EPA: Boom in sales of EVs fails to halt rise in transport emissions
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Greenhouse gas emissions linked to transport are continuing to surge despite a huge spike in people switching to electric vehicles.
The latest report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows that transport emissions rose by 6% in one year, with volumes back to 95% of pre-covid levels.
EPA programme manager Mary Frances Rochford said the rise in greenhouse gases from transport “highlights the fact that a growing economy, with high employment, will continue to produce emissions if we do not break the link and decouple emissions from increased activity by using cleaner and alternatives sources of energy”.
Increased transport activity — both private cars and freight — is eroding the impact of increased usage of electric vehicles (EVs), the EPA warned. However, transport emissions in 2022 were 4.6% below the pre-pandemic level seen in 2019.
Some 19% of new car registrations in 2022 were electric, with 72,000 EVs overall on Irish roads. This figure has surged further in 2023, with electric vehicles accounting for 50% of new car sales in recent months.
The new EPA report warns that Ireland is now facing “extremely challenging” emissions reductions targets of 12.4% annually for the next three years, after the country reduced greenhouse gas emissions by just 1.9% overall in 2022.
Cutting emissions by less than 2% last year is a “real failure”, according to Hannah Daly, a professor in sustainable energy systems at UCC.
She said Ireland’s targets of a 51% cut in emissions by 2050 look alarmingly ambitious.
Emission reductions were recorded in all key sectors other than transport but many of these improvements were modest.
• Agriculture emissions dropped by 1.2% in 2022. This was driven by reduced fertiliser use which offset the impact of an increase in livestock numbers, with dairy cow numbers increasing for the 12th successive year.
• Emissions from power generation decreased by 1.8% due to a reduction in coal, oil, and peat use and more renewable energy despite a 2.1% increase in overall electricity demand.
• However, residential emissions fared better, dropping by 12.7%, with the impact of higher fuel prices, a new smoky fuel ban, and milder weather.
The new EPA figures show that Ireland has already used 47% of its carbon budget for 2021-2025 in the first two years.
An extremely challenging annual reduction of 12.4% is required for each of the remaining years if Ireland is to stay within its carbon budget, the EPA warned.
A carbon budget represents the total amount of emissions that may be emitted in the State during a five-year period.
EPA director general Laura Burke said: “An overall emissions reduction is welcome, and it is encouraging to see the impact of action across key economic sectors.
“While welcome, this decrease in emissions needs to be significantly ramped up. We need faster progress on the actions set out in national climate action plans to decarbonise and transform all sectors of Ireland’s economy, to stay within national carbon budgets and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030.”
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