Archive:Greenhouse gas emission statistics - carbon footprints

Data from November 2013. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database. Planned article update: September 2014.

Figure 1: Domestic and global CO₂ emissions — consumption and production perspective, EU-27, 2009 (1)
(tonnes CO₂ per inhabitant) - Source: Eurostat (env_ac_ainah_r2), (env_ac_io2) and (demo_gind)

Table 1: Global and domestic CO₂ emissions induced by final use of products, EU-27, 2009 (1) - Source: Eurostat (env_ac_io2) and (demo_gind)

This article provides an estimate of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions induced by the final use of products, based on various European Union (EU) data sets. Eurostat estimates the EU-27’s CO₂ emissions from final use to have been 8.0 tonnes per inhabitant during 2009 (the year when the financial and economic crisis was at its height).

The modelling-estimations presented in this article are based on environmentally extended input-output tables. The data provides an opportunity for analyses by researchers and policy advisors — some illustrative examples of the use that may be made of this information are also presented.

Main statistical findings

Carbon dioxide emissions associated with EU consumption

Extended supply, use and input-output tables have been used to estimate carbon dioxide emissions induced by the final use of products within the EU-27 in 2009. Besides the carbon dioxide emitted by industries within the EU while processing products for final use, the estimates presented also take into account the carbon dioxide that is ‘embedded’ within the EU’s imports; these emissions arise from the worldwide production chains of goods that are imported into the EU-27. Carbon dioxide emissions that are embedded within products that are made in the EU but exported outside of the EU-27 are, in a similar vein, included in the accounts for foreign countries.

The EU-27 total of 8.0 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per inhabitant in 2009 was composed of three main elements (see the left-hand bar of Figure 1):

some 5.0 tonnes per inhabitant resulted from the consumption by households and governments of goods and services;
a further 1.8 tonnes per inhabitant resulted from direct carbon dioxide emissions from private households in the EU-27 (for example, through the burning of fossil fuels for private vehicles or for heating);
another 1.2 tonnes per inhabitant resulted from (production related to) investments — also referred to as gross capital formation — in the EU-27 economy.

Table 1 provides a more detailed breakdown of the carbon dioxide emissions that are induced by final use, according to a range of different product groups (of CPA 2008) and categories of final use. These are ranked according to their importance in the terms of their respective share of emissions: electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning; constructions and construction works; food products, beverages and tobacco products; and; public administration, defence and compulsory social security services ranked as the four product groups with the highest levels of emissions per inhabitant in 2009 as a result of their final use.

Carbon dioxide emissions from a production perspective

Carbon dioxide emissions may also be analysed from a production perspective, in other words, according to where the emissions were actually generated; this may be seen in the right-hand bar of Figure 1. Using this approach, it is once again necessary to take account of the carbon dioxide emissions from private households (as above for the consumption perspective); in this case households are considered as producing units, providing their own private services, such as heating for their dwelling or the combustion of fuel for driving their own vehicles.

By far the biggest contributor to carbon dioxide emissions from the production perspective was from the activities of domestic industries; together these emitted 6.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide per inhabitant in 2009. The production perspective also takes account of the embedded emissions that are contained within the goods and services that are imported into the EU-27 for intermediate and final use; these were estimated to be around 1.5 tonnes per inhabitant in 2009. The latter estimate is based on the ‘domestic-technology-assumption’ — in other words, that the imported products are produced with production technologies similar to those employed within the EU. By importing various goods and services from the rest of the world, the EU can be deemed to have ‘avoided’ 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per inhabitant that would otherwise have been created within its own production systems. Some evidence, for example international energy statistics, indicates that the rest of the world economy may, on average, have more carbon-intensive production systems than those typically employed in the EU. Hence, the assumption of 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per inhabitant may be considered as an underestimate.

Data sources and availability

Under the European system of national and regional accounts (ESA), the EU Member States transmit to Eurostat supply and use tables on an annual basis and input-output tables on a five-yearly basis. These tables form the departure point for a sequence of calculations leading to a consolidated data set for carbon dioxide emissions for the EU-27 and euro area aggregates.

The combination of this data allows a set of environmentally extended input-output tables to be generated. Some basic modelling and analysis steps were performed, leading to the results that are presented in this article. More detailed methodological explanations are documented in a technical report available on Eurostat’s website.

Eurostat’s environmental accounts programme publishes air emissions accounts on a regular basis; these provide details of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants with a breakdown for various industries and households. The carbon dioxide data was added to the consolidated supply and use tables and input-output tables for the EU-27 and euro area aggregates.

Context

Supply and use tables portray production and consumption activities of national economies in a detailed manner. They form the basis for so-called input-output models and analyses. Both the tables and the models constitute powerful tools for addressing a range of policy areas. The focus of these models is generally made through an analysis of long-term structural changes within economies (for example, by studying value added shares, trade shares, or cumulated value added along certain production chains).

By adding environmental parameters (for example, on air emissions or the use of energy) to these input-output models, it is possible to extend their analytical scope. Environmentally extended input-output analyses are of particular relevance for policy areas such as sustainable production and consumption, the sustainable use of natural resources, and resource productivity.

Further Eurostat information

Publications

CO2 emissions induced by EU's final use of products are estimated to be 9 tonnes per capita - Statistics in focus 22/2011

Eurostat Manual of Supply, Use and Input-Output Tables

Technical Documentation eeSUIOT project

Main tables

Environmental accounts, see:

Environmental accounts (t_env_acc)

Database

Environmental accounts, see:

Environmental accounts (env_acc)

Physical flow accounts (env_acp)

Air emissions accounts by industry and households (NACE Rev. 2) (env_ac_ainah_r2)

Emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants induced by final use of CPA08 products (input-output analysis) (env_ac_io2)

ESA Supply Use and input-output tables

External links