equalled at one site (East Dunbartonshire Bishopbriggs) (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 13.1c summarises active AQMAs and the pollutants of concern. As at 15 October 2019, there were 38 active AQMAs, all but one of which related to either NO2 or PM10, or both.

Greenhouse gases

2.11 In 2017, Transport (including international aviation and shipping) accounted for 14.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e).  This represents 36.8% of total net greenhouse gas emissions allocated to Scotland in the Greenhouse Gas Inventories, down from 37.3% in 2016. Total net emissions from all sources increased by 4.69% between 2016 and 2017 rising from 38.6 MtCO2e to 40.5 MtCO2e, before making an adjustment to account for the EU Emissions Trading System with transport total emissions also having increased from 14.4 MtCO2e to 14.9 MtCO2e a rise of 3.35%.  Within Transport emissions, Road Transportation accounted for approximately 69.7% of the transport total.  Heavy Goods Vehicles and Light Goods Vehicles were the other significant contributors to transport emissions accounting for 12.6%, each.  International Aviation and Shipping contributed roughly 10.2% and domestic aviation 4.6% of transport’s total emissions. The contribution from rail was 1.2% and domestic shipping, 13.1%.  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 6.2% since 2006.  Traffic levels (vehicle km) have increased slightly 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 transport emissions account for 8.6% of the UK total.  At 18.3%, Scotland’s total aviation emissions are above a proportionate share of the UK. At 13.1% Scottish bus emissions are above a proportionate share of the UK total, while domestic aviation, at 21%, is significantly above that benchmark.

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 land transport per passenger-km are coaches at 28 gCO2e; and light rail and tram at 35 gCO2e.  Air travel tends to be the highest emitter per passenger-kilometre, particularly domestic flights, which account for 254 grams of CO2 per passenger kilometre, inclusive of radiative forcing which accounts for higher levels of greenhouse gases emitted at altitude during the cruise phase (Table 13.5).  The basis of these estimates is described in section 13.5 page 302.

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 21 per cent over the last ten years. However, the average for 2018 was 3 per cent higher than the previous 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 38 per cent in 2008 to 80 per cent in 2018.  Cars with emissions of over 200g/km have decreased from 7 per cent of new cars to one 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 for the first time so far in 2019 is 39% up on the corresponding figure in 2019 (January – September).   Almost all of these sales have been supported by Plug-in-Grant scheme for cars and vans. At the end of Q3 2019 there are 14,803 ULEVs registered in Scotland (Table 13.7 and 13.8)

Registrations by type of vehicle

2.19 The overwhelming majority (98 per cent) of vehicles licensed for use on the roads in Scotland are 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 6 per cent of petrol vehicles were not cars. (Table 13.9 and 13.10)

Electric Vehicle (EV) charge points

2.20 In 2019, there were 1,226 public EV charge points on the ChargePlace Scotland network (CPS), 524 (75%) more than in 2017.  Glasgow had the highest number with 119. 7.68 GWh was provided through the CPS network in 2019. A map showing the locations of the charging points in Scotland is available here https://chargeplacescotland.org/cpmap/ (Table 13.11)

 

Table 13.1a: Emissions of air pollutants by type of transport allocated to Scotland1
  1990 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
  thousand tonnes of pollutant
Oxides of nitrogen (NOx)
Road transport     105.5 47.5 46.1 43.5 35.8 33.9 31.9 30.7 29.7 28.8 27.7 26.6 26.2
of which: Buses and coaches   6.4 4.7 4.8 4.3 4.2 4.1 3.6 3.3 3.1 2.8 2.3 1.9 1.7
  Passenger cars   70.5 21.7 20.0 19.4 14.9 13.8 13.2 12.9 12.6 12.5 12.4 12.2 12.1
  of which: Diesel 0.9 7.6 7.9 8.5 8.6 8.7 9.0 9.5 9.9 10.3 10.5 10.6 10.7
    Petrol 69.6 14.1 12.2 10.9 6.3 5.1 4.2 3.4 2.7 2.2 1.9 1.6 1.4
HGVs     19.4 14.9 15.2 13.9 11.2 10.5 9.3 8.3 7.1 5.9 4.7 3.6 2.8
Light goods vehicles     9.1 6.1 6.1 5.9 5.5 5.5 5.7 6.1 6.8 7.5 8.3 8.9 9.5
  of which: Diesel 1.7 5.5 5.6 5.5 5.3 5.3 5.6 6.0 6.7 7.4 8.2 8.8 9.4
    Petrol 7.4 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0
  Mopeds and motorcycles   0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0
Railways     2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.2
Aviation     0.7 1.1 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 1.0 0.9 1.0 0.9 1.0
Shipping 6     38.7 31.3 32.3 30.5 28.8 27.2 24.0 23.4 21.7 22.8 22.7 22.9 25.2
Other transport     4.1 2.8 3.0 2.8 2.7 2.6 2.4 2.2 2.0 1.7 1.4 1.4 1.3
Total Transport 151.1 84.8 84.7 80.1 70.4 66.7 61.4 59.4 56.7 56.5 55.0 54.0 55.9
Non-transport emissions 172.9 99.1 90.3 78.4 69.5 70.7 59.1 59.8 56.9 53.0 50.3 39.9 36.9
Emissions from all sources 324.0 183.9 174.9 158.5 140.0 137.4 120.6 119.3 113.5 109.5 105.3 93.9 92.8
Transport % of all NOx emissions 47% 46% 48% 51% 50% 49% 51% 50% 50% 52% 52% 57% 60%
Particulate matter (PM10)
Road transport2     3.01 2.56 2.51 2.40 2.31 2.24 2.08 2.01 1.92 1.85 1.79 1.75 1.76
of which:  exhaust emissions from: Buses and coaches 0.29 0.08 0.08 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.05 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.03 0.02 0.02
    Passenger cars 0.49 0.49 0.48 0.49 0.48 0.45 0.38 0.36 0.33 0.29 0.28 0.25 0.23
    HGVs 0.75 0.30 0.28 0.23 0.19 0.17 0.15 0.13 0.11 0.09 0.08 0.06 0.04
    Light goods vehicles 0.49 0.45 0.42 0.38 0.36 0.36 0.31 0.28 0.24 0.20 0.18 0.16 0.14
    Mopeds and motorcycles 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
  Road abrasion   0.35 0.43 0.44 0.43 0.43 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.43 0.43 0.44 0.45
  Tyre and brake wear   0.64 0.79 0.81 0.80 0.79 0.78 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.79 0.80 0.82 0.87
Railways     0.09 0.11 0.10 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.10 0.10 0.10
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
Shipping4,6     4.01 2.36 1.94 1.60 1.44 1.11 0.89 0.81 0.71 0.70 0.69 0.71 0.73
Other transport5     0.17 0.13 0.13 0.12 0.11 0.10 0.09 0.08 0.07 0.06 0.05 0.04 0.04
Total Transport 7.29 5.17 4.70 4.25 3.98 3.57 3.18 3.02 2.82 2.73 2.64 2.61 2.64
Non-transport emissions 33.07 15.75 15.23 13.75 12.67 14.22 12.85 12.24 12.59 12.22 11.96 12.08 12.15
Emissions from all sources 40.36 20.92 19.93 18.00 16.65 17.79 16.03 15.25 15.41 14.95 14.60 14.70 14.79
Transport % of all PM10 emissions 18% 25% 24% 24% 24% 20% 20% 20% 18% 18% 18% 18% 18%
Particulate matter (PM2.5)
Road transport2     2.56 2.01 1.95 1.85 1.76 1.70 1.55 1.48 1.39 1.30 1.24 1.18 1.17
of which:  exhaust emissions from: Buses and coaches 0.29 0.08 0.08 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.05 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.03 0.02 0.02
    Passenger cars 0.49 0.49 0.48 0.49 0.48 0.45 0.38 0.36 0.33 0.29 0.28 0.25 0.23
    HGVs 0.75 0.30 0.28 0.23 0.19 0.17 0.15 0.13 0.11 0.09 0.08 0.06 0.04
    Light goods vehicles 0.49 0.45 0.42 0.38 0.36 0.36 0.31 0.28 0.24 0.20 0.18 0.16 0.14
    Mopeds and motorcycles 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
  Road abrasion   0.19 0.23 0.24 0.24 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.24 0.25
  Tyre and brake wear   0.36 0.44 0.45 0.45 0.44 0.43 0.43 0.43 0.43 0.44 0.45 0.46 0.49
Railways     0.09 0.10 0.09 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10
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
Shipping4,6     3.80 2.23 1.84 1.52 1.37 1.05 0.84 0.77 0.68 0.67 0.65 0.68 0.69
Other transport5     0.17 0.13 0.13 0.12 0.11 0.10 0.09 0.08 0.07 0.06 0.05 0.04 0.04
Total Transport 6.63 4.49 4.03 3.60 3.35 2.97 2.60 2.44 2.24 2.14 2.05 2.01 2.00
Non-transport emissions 19.3 8.3 8.0 7.5 7.0 7.7 6.8 6.8 6.7 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.3
Emissions from all sources 26.0 12.8 12.0 11.1 10.3 10.7 9.4 9.3 9.0 8.5 8.5 8.4 8.3
Transport % of all PM2.5 emissions 26% 35% 33% 33% 32% 28% 28% 26% 25% 25% 24% 24% 24%

