Emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases have largely fallen in 2022, according to data published by Statistics Austria on Friday. However, CO2 emissions from fossil sources increased during this period – traffic increased again after the Corona lockdowns.
“Compared to 2021, CO2 emissions from fossil sources increased by 2.3 percent in 2022, which is mainly due to the higher traffic volume after the Corona lockdown period,” says Tobias Thomas, General Manager of Statistics Statistics Austria. the “Air Emissions Calculation 1995 -2022”.
Reduction of particulate matter through changed heating behavior
The increase in climate-affecting CO2 emissions, which includes not only fossil emissions but also process-related emissions – those arising, for example, from the production of iron or cement – totaled only 0.2 percent, the statistics office reported on Friday. However, warm weather and higher energy prices led to a decline in particulate matter as private households reduced the use of biomass for space heating. According to Statistics Austria, this also led to 9.8 percent less carbon monoxide (CO) and 6.9 percent less non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) emissions in 2022 compared to 2021, representing the highest reduction of all species considered emissions.
Taking the year 1995 as a base – the time series starts with this year due to EU regulatory requirements – the largest declines were in sulfur dioxide (SO2, minus 74.2 percent), in NMVOC (minus 57.1 percent) and in Carbon monoxide (minus 47.7 percent). Emission of particulate matter PM2.5 (min 40.1 percent – fine dust particles with a diameter smaller than 2.5 micrometers (thousandths of a millimeter) are called PM2.5, note), methane (CH4, min 38.2 percent) , nitrogen oxides (NOx, min 28.6 percent) and particulate matter PM10 (min 29.2 percent).
According to Statistics Austria, the increased use of renewable energy between 1995 and 2022 has led to a 97.3 percent increase in climate-neutral CO2 emissions from biogenic sources such as fuelwood or biomass. During the same period, emissions from fossil fuel combustion fell by only 6.6 percent. However, CO2 emissions from other sources (process-related emissions) showed an increase of 24.7 percent; overall, climate-affecting CO2 emissions fell slightly (minus 0.7 percent).
Households have largely reduced air pollutants and greenhouse gases
From 1995 to 2022, private households reduced emissions of almost all observed air pollutants and greenhouse gases, with the exception of CO2 from other sources (up 23.9 percent) and from biogenic sources (up 11.4 percent). The economy’s emissions fell to fossil fuels (plus 0.1 percent), process-related emissions (plus 24.7 percent) and climate-neutral biogenic CO2 emissions (plus 210.6 percent).
When calculating air emissions, only emissions caused by people living in Austria and companies based here are taken into account, regardless of where in the world they are emitted. Statistics Austria explains the difference with the inventory of air pollutants and greenhouse gases, which is carried out annually, is drawn up by the Federal Environment Agency and reflects the emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases for the Austrian territory. According to Statistics Austria, the difference between the calculation of air emissions and the other reporting obligations mentioned lies in the different considerations of transport emissions (emissions from residents versus emissions within the country).
Source: Krone
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