Scottish Greenhouse Gas Statistics 2022

Purpose of this Publication

The “Scottish Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2022” Official Statistics publication contains the results of the Scottish Greenhouse Gas Inventory for 1990-2022.  The Scottish Greenhouse Gas Inventory is the key data source for understanding the origins and magnitudes of the emissions. The inventory is compiled in line with international guidance from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Data are reported by source sector (such as energy supply) and by greenhouse gas (such as carbon dioxide).  The inventory is also used to report data against targets as required under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.  

Using the Statistics.  Which measure to use and when?

The official statistics publication “Scottish Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2022” includes data on two categorisations of greenhouse gas emissions.

• Estimated net source emissions.  These are sometimes referred to as “territorial” emissions, as they are produced within a country’s territory or economic sphere.  Section B contains results using this categorisation.
• GHG account.  These are net source emissions which have been adjusted to remove the effect of successive revisions to the data over time.   Section C contains results using this approach.

The publication does not contain information on consumption-based emission estimates.  Consumption-based emissions refer to greenhouse gas emissions associated with the spending of Scottish residents on goods and services, wherever in the world these emissions arise together with emissions directly generated by Scottish households, through private heating and motoring.  This information was most recently published in May 2024 for the years 1998 to 2020 as part of the Official Statistics publication: “Scotland's Carbon Footprint 1998-2020”.  Section E in this release contains information on what territorial emissions are excluded from the greenhouse gas inventory.

The table below shows how to use the different categorisations of statistics on greenhouse gas