Britain's greenhouse gas emissions fell by 3.3 percent in 2015, largely due to a decline in coal-fired power generation, preliminary government data shows.
Output of the heat-trapping gases in Europe's second-largest emitter fell to 497.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) last year from 514.4 million tonnes in 2014, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said on Thursday (local time).
Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas blamed for climate change, dropped four percent to 405 million tonnes.
The fall stemmed largely from a drop in energy-sector emissions. Those fell 13 percent to 136 million tonnes of CO2e as low-carbon electricity production from renewable and nuclear power plants rose and carbon-intensive coal generation fell.
The bulk of Britain's emissions, some 27 percent, came from energy supply, followed by transport at 23 percent, business at 14 per cent and residential at 13 percent. The rest came from sectors including agriculture and waste management.
Britain has a legally binding target to cut its CO2 emissions by 2050 to 80 percent below 1990 levels.
Reuters
