Northern Ireland carbon intensity indicators

In order to complement the emissions data available from the historic greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory and the Northern Ireland GHG projection tool, and to help Government track the effectiveness of their carbon reduction policies, a set of local carbon intensity indicators has been developed.

What are Carbon Intensity Indicators?

Rather than measuring absolute carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions levels, emissions intensity is concerned with capturing the amount of CO2 equivalent generated per unit of output or per capita, e.g., power sector emissions per unit of electricity generated or total NI emissions per head of population.

The value of taking such an approach is that, whilst overall emissions might be seen to be increasing for a particular sector in line with an expanding economy, the carbon intensity might actually be decreasing which could still be viewed as a positive outcome. The carbon intensity indicators are therefore another way of measuring the progress being made in NI towards reducing GHG emissions in terms of intensity as opposed to absolute emissions.

Publications

Next update

October 2024

Related links

Contact us

Responsible statistician: Hugh McNickle

Tel: +44 (0)28 90 378346

Email: Hugh.McNickle@daera-ni.gov.uk

 

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