Source: National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory - Not National Statistics

1. From the Air Quality Pollutant Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: 1990 - 2017.

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.

6. Data have been revised due to changes in methodology - see paragraph 13.3.3 in notes and definitions.

 

Table 13.1b: Atmospheric concentrations of selected pollutants (*, a) recorded at Air Quality Monitoring Stations
Air Quality monitoring station 1 Type of monitoring station 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Nitrogen dioxide 2 micrograms per cubic metre
Aberdeen Errol Place Urban background 25 26 * 23 21 * 22 23 21 22 20
Aberdeen Union Street Roadside 55 * 59 44 53 48 47 46 43 40 38
Bishopbriggs, Kirkintilloch Road Roadside 33 33 33 * 30 31 29 27 29 27 27
Dumfries, A780 Roadside 37 35 40 32 33 30 30 30 31 30 30
Dundee Lochee Road Roadside 53 54 55 * 53 52 46 48 45 44 43
Dundee Union Street Kerbside 43 45 40 36 32 31 29 28 10 .. ..
Eskdalemuir Rural 5 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2
Edinburgh Gorgie Road Roadside 42 38 41 37 39 38 34 32 33 30 28
Edinburgh St Leonards Urban background 31 24 31 25 24 22 * * 20 20 18
Glasgow Centre, St Enoch's Square  Urban centre 35 42 44 34 * .. .. .. .. .. ..
Glasgow Kerbside, Hope Street Kerbside 82 78 84 72 72 67 68 60 65 59 61
Glasgow Byres Road Roadside 43 40 47 * 39 44 * 38 38 37 34
Glasgow City Chambers Urban background 48 46 49 * .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Inverness, Telford Street Roadside 21 21 24 27 29 21 21 * 24 .. ..
Perth High Street Roadside 27 25 30 27 26 22 22 22 23 22 21
Ozone 3 micrograms per cubic metre
Edinburgh St Leonards Urban background 49 52 33 40 49 49 * 45 45 46 51
Eskdalemuir Rural 57 56 55 53 51 60 58 57 54 57 58
Strath Vaich Rural 73 67 61 64 67 70 69 70 68 68 66
  Number of daily maximums (measured as an 8-hour running mean) exceeding 100ug/m3
Edinburgh St Leonards Urban background 14 3 0 0 4 2 * 3 3 2 13
Eskdalemuir Rural 16 20 2 10 7 14 7 9 8 3 16
Strath Vaich Rural 65 4 4 14 12 23 17 10 10 6 12
Particulates (PM10) 4 micrograms per cubic metre
Aberdeen Errol Place Urban background 16 15 13 14 12 13 15 12 12 11 14
Aberdeen Union Street Roadside 22 18 18 22 21 20 18 * 13 13 15
Bishopbriggs, Kirkintilloch Road Roadside 17 19 19 17 15 * * * 15 16 17
Dundee Broughty Ferry Roadside 15 15 16 16 14 16 15 13 12 11 12
Dundee Union Street Kerbside 17 17 17 19 16 15 16 17 .. .. ..
Edinburgh Queen Street Roadside 18 17 18 16 16 17 17 15 * .. ..
Edinburgh St Leonards Urban background 15 * 14 15 * 14 * 10 11 10 11
Glasgow Byres Road Roadside 10 19 23 * 13 * * 10 12 13 14
Glasgow Waulkmillglen Reservoir Rural 12 11 12 12 11 12 * 11 * 11 9
Glasgow Kerbside, Hope Street Kerbside 27 26 29 * * 23 .. .. .. .. ..
Glasgow Centre, St Enoch's Square Urban centre 19 25 * 17 * .. .. .. .. .. ..
Inverness, Telford Street Roadside 12 12 14 12 11 12 11 9 9 .. ..
Perth High Street Roadside 16 16 19 19 15 16 14 13 13 13 ..
Particulates (PM2.5) 5 micrograms per cubic metre
Aberdeen Errol Place Urban background .. .. 7 8 9 9 10 8 5 6 7
Aberdeen Union Street Roadside .. .. .. .. .. .. * 11 7 7 8
Auchencorth Moss Rural 3 3 .. 4 4 .. 7 3 3 5 5
Edinburgh St Leonards Urban background .. 8 9 12 .. 8 .. 6 6 7 6
Glasgow Kerbside, Hope Street Kerbside .. .. 23 22 20 16 .. .. .. .. ..
Glasgow Centre, St Enoch's Square Urban centre .. 12 12 10 .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Glasgow High Street Roadside .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 8 8 7 7
Glasgow Townhead Urban background .. .. .. .. .. .. 7 7 7 8 7
Grangemouth Urban industrial .. 9 11 11 11 .. 8 9 6 6 7

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.

