EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Ireland’s Environment – An Integrated Assessment 2020 The greenhouse gas emissions index shown in Figure 15.4 shows that, compared with the trend in total EU- 28 emissions, Ireland has not reduced greenhouse gas emissions since 1990. The latest European state of the environment report (EEA, 2019a) noted that Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2017 were the third highest in the EU, at 13.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per person, compared with an EU average of 8.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per person. Despite an increased renewable energy share over the past 5 years, Ireland (at 10.7%) remains well below the EU average (17.5%) (Figure 15.5). Figure 15.4  Trend in Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 2018 compared with the EU-28 average (Source: EEA/Eurostat https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode= sdg_13_10&plugin=1) 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 Index, 1990 = 100 EU-28 Ireland Figure 15.5  Share of renewable energy in Ireland from 2004 to 2018 compared with the EU-28 average (Source: Eurostat https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode= sdg_07_40&plugin=1) 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2005 2007 2019 2011 2013 2015 2017 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 % share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption EU-28 Ireland The EPA’s latest greenhouse gas emissions data for 2019 show that, while some progress has been made in the energy sector in the last several years, emissions in other sectors have been generally increasing or not decreasing fast enough to achieve Ireland’s long-term decarbonisation goals. Agriculture continues to be the largest source of emissions, representing 35 per cent of total national emissions in 2019, and emissions are projected to continue increasing towards 2030 absent the implementation of measures outlined in the 2019 Climate Action Plan. The transport and energy industries sectors represented 20 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively, of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. The transport sector has been the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions, 394