Between 2011 and
2012 the amount of greenhouse gases removed from Scotland’s atmosphere
due to Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) increased by three per
cent.
Scotland’s
Chief Statistician yesterday announced the release of the latest estimates of
emissions and removals of greenhouse gases from LULUCF. The figures show that
Scotland’s LULUCF activities are a net remover, or 'sink', of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This means that overall these activities
result in more greenhouse gases being removed from the atmosphere than
released. The size of the Scottish sink has increased by more than five-fold
between 1990 and 2012. In 2012, LULUCF net emissions were -5.7 million tonnes
of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2e).
Of the land types
examined in the report, forest land removes the greatest amount of greenhouse
gases from the atmosphere, the sink increasing by over 30 per cent between 1990
and 2005. Over the last 40 years the rate of afforestation has decreased.
Combined with conifer plantations established in the mid-20th century reaching their planned
rotation age now being felled and replanted, this has resulted in the size of
this annual sink remaining relatively constant. Wood products produced as a
result of these felling operations have resulted in an increase in the sink
reported by the harvested wood products category.
The report also
examines the emissions and removals from cropland, grassland, wetlands and
settlements. Of these, cropland is the largest producer of greenhouse gases in
Scotland, though emissions have reduced by 30 per cent since 1999.
While most of the
emissions and removals relate to carbon dioxide, in 2012 there were over
300,000 tonnes CO2e of nitrous oxide
emissions and nearly 30,000 tonnes CO2e of methane emissions.
The report was produced by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology for UK
government departments.
Notes To Editors
The LULUCF sector
includes carbon stock changes, emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2, methane and
nitrous oxide) by sources and removals of CO2 by sinks (primarily forestry).
Removals of greenhouse gases are conventionally presented as negative
quantities.
The full statistical
publication “Emissions and Removals of Greenhouse Gases from Land Use,
Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland: 1990-2012” is available at: http://naei.defra.gov.uk/reports/reports?report_id=788
Greenhouse gas
emissions and removals are reviewed every year, and the whole historical data
series is revised to incorporate methodological improvements and new data.
Changes to UK LULUCF emissions were first reported in February when 2012
UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions, final figures were published - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/final-uk-emissions-es
timates
There are large
differences in the estimated net emissions compared with the 2011 inventory
published in April 2013, due to changes in methodology. The most significant
change in methodology was a change in the model used for carbon accounting in
the forestry sector and a subsequent change in the forestry activity data fed
into the models. Previous inventories were based upon the C-Flow model which
uses representative broadleaf (beech) and conifer (sitka spruce) species to
model all forests in the UK with constant management regimes and harvesting
times. The new inventory was compiled using the CARBINE model which is able to
represent all of the introduced and native tree species relevant to the UK, the
different growth rates of forests and four broad classes of forest management
(clear-fell with thinning, clear-fell without thinning, thinned but not
clear-felled and no timber production). The revised method gives a more
realistic representation of UK forestry.
As part of the move
to the CARBINE model, the forestry datasets which provide input to the model
have been changed. Planting data have been back-dated to 1500, whereas with
C-Flow, all forests planted prior to 1920 were assumed to be in carbon
equilibrium. Deforestation rates have also increased from those used in
previous submissions which were believed to under-report deforestation. The
data on harvested wood products produced by CARBINE is more closely related to
timber production statistics rather than the standard rotation lengths assumed
by C-Flow.
There are also some
small changes due to the inclusion of new activity data, including 2011 data
for agricultural liming and peat extraction which were published too late to be
captured in the 2011 report. Further methodological information can be found in
the report.
As a result of these
changes, while the 2011 inventory reported the size of the LULUCF sector sink
increasing by 3.2 Mt CO2e between 1990
and 2011, the 2012 inventory shows the sink increasing by 4.7 Mt CO2e over the same period. Net emissions from
the LULUCF sector in 2011 were reported as -5.3 Mt CO2e in the 2011 inventory compared with -5.5
Mt CO2e in the 2012
inventory.
Historical
statistics for net Scottish greenhouse gas emissions from all sources will be
updated when the full greenhouse gas emissions statistics for 1990, 1995,
1998-2012 become available in June 2014.
Further information
on Environment statistics within Scotland can be accessed at:http://www.Scotland.gov.uk/envstats
Official statistics
are produced by professionally independent statistical staff – more
information on the standards of official statistics in Scotland can be accessed
at:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/About