5.  Annual mean atmospheric PM2.5 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.

Figure 13.1: Index of air pollutant emissions from transport in Scotland, 1990-2017 (1990=100)

Figure 13.1: Index of air pollutant emissions from transport in Scotland, 1990-2017 (1990=100)

 

Table 13.1c: Number of active Air Quality Management Areas by pollutant and local authority, as at 15 October 2019
Local authority Pollutant(s) All pollutants
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) only Particulate Matter (PM10) only Both NO2 and PM10 Sulphur dioxide
Aberdeen City Council
City of Edinburgh Council
Dundee City Council
East Dunbartonshire Council
East Lothian Council
Falkirk Council
Fife Council
Glasgow City Council
Highland Council
North Lanarkshire Council
Perth & Kinross Council
Renfrewshire Council
South Lanarkshire Council
West Lothian Council
Scotland 13  15  38 

Source: Scottish Air Quality website - Not National Statistics

 

Table 13.2: Emissions of greenhouse gases by type of transport allocated to Scotland (MtCO2e)
Year 1990 1995 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Buses & coaches 0.60 0.60 0.54 0.50 0.50 0.52 0.48 0.47 0.48 0.48 0.47 0.46 0.48
Passenger cars 5.79 5.84 6.30 6.13 5.96 5.76 5.68 5.71 5.62 5.63 5.65 5.76 5.89
Heavy Goods Vehicles 1.79 1.71 1.88 1.77 1.65 1.69 1.65 1.68 1.69 1.69 1.74 1.82 1.88
Light Goods Vehicles 0.96 1.07 1.47 1.41 1.39 1.43 1.44 1.46 1.48 1.55 1.63 1.76 1.87
Mopeds & motorcycles 0.04 0.03 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.04
Other road2 0.02 0.02 0.06 0.07 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.05 0.05 0.05
Road Transportation Total1 9.18 9.26 10.30 9.92 9.60 9.50 9.34 9.40 9.35 9.43 9.58 9.87 10.21
Railways 0.12 0.13 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17
International Aviation and Shipping3,4 1.31 1.48 1.75 1.78 1.63 1.43 1.55 1.46 1.54 1.64 1.70 1.82 1.87
Domestic Aviation4 0.86 0.74 1.05 0.96 0.86 0.79 0.78 0.75 0.75 0.72 0.71 0.67 0.69
Domestic Shipping and Maritime4 3.36 4.16 2.96 2.77 2.65 2.50 2.13 1.92 1.78 1.84 1.96 2.03 1.95
Total transport 14.83 15.78 16.22 15.61 14.91 14.40 13.97 13.71 13.60 13.82 14.13 14.57 14.89
Non-transport net emissions  61.34 61.22 46.15 44.75 41.35 44.44 38.25 39.10 37.30 33.43 32.05 27.32 25.63
Net emissions all sources5 76.17 77.00 62.37 60.35 56.26 58.83 52.22 52.81 50.90 47.25 46.19 41.90 40.52
Total net emissions attributed to transport (%)5 19.47 20.49 26.00 25.86 26.51 24.47 26.75 25.95 26.72 29.24 30.60 34.78 36.75

Source: National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory: Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland 1990-2017, some headings are own aggregations - Not National Statistics

http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/reports/cat09/1906110855_DA_GHGI_1990-2017_Issue1.1.xlsb

1. 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.

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.

2. Other road includes urea used as part of an additive for certain categories of diesel engine, LPG use and road vehicle engines.

3. A split between International aviation and international shipping can be found in the Carbon Accout for Transport

https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/45659/sct09199659921.pdf

4. Includes various additional emissions associated with both shipping and aviation such as support vehicles at airports or marine engines on ships

5. Net emissions take account of removals of carbon dioxide due to carbon sinks.

 

Table 13.3: Emissions of greenhouse gases by Transport allocated to Scotland1,2 (KtCO2e)

Year

1990

1995

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Non-IAS Emissions

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

13.261

14.006

14.310

13.684

13.150

12.835

12.291

12.122

11.936

12.050

12.295

12.613

12.875

Methane (CH4)

0.100

0.075

0.025

0.022

0.017

0.015

0.013

0.012

0.011

0.010

0.009

0.009

0.009

Nitrous Oxide (N2O)

0.164

0.214

0.139

0.121

0.115

0.113

0.110

0.110

0.113

0.117

0.122

0.129

0.134

Total transport greenhouse gases (Excluding International Aviation and Shipping)

13.526 

14.295 

14.474 

13.827 

13.281 

12.963 

12.414 

12.244 

12.060 

12.178 

12.427 

12.751 

13.019 

IAS Emissions

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

1.290

1.462

1.727

1.760

1.614

1.417

1.538

1.447

1.523

1.621

1.687

1.803

1.854

Methane (CH4)

0.001

0.001

0.001

0.001

0.001

0.000

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

Nitrous Oxide (N2O)

0.016

0.020

0.018

0.019

0.018

0.015

0.017

0.015

0.016

0.017

0.017

0.019

0.019

Total greenhouse gases from International Aviation and Shipping

1.307 

1.483 

1.747 

1.780 

1.632 

1.433 

1.555 

1.463 

1.539 

1.639 

1.705 

1.822 

1.874 

All transport greenhouse gases

14.833 

15.777 

16.220 

15.607 

14.913 

14.396 

13.969 

13.707 

13.599 

13.816 

14.131 

14.573 

14.892 

Source: National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory: Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland 1990-2017, some headings are own aggregations - Not National Statistics

http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/reports/cat09/1906110855_DA_GHGI_1990-2017_Issue1.1.xlsb

