Public Sector - Gov.uk

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Sources of emissions and data sets. • Emissions of GHGs from this sector occur from the combustion of fuel in public s
Public Sector Greenhouse gas (GHG) Inventory summary Factsheet Territorial coverage: UK including Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories Total emissions: Net emissions including Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Sector Definition: National Communication

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12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

 This sector covers public sector stationary combustion and is dominated by emissions from natural gas combustion.  Overall contribution of emissions to UK GHG emissions in 2014 was 1.6%.  Emissions from the public sector have decreased by 40% since 1990, driven mostly by a decrease in liquid and solid fuel combustion. This was partially offset until 2004 by an increase in natural gas use.  CO2 is the dominant GHG emitted.

Public Sector Emissions, 1990-2014

Emissions (Mt CO2e)

Summary – historical emissions

Year Source: UK GHG Inventory (UNFCCC coverage) (Ricardo, 2016)

Public Sector Emissions by Source, 2014

Sources of emissions and data sets   





Emissions of GHGs from this sector occur from the combustion of fuel in public sector buildings. Activity data (fuel use) is taken from the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES). The DUKES category “Public Administration” includes: - Public Administration and Defence; Compulsory Social Security - Education - Health and Social work Emission factors for CO2 are UK specific, mostly based on the Carbon Factors Review conducted in 2004. Emission factors for CH4 and N2O are based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) default values.

Gas oil 0.8% Fuel oil 1.0%

Natural gas 93.6%

Coal 4.5%

Source: UK GHG Inventory (UNFCCC coverage) (Ricardo, 2016) Note: due to rounding, the sum of values quoted above may not equal 100%

Public Sector Emissions by Gas, 2014 N2O 0.1% CH4 0.2%

CO2 99.7%

Source: UK GHG Inventory (UNFCCC coverage) (Ricardo, 2016)

Methodology  



Fuel combustion emissions are estimated by multiplying the fuel use by an emission factor. The estimate for the UK is based on a top-down method, using the total fuel combustion from DUKES. It is not possible to further break this down into different areas of the public sector. Emissions from public sector transport sources (including ambulances, for example) are not estimated explicitly, and are included in the transport sector of the inventory.

Improvements  Large decrease in emissions from this sector due to revisions in activity data and also updates to the natural gas emission factor following new data from gas companies.  Updated activity data for miscellaneous commercial combustion provided by Jersey has been included.

Uncertainties 





The GHG Inventory quantifies uncertainties on emission factors and activity data, which in turn allow for the production of uncertainty estimates on the emissions; overall uncertainty by gas; and estimates of sector level uncertainties. The uncertainty associated with the emission factors for CO₂ is low, since the carbon content of the fuels used is well known. For non-CO₂ gases, the emission factors are dependent on a range of contributing factors, such as boiler size and efficiency. Therefore the uncertainty on the nonCO2 emission factors used in this sector is high, although the contribution to total emissions is much lower so this uncertainty is not particularly significant to the sector as a whole. The indicative uncertainty for the public sector is +/- 3.4%, as a 95% confidence interval.

Links   

UK GHG Inventory: http://naei.defra.gov.uk/about/national-inventory-system UK GHG National Statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions Digest of UK Energy Statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/digest-of-uk-energy-statistics-dukes