European overview of greenhousegases
GHG emissions in the EU-27in 2020
In Mt CO2 eq
|
Source |
Years |
CO2 |
CH4 |
N2O |
Fluorinated gases |
Total |
|
Energy use |
1990 |
3 539.8 |
158.1 |
26.5 |
0.0 |
3 724.4 |
|
2020 |
2 399.9 |
64.0 |
24.2 |
0.0 |
2 488.1 |
|
|
Industrial processes |
1990 |
312.8 |
1.6 |
93.5 |
54.5 |
462.4 |
|
2020 |
218.6 |
1.5 |
8.0 |
85.9 |
313.9 |
|
|
Agriculture |
1990 |
14.1 |
261.0 |
207.8 |
0.0 |
482.9 |
|
2020 |
9.7 |
205.9 |
166.8 |
0.0 |
382.4 |
|
|
Waste |
1990 |
3.8 |
160.4 |
8.3 |
0.0 |
172.5 |
|
2020 |
2.9 |
100.6 |
8.8 |
0.0 |
112.3 |
|
|
Total excluding LULUCF |
1990 |
3 874.8 |
581.2 |
336.0 |
54.5 |
4 846.6 |
|
2020 |
2 632.6 |
372.0 |
207.8 |
85.9 |
3 298.2 |
|
|
LULUCF |
1990 |
- 234.4 |
7.8 |
13.5 |
0.0 |
- 213.1 |
|
2020 |
- 249.3 |
6.6 |
13.2 |
0.0 |
- 229.5 |
|
|
Total |
1990 |
3 640.4 |
589.1 |
349.5 |
54.5 |
4 633.5 |
|
2020 |
2 383.3 |
378.5 |
221.0 |
85.9 |
3 068.7 |
Note: The waste sector excludes incineration with energy recovery (included in"Energy use").
Source: EEA, 2022
In 2020, the European Union's GHG emissions, excluding LULUCF, amounted to 3.3 Gt CO2 eq. CO2 represented 79.8% of these emissions, while 11.3% of them are due to methane ( CH4 ). In the context of a strong economic slowdown linked to the health crisis, they decreased by 8.4% compared to 2019. Over the longer term, the decrease was 31.9% compared to 1990.
Distribution by source of GHG emissions in the EU-27 between 1990 and 2020
Source: EEA, 2022
In the European Union, energy use remained the main source of GHG emissions in 2020 (75.4% of the total excluding LULUCF), followed by agriculture (11.6%) and industrial processes (9.5%) . 25.6 % of the energy use came from the energy industry, in particular from the electricity production, and 21.9% from the transport use.
Between 2019 and 2020, total emissions excluding LULUCF fell by 8.4%. Emissions from energy use fell even more significantly (-9.9%), driven by the energy industry (-13.3%) and especially transport (-13.6%), due to travel limitations caused by the Covid pandemic. Decreases were more moderate in manufacturing industry, residential and services sectors. Emissions from other sources (agriculture, industrial processes, waste) increased slightly.
In the longer term, emissions have decreased since 1990 in all these sectors, with the notable exception of transport (see part 4).
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