1.  The footnotes to Table 5.12 also apply to this table, including revision of the figures; though note that emissions 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 from Scotland and UK as a whole (MtCO2e)
  Scottish Baseline(1990) UK Baseline (1990) Scottish Emissions (2016) UK Emissions (2016) Scottish Emissions (2017) UK Emissions (2017) Scottish Emissions as % of UK Emissions (2017) Change in Scottish Emissions (2016-2017) Change in UK Emissions (2016-2017) Change in Scottish Emissions (1990-2017) Change in UK Emissions (1990-2017)
Buses & coaches 0.60 5.25 0.46 3.52 0.48 3.35 14.34 5% -5% -24% -57%
Passenger cars 5.79 72.29 5.76 69.80 5.89 69.64 8.45 2% 0% 2% -4%
Heavy Goods Vehicles 1.79 20.46 1.82 20.53 1.88 20.75 9.07 4% 1% 5% 1%
Light Goods Vehicles 0.96 11.64 1.76 19.27 1.87 19.45 9.62 7% 1% 49% 40%
Mopeds & motorcycles 0.04 0.77 0.03 0.53 0.04 0.53 6.66 6% 0% -9% -46%
Road Transportation Total1 9.17 110.41 9.82 113.65 10.16 113.72 8.93 3% 0% 10% 3%
Emissions by Road Type        
Urban 3.40 14.52 3.00 12.48 3.68 12.18 30.20 23% -2% 8% -19%
Rural 4.63 14.77 4.92 17.66 4.52 17.98 25.16 -8% 2% -2% 18%
Motorway 1.12 8.82 1.89 13.66 1.94 13.89 13.98 3% 2% 42% 36%
Railways 0.12 1.47 0.17 2.02 0.17 2.00 8.64 -1% -1% 29% 26%
International Aviation and Shipping2 1.31 23.67 1.82 42.33 1.87 42.80 4.38 3% 1% 30% 45%
Domestic Aviation3 0.86 5.66 0.67 3.18 0.69 3.25 21.22 3% 2% -25% -74%
Domestic Shipping and Maritime4 3.36 9.93 2.03 6.48 1.95 6.38 30.54 -4% -2% -72% -56%
Total transport (excl International Aviation and Shipping) 13.51 127.47 12.70 125.33 12.97 125.35 10.34 2% 0% -4% -2%
Total transport (incl International Aviation and Shipping) 14.82 151.13 14.52 167.65 14.84 168.15 8.83 2% 0% 0% 10%

Source: National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory: Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland 1990-2017, some headings are own aggregations - Not National Statistics

 http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/reports/cat09/1906110855_DA_GHGI_1990-2017_Issue1.1.xlsb

1. Excludes "other road" category

2. Includes aircraft engine emissions

3. Includes military aircraft and aircraft upport vehicls

4. Includes lubricant for marine engines

Figure 13.2: Estimated greenhouse gas emissions of Scottish transport for 2017 (inclusive of radiative forcing)

Figure 13.2: Estimated greenhouse gas emissions of Scottish transport for 2017 (inclusive of radiative forcing)

Figure 13.2: Estimated greenhouse gas emissions of Scottish transport for 2017

Figure 13.2: Estimated greenhouse gas emissions of Scottish transport for 2017

 

Table 13.5: UK Carbon Dioxide emissions: grams per passenger-kilometre, 20191
Mode of Transport gCO2 per passenger kilometre
Petrol cars2 181
Diesel cars2 173
Hybrid2 115
Petrol motorbike 116
Bus  105
Coach 28
National rail 41
Light rail and tram 35
Ferry 113
Domestic flights3,4,5 255
Short haul international3,4,5 158
Long haul international3,4,5 196

1. Source

http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/reports/cat09/1906110855_DA_GHGI_1990-2017_Issue1.1.xlsb  - Not National Statistics

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/806027/Conversion-Factors-2019-Full-set-for-advanced-users.xls

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.

5. Aviation emissions calculations inclusive of radiative forcing, thus taking account of additional environmental impacts of aviation, including emissions of nitrous oxides and water vapour emitted at high altitudes.

 

Table 13.6a: Cars registered for the first time by CO2 emission band, Scotland  
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
  thousands
Up to 100 g/km 0.3  1.3  2.3  4.6  13.0  25.6  36.2  39.1  36.4  32.3  22.9 
101 - 110 g/km 4.8  8.1  9.2  15.3  17.3  23.5  34.8  46.9  52.6  43.6  32.6 
111 - 120 g/km 12.1  24.7  29.7  28.1  31.6  43.1  48.2  41.2  48.3  47.4  44.6 
121 - 130 g/km 11.0  15.4  27.6  28.5  39.4  39.7  36.5  33.3  32.1  29.8  29.3 
131 - 140 g/km 36.7  41.5  33.9  31.4  30.5  26.3  23.8  23.7  20.1  21.1  20.0 
141 - 150 g/km 24.3  24.7  20.5  20.3  18.9  17.0  13.8  12.7  12.5  11.3  13.3 
151 - 165 g/km 33.0  32.7  25.3  18.1  14.1  14.1  15.3  13.2  10.1  9.2  12.3 
166 - 175 g/km 16.7  10.7  6.2  6.1  5.7  6.4  4.4  4.1  3.5  3.2  4.3 
176 - 185 g/km 9.5  9.4  7.5  5.4  3.5  2.5  2.6  3.0  2.2  2.2  3.2 
186- 200 g/km 11.3  7.4  7.0  4.6  3.9  2.8  2.9  1.3  1.0  1.5  1.9 
201 - 225 g/km 6.1  5.1  3.7  1.8  1.5  1.5  1.8  1.6  1.5  0.8  1.3 
226 - 255 g/km 2.4  2.3  2.6  2.3  1.8  1.4  1.0  0.6  0.4  0.3  0.4 
Over 255 g/km 3.4  2.2  1.2  0.6  0.5  0.5  0.5  0.4  0.6  0.5  0.6 
Not known 1.0  0.8  0.6  0.5  0.7  0.7  0.6  0.7  0.8  0.7  0.8 
Total 172.7 186.2 177.2 167.8 182.5 205.2 222.4 221.8 222.1 204.0 187.5
Avg CO2 156.3 148.6 143.4 138.2 133.2 128.4 124.4 121.4 120.0 120.2 123.6
  Column Percentages
Up to 100 g/km 0.2 0.7 1.3 2.7 7.1 12.5 16.3 17.6 16.4 15.8 12.2
101 - 110 g/km 2.8 4.3 5.2 9.1 9.5 11.4 15.7 21.2 23.7 21.4 17.4
111 - 120 g/km 7.0 13.3 16.8 16.8 17.3 21.0 21.7 18.6 21.7 23.2 23.8
121 - 130 g/km 6.4 8.3 15.6 17.0 21.6 19.4 16.4 15.0 14.5 14.6 15.6
131 - 140 g/km 21.3 22.3 19.1 18.7 16.7 12.8 10.7 10.7 9.1 10.4 10.6
141 - 150 g/km 14.1 13.3 11.6 12.1 10.4 8.3 6.2 5.7 5.6 5.6 7.1
151 - 165 g/km 19.1 17.5 14.3 10.8 7.8 6.9 6.9 5.9 4.6 4.5 6.5
166 - 175 g/km 9.7 5.8 3.5 3.6 3.1 3.1 2.0 1.8 1.6 1.5 2.3
176 - 185 g/km 5.5 5.1 4.2 3.2 1.9 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.0 1.1 1.7
186- 200 g/km 6.6 4.0 4.0 2.8 2.1 1.4 1.3 0.6 0.4 0.7 1.0
201 - 225 g/km 3.5 2.7 2.1 1.1 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.4 0.7
226 - 255 g/km 1.4 1.2 1.5 1.4 1.0 0.7 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2
Over 255 g/km 2.0 1.2 0.7 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3
Not known 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.4
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 2008-2018

