The latest available figures show little change in the level of Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions in 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency reported today.
According to the EPA, Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions in 2004 were up by 0.15 per cent on the previous year. The rise is a reversal of the trend for the previous two years, which showed a slight reduction in gases.
The 68.46 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO 2) equivalent produced in 2004 is 23.1 per cent higher than in 1990. The figure for 2002 was 24 per cent higher than 1990.
The level is far in excess of Ireland's commitment under the Kyoto Protocol to limit emissions to 13 per cent above the 1990 figure in the period 2008 to 2012. Ireland has been allocated at total of 315 million tonnes CO 2equivalent for the period and will have to pay massive levies on excess emissions if this target is not met.
The main producers of greenhouse gases are agriculture (29 per cent), power generation and oil refinery (23 per cent) and transport, at 18.4 per cent.
Minister for the Environment Dick Roche said yesterday the cost of exceeding the Kyoto targets on emissions has been reduced.
He told Cabinet yesterday the excess target for Kyoto compliance between 2008 and 2012 had been reduced from 9.2 million tonnes a year to 7.2 million tonnes. He also said he was given approval for a scheme of levying charges on the trading sector.
Despite the measure, the State will still face a bill in the region of €1 billion, with the taxpayer paying a little over half and the rest being picked up by the business sector.