Figure 13.3: New car average CO2 emissions, Scotland 2008-2018

 

Figure 13.4: First time car registrations, Scotland, by Emissions band, 2008-2018

Figure 13.4: First time car registrations, Scotland, by Emissions band, 2008-2018

Table 13.6b: Licensed cars by CO2 emission band, Scotland  
  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
thousands
Up to 100 g/km 0.4  1.8  4.1  8.8  22.0  49.2  89.5  133.2  176.5  213.1  236.5 
101 - 110 g/km 15.3  23.2  32.5  47.9  67.0  94.1  130.8  176.7  229.2  276.2  309.9 
111 - 120 g/km 45.0  68.6  98.9  127.2  158.2  198.5  243.3  279.5  317.8  355.2  391.0 
121 - 130 g/km 59.9  74.4  100.1  130.5  170.2  210.9  243.2  267.3  287.8  305.1  324.8 
131 - 140 g/km 218.2  254.8  281.4  303.0  321.0  332.6  337.8  335.6  330.6  324.7  319.3 
141 - 150 g/km 249.5  265.9  278.2  288.6  293.0  290.9  282.0  265.6  250.9  235.5  223.2 
151 - 165 g/km 384.4  407.2  415.2  413.7  401.8  382.5  362.5  336.3  310.6  284.5  262.7 
166 - 175 g/km 173.0  180.2  178.7  176.6  172.2  164.0  153.0  139.7  126.5  114.2  103.8 
176 - 185 g/km 124.1  130.0  130.8  129.2  124.6  116.3  107.7  97.8  88.0  79.0  72.0 
186 - 200 g/km 125.5  130.5  130.2  128.6  124.1  116.4  108.3  96.9  86.2  76.7  68.1 
201 - 225 g/km 106.5  109.6  108.0  104.7  100.1  93.9  87.6  79.7  72.5  65.0  58.2 
226 - 255 g/km 59.7  60.9  60.6  60.3  58.6  55.8  52.2  47.2  42.4  37.8  33.6 
Over 255 g/km 48.2  50.2  49.8  48.9  46.7  44.2  41.5  37.9  34.8  31.8  29.2 
Not known 623.4  491.5  386.1  296.3  225.5  169.9  130.1  100.9  79.2  63.6  53.5 
Total 2,233.2 2,248.5 2,254.5 2,264.4 2,285.1 2,319.2 2,369.3 2,394.2 2,433.1 2,462.4 2,486.0
Avg CO2 166.7 164.9 162.6 160.2 157.4 153.9 150.1 146.2 142.4 139.1 136.5
  Column Percentages
Up to 100 g/km 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.4 1.0 2.1 3.8 5.6 7.3 8.7 9.5
101 - 110 g/km 0.7 1.0 1.4 2.1 2.9 4.1 5.5 7.4 9.4 11.2 12.5
111 - 120 g/km 2.0 3.1 4.4 5.6 6.9 8.6 10.3 11.7 13.1 14.4 15.7
121 - 130 g/km 2.7 3.3 4.4 5.8 7.4 9.1 10.3 11.2 11.8 12.4 13.1
131 - 140 g/km 9.8 11.3 12.5 13.4 14.0 14.3 14.3 14.0 13.6 13.2 12.8
141 - 150 g/km 11.2 11.8 12.3 12.7 12.8 12.5 11.9 11.1 10.3 9.6 9.0
151 - 165 g/km 17.2 18.1 18.4 18.3 17.6 16.5 15.3 14.0 12.8 11.6 10.6
166 - 175 g/km 7.7 8.0 7.9 7.8 7.5 7.1 6.5 5.8 5.2 4.6 4.2
176 - 185 g/km 5.6 5.8 5.8 5.7 5.5 5.0 4.5 4.1 3.6 3.2 2.9
186 - 200 g/km 5.6 5.8 5.8 5.7 5.4 5.0 4.6 4.0 3.5 3.1 2.7
201 - 225 g/km 4.8 4.9 4.8 4.6 4.4 4.0 3.7 3.3 3.0 2.6 2.3
226 - 255 g/km 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.4 2.2 2.0 1.7 1.5 1.4
Over 255 g/km 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.3 1.2
Not known 27.9 21.9 17.1 13.1 9.9 7.3 5.5 4.2 3.3 2.6 2.2
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

Figure 13.3: Licensed cars average CO2 emissions, Scotland 2008-2018

Figure 13.3: Licensed cars average CO2 emissions, Scotland 2008-2018

Figure 13.4: Licensed car registrations, Scotland, by Emissions band, 2008-2018

Figure 13.4: Licensed car registrations, Scotland, by Emissions band, 2008-2018

 

Table 13.7: Ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV)1 registered for the first time, Scotland, quarterly: January 2015 to September 2019
Vehicles
  Year   Month PiG Eligible Cars 2,3 Non PiG Eligible Plug-in Cars 2,3 Non Plug-in Cars  Quadricycles All Cars PiG Eligible Motorcycles and tricycles 2,4 Non PiG Eligible Motorcycles and tricycles 2,4 All Motorcycles and tricycles 4 PiG Eligible Light Goods Vehicles 2 Non PiG Eligible Plug-in Light Goods Vehicles 2 Non Plug-in Light Goods Vehicles All Light Goods Vehicles Heavy Goods Vehicles Buses and coaches Other vehicles  Total
Category 1 Category 2/3
2011 Jan-Mar 14  -    28 0 0 42  0 4 4 0 14 0 14 0 0 4 64 
2011 Apr-Jun 37  -    0 0 0 37  0 1 1 0 4 0 4 0 0 3 45 
2011 Jul-Sep 14  -    2 0 0 16  0 3 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 20 
2011 Oct-Dec -    0 0 0 0 3 3 1 10 0 11 0 0 4 23 
2012 Jan-Mar 25  -    1 0 0 26  0 1 1 0 9 0 9 0 0 2 38 
2012 Apr-Jun 23  12  0 0 13 48  0 3 3 5 0 0 5 0 0 8 64 
2012 Jul-Sep 16  18  0 0 1 35  0 0 0 25 5 0 30 0 0 1 66 
2012 Oct-Dec 33  3 0 1 44  0 0 0 11 0 0 11 0 0 1 56 
2013 Jan-Mar 12  14  0 0 0 26  0 0 0 4 0 0 4 0 0 0 30 
2013 Apr-Jun 50  16  1 0 0 67  0 1 1 1 1 0 2 0 0 2 72 
2013 Jul-Sep 44  3 0 1 57  0 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 1 2 63 
2013 Oct-Dec 38  0 0 0 46  0 0 0 1 2 0 3 0 0 1 50 
2014 Jan-Mar 111  19  0 0 0 130  0 0 0 9 0 0 9 0 0 2 141 
2014 Apr-Jun 114  48  4 0 1 167  3 0 3 11 1 0 12 0 2 4 188 
2014 Jul-Sep 140  122  5 0 2 269  0 0 0 10 2 0 12 0 1 4 286 
2014 Oct-Dec 168  90  14 0 0 272  0 1 1 12 2 0 14 0 4 0 291 
2015 Jan-Mar 172  173  20 0 8 373  0 2 2 28 1 0 29 0 5 1 410 
2015 Apr-Jun 131  168  18 0 2 319  0 1 1 15 2 0 17 0 1 0 338 
2015 Jul-Sep 123  145  11 1 1 281  0 1 1 14 2 0 16 0 0 3 301 
2015 Oct-Dec 188  151  2 0 3 344  0 1 1 6 2 0 8 0 0 1 354 
2016 Jan-Mar 198  237  13 4 1 453  0 3 3 26 0 0 26 1 0 2 485 
2016 Apr-Jun 131  132  8 21 0 292  0 3 3 20 0 0 20 0 0 2 317 
2016 Jul-Sep 162  202  8 14 1 387  0 2 2 12 0 0 12 1 0 0 402 
2016 Oct-Dec 145  128  12 19 0 304  0 3 3 10 2 0 12 0 0 4 323 
2017 Jan-Mar 347  279  14 26 0 666  0 1 1 23 1 0 24 0 0 1 692 
2017 Apr-Jun 248  228  14 29 1 520  0 5 5 22 1 0 23 0 0 1 549 
2017 Jul-Sep 254  415  26 26 0 721  2 8 10 14 1 0 15 0 6 3 755 
2017 Oct-Dec 150  338  12 30 0 530  1 7 8 11 1 0 12 0 0 0 550 
2018 Jan-Mar 276  502  22 24 0 824  0 1 1 17 2 0 19 0 0 1 845 
2018 Apr-Jun 283  544  62 5 1 895  3 5 8 21 0 0 21 0 0 5 929 
2018 Jul-Sep 294  447  51 2 0 794  3 8 11 22 0 0 22 0 0 13 840 
2018 Oct-Dec 276  62  538 0 1 877  2 7 9 21 0 0 21 0 1 15 923 
2019 Jan-Mar 526  -    569 0 0 1,095  3 7 10 40 3 0 43 0 0 27 1,175 
2019 Apr-Jun 431  -    458 0 0 889  4 12 16 48 1 0 49 2 0 18 974 
2019 Jul-Sep 868  -    539 0 0 1,407  11 4 15 41 4 0 45 0 3 19 1,489 
2011 Whole year 70  -    30 0 0 100  0 11 11 1 29 0 30 0 0 11 152 
2012 Whole year 97  37  4 0 15 153  0 4 4 41 14 0 55 0 0 12 224 
2013 Whole year 144  47  4 0 1 196  0 1 1 9 3 0 12 0 1 5 215 
2014 Whole year 533  279  23 0 3 838  3 1 4 42 5 0 47 0 7 10 906 
2015 Whole year 614  637  51 1 14 1,317  0 5 5 63 7 0 70 0 6 5 1,403 
2016 Whole year 636  699  41 58 2 1,436  0 11 11 68 2 0 70 2 0 8 1,527 
2017 Whole year 999  1,260  66 111 1 2,437  3 21 24 70 4 0 74 0 6 5 2,546 
2018 Whole year 1,129  1,555  673 31 2 3,390  8 21 29 81 2 0 83 0 1 34 3,537 

Source: DVLA/Df  

1. Ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs) are vehicles that emit less than 75g of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the tailpipe for every kilometre travelled. In practice, the term typically refers to battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell electric vehicles.

2. Includes all vehicles of models that are eligible for the plug-in grants at the date of latest table update. Therefore earlier data in the series may be changed retrospectively as models are added to the eligible list. In addition, if a vehicle becomes ineligible for the plug-in grant, it will remain in this list for historical comparison. For more details, see:

https://www.gov.uk/plug-in-car-van-grants/eligibility

3. Changes to the Plug-in Car Grant came into effect on 21 October 2018. Vehicles registered for the first time on or after this date are categorised using the new eligibility criteria. There may be some cars that were purchased with a plug-in car grant but were registered for the first time after this date. For more information about the changes, see:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/plug-in-car-grant-changes-to-grant-level-november-2018/upcoming-changes-to-the-plug-in-car-grant

4. Some powerful electric bikes have to be registered as mopeds and will be included here. For more details, see:

https://www.gov.uk/electric-bike-rules

 

Table 13.8:  Ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV)1 licensed at the end of year, Scotland, quarterly: 2015 q1 to 2019 q3
  Vehicles
  Quarter PiG Eligible Cars 2,3 Non PiG Eligible Plug-in Cars 2,3 Non Plug-in Cars  Quadricycles All Cars PiG Eligible Motorcycles and tricycles 2,4 Non PiG Eligible Motorcycles and tricycles 2,4 All Motorcycles and tricycles 4 PiG Eligible Light Goods Vehicles 2 Non PiG Eligible Plug-in Light Goods Vehicles 2 Non Plug-in Light Goods Vehicles All Light Goods Vehicles Heavy Goods Vehicles Buses and coaches Other vehicles  Total
Category 1 Category 2/3
2011 Q1 14  -    60  -    -    74  -    73  73  -    93  -    93  179  430 
2011 Q2 51  -    61  -    -    112  -    72  72  -    96  -    96  174  464 
2011 Q3 64  -    63  -    -    127  -    68  68  -    98  -    98  10  174  479 
2011 Q4 70  -    62  -    -    132  -    63  63  110  -    111  180  497 
2012 Q1 97  -    61  -    159  -    67  67  117  -    118  180  535 
2012 Q2 119  12  63  -    14  208  -    67  67  119  -    125  10  188  601 
2012 Q3 136  31  63  -    15  245  -    60  60  31  122  -    153  10  184  655 
2012 Q4 168  39  64  -    16  287  -    52  52  42  121  -    163  10  183  699 
2013 Q1 187  55  63  -    16  321  -    47  47  48  121  -    169  181  731 
2013 Q2 246  68  62  -    16  392  -    48  48  48  125  -    173  177  802 
2013 Q3 290  74  66  -    15  445  -    47  47  55  120  -    175  177  858 
2013 Q4 330  85  66  -    16  497  -    45  45  58  119  -    177  177  910 
2014 Q1 437  104  65  -    16  622  -    43  43  70  119  -    189  181  1,048 
2014 Q2 555  152  65  -    15  787  39  42  80  120  -    200  177  1,221 
2014 Q3 702  273  73  -    17  1,065  32  35  89  120  -    209  10  13  181  1,513 
2014 Q4 862  363  83  -    18  1,326  29  32  96  126  -    222  10  14  181  1,785 
2015 Q1 1,024  541  101  -    27  1,693  31  34  113  126  -    239  10  22  183  2,181 
2015 Q2 1,149  716  111  -    29  2,005  30  33  133  116  -    249  10  23  174  2,494 
2015 Q3 1,262  891  100  29  2,283  27  31  150  109  -    259  22  174  2,778 
2015 Q4 1,451  1,060  102  32  2,647  29  33  152  118  -    270  22  180  3,161 
2016 Q1 1,633  1,334  107  36  3,116  30  34  176  115  -    291  10  22  174  3,647 
2016 Q2 1,768  1,512  116  27  36  3,459  34  38  202  114  -    316  10  22  171  4,016 
2016 Q3 1,961  1,761  121  41  36  3,920  38  42  219  113  -    332  11  22  165  4,492 
2016 Q4 2,125  1,931  127  59  37  4,279  32  36  229  114  -    343  10  23  166  4,857 
2017 Q1 2,419  2,220  144  82  33  4,898  31  35  256  117  -    373  24  165  5,504 
2017 Q2 2,670  2,479  161  115  33  5,458  36  40  272  114  -    386  10  24  165  6,083 
2017 Q3 3,002  2,899  171  138  28  6,238  44  47  289  113  -    402  10  29  170  6,896 
2017 Q4 3,245  3,237  177  169  25  6,853  44  48  292  113  -    405  10  29  163  7,508 
2018 Q1 3,562  3,752  194  191  23  7,722  43  48  318  115  -    433  10  28  164  8,405 
2018 Q2 3,810  4,335  255  193  26  8,619  10  48  58  336  107  -    443  28  159  9,316 
2018 Q3 4,241  4,869  287  190  27  9,614  12  55  67  362  106  -    468  28  175  10,361 
2018 Q4 4,520  5,008  813  190  30  10,561  13  59  72  383  104  -    487  10  29  191  11,350 
2019 Q1 5,024  5,003  1,365  185  30  11,607  13  63  76  416  103  -    519  10  26  215  12,453 
2019 Q2 5,414  5,003  1,835  178  29  12,459  18  70  88  468  95  -    563  10  26  241  13,387 
2019 Q3 6,237  5,000  2,375  176  30  13,818  28  67  95  496  100  -    596  10  30  254  14,803 

1. Ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs) are vehicles that emit less than 75g of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the tailpipe for every kilometre travelled. In practice, the term typically refers to battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell electric vehicles.

2. Includes all vehicles of models that are eligible for the plug-in grants at the date of latest table update. Therefore earlier data in the series may be changed retrospectively as models are added to the eligible list. In addition, if a vehicle becomes ineligible for the plug-in grant, it will remain in this list for historical comparison. For more details, see:

https://www.gov.uk/plug-in-car-van-grants/eligibility        

3. Changes to the Plug-in Car Grant came into effect on 21 October 2018. Vehicles registered for the first time on or after this date are categorised using the new eligibility criteria. There may be some cars that were purchased with a plug-in car grant but were registered for the first time after this date. For more information about the changes, see:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/plug-in-car-grant-changes-to-grant-level-november-2018/upcoming-changes-to-the-plug-in-car-grant

4. Some powerful electric bikes have to be registered as mopeds and will be included here. For more details, see:

https://www.gov.uk/electric-bike-rules

Source: DVLA/DfT

Figure 13.5: Ultra Low Emission Vehicles licensed in Scotland - growth from 2014 Q1 to 2019 Q3

Figure 13.5: Ultra Low Emission Vehicles licensed in Scotland - growth from 2014 Q1 to 2019 Q3

 

Table 13.9: Number of new registrations by body type and propulsion type in Scotland during 2018 (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 2.3  c 0.7  c 3.0 
Buses & coaches 0.7  c 0.7 
Cars 55.0  0.0  1.1  c c 8.2  123.2  187.5 
Goods - heavy 4.1  c 4.1 
Goods - light 27.7  0.1  c 0.0  0.3  28.1 
Motorcycles, mopeds & scooters 0.0  6.4  c 6.4 
Others 1 2.1  0.8  0.0  0.1  3.0 
Special Purpose c
Taxis 0.2  0.0  0.3 
Tricycles 0.0  0.0 
Grand Total 92.1  0.0  2.0  0.0  8.3  130.7   -  233.1 

Source: DVLA/DfT

c. Value has been suppressed to avoid disclosing personal information.

~ denotes fewer than 50.

1. Iincludes Invalid Vehicle (Mobility scooters), Lift Trucks, Tel Material Handlers, Hydraulic Excavator, Rear Digger, Ambulance, Fire Engine, Street Cleansing, Roller and Loading Shovel.

Pure Electric ’others’ are Invalid vehicles or Lift Trucks.

 

Table 13.10: Number of licensed vehicles by body type and propulsion type in Scotland as at 31 December 2018 (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 49.5  -   0.0  -   0.0  -   -   -   -   4.7  0.0  0.0  54.3 
Buses & coaches 14.3  -   0.0  -   -   c c -   -   0.2  0.0  -   14.5 
Cars 1,034.6  0.5  4.5  -   0.0  0.7  0.0  26.1  0.0  1,419.1  0.5  c 2,486.0 
Goods - heavy 36.7  -   0.0  -   0.0  c c -   -   0.1  c c 36.8 
Goods - light 290.4  -   0.5  -   0.0  0.2  -   0.0  c 6.3  0.1  0.0  297.6 
Motorcycles, mopeds & scooters 0.0  -   0.1  -   c -   -   -   -   70.4  c -   70.5 
Not recorded 0.3  -   0.0  -   -   -   -   -   -   0.1  -   c 0.3 
Others 1 20.1  -   4.8  -   0.1  0.0  0.0  c c 1.0  0.0  0.0  26.1 
Special purpose 0.3  -   0.0  -   -   -   -   -   -   0.0  c 0.0  0.3 
Taxis 3.4  -   -   -   -   c -   0.0  -   0.0  -   -   3.5 
Tricycles 0.0  -   c -   -   -   -   -   -   0.9  c -   0.9 
Grand Total 1,449.6  0.5    9.9  -   0.1  0.9  0.0  26.1  0.0  1,502.9  0.6  0.1  2,990.7 

Source: DVLA/DfT

c. Value has been suppressed to avoid disclosing personal information.

~ denotes fewer than 50.

1. Iincludes Invalid Vehicle (Mobility scooters), Lift Trucks, Tel Material Handlers, Hydraulic Excavator, Rear Digger, Ambulance, Fire Engine, Street Cleansing, Roller and Loading Shovel.

Pure Electric ’others’ are Invalid vehicles or Lift Trucks.

 

Table 13.11: ChargePlace Scotland: Total electric vehicle charge points by local authority boundary
  2017 2018 2019
Aberdeen City 43 46 50
Aberdeenshire 19 32 48
Angus 16 25 42
Argyll and Bute 24 29 40
City of Edinburgh 44 56 69
Clackmannanshire 12 13 15
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 19 19 22
Dumfries and Galloway 17 20 26
Dundee City 34 62 73
East Ayrshire 10 14 34
East Dunbartonshire 6 6 15
East Lothian 12 34 53
East Renfrewshire 8 9 13
Falkirk 12 14 20
Fife 43 50 67
Glasgow City 73 80 119
Highland 40 54 78
Inverclyde 13 13 17
Midlothian 21 22 25
Moray 11 13 21
North Ayrshire 16 24 31
North Lanarkshire 23 30 37
Orkney Islands 14 14 23
Perth and Kinross 41 47 53
Renfrewshire 20 23 31
Scottish Borders 23 24 32
Shetland Islands 12 13 13
South Ayrshire 9 13 24
South Lanarkshire 14 15 50
Stirling 22 22 42
West Dunbartonshire 12 15 18
West Lothian 19 25 25
Total 702 876 1,226

 

Table 13.12: ChargePlace Scotland: Electric vehicle charge points by local authority boundary and type, 2019
  Rapid Fast Slow
Aberdeen City 11 26 13
Aberdeenshire 14 21 13
Angus 10 24 8
Argyll and Bute 13 17 10
City of Edinburgh 8 26 35
Clackmannanshire 0 5 10
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 8 10 4
Dumfries and Galloway 5 5 16
Dundee City 26 23 24
East Ayrshire 10 9 15
East Dunbartonshire 1 12 2
East Lothian 11 24 18
East Renfrewshire 4 6 3
Falkirk 3 10 7
Fife 7 16 44
Glasgow City 11 47 61
Highland 40 20 18
Inverclyde 2 10 5
Midlothian 3 7 15
Moray 6 10 5
North Ayrshire 8 16 7
North Lanarkshire 8 9 20
Orkney Islands 6 9 8
Perth and Kinross 15 27 11
Renfrewshire 6 12 13
Scottish Borders 13 8 11
Shetland Islands 2 3 8
South Ayrshire 4 10 10
South Lanarkshire 5 6 39
Stirling 11 18 13
West Dunbartonshire 2 8 8
West Lothian 2 12 11
Total 275 466 485

 

Table 13.13: Estimated charging events and kWh drawn by local authority boundary and charger type, 2019
  Rapid Fast Slow
Charging Events kWh Drawn Charging Events kWh Drawn Charging Events kWh Drawn
Aberdeen City 17,375 217,009 11,879 133,564 5,122 45,961
Aberdeenshire 17,298 197,570 4,103 51,094 1,875 15,935
Angus 10,130 125,429 7,401 88,755 2,192 25,664
Argyll and Bute 7,635 94,535 3,817 40,604 672 7,381
City of Edinburgh 24,393 325,495 16,205 204,443 11,558 128,609
Clackmannanshire 0 0 1,436 21,727 3,504 25,405
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 2,029 25,324 621 8,911 720 11,031
Dumfries and Galloway 2,921 44,078 388 4,190 1,532 18,117
Dundee City 97,767 1,065,144 11,805 139,396 9,702 97,324
East Ayrshire 6,233 75,447 3,118 30,921 2,241 18,912
East Dunbartonshire 1,942 24,567 4,331 49,971 1,067 11,762
East Lothian 9,066 113,724 8,278 98,382 3,479 39,095
East Renfrewshire 1,196 18,851 4,454 41,392 345 3,780
Falkirk 5,131 65,774 4,706 52,407 1,563 14,094
Fife 17,004 231,378 3,820 43,102 16,891 181,723
Glasgow City 17,584 290,027 21,780 257,989 13,763 142,851
Highland 22,435 320,189 1,572 18,453 1,079 12,429
Inverclyde 943 10,754 3,898 35,597 573 6,962
Midlothian 8,983 122,041 1,116 10,915 4,971 55,461
Moray 1,189 21,683 1,583 20,378 1,344 10,229
North Ayrshire 5,882 73,628 2,632 26,612 715 5,273
North Lanarkshire 5,092 72,659 2,503 31,115 4,122 39,895
Orkney Islands 4,628 50,336 2,504 21,202 1,459 12,125
Perth and Kinross 25,455 315,740 10,033 116,519 2,379 27,720
Renfrewshire 12,437 140,374 4,541 46,935 3,524 25,301
Scottish Borders 11,588 139,960 1,316 15,945 1,094 12,280
Shetland Islands 1,146 10,624 60 500 1,744 16,293
South Ayrshire 3,953 50,482 5,428 65,252 1,222 13,079
South Lanarkshire 11,306 151,693 3,361 36,764 1,668 17,420
Stirling 9,228 129,716 8,351 99,984 1,886 21,502
West Dunbartonshire 4,198 56,623 2,141 24,969 1,104 11,665
West Lothian 5,624 72,403 8,953 102,074 1,664 14,754
Total 371,791 4,653,259 168,134 1,940,061 106,774 1,090,031

Notes:

1. ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) (www.chargeplacescotland.org) is the national network of publicly available Electric Vehicle charge points, funded by the Scottish Government.

2. Data is sourced from the ChargePlace Scotland back-office system.  Usage data is based on valid charging sessions recorded by the back-office.  A valid charging event is considered to be over 1 kWh drawn and whereby the session was longer than 120 seconds.

3. The kWh Drawn is the total energy provided during a charging event.  If energy is transferred at a constant rate over a period of time, the total energy transferred in kilowatt hours is equal to the power in kilowatts multiplied by the time in hours.

- A Rapid charge point on the ChargePlace Scotland Network has a power rating of up to 50kW DC or 43kW AC.

- A Fast charge point on the ChargePlace Scotland Network has a power rating of up to 22kW AC

- A Slow charge point on the ChargePlace Scotland Network has a power rating of up to 7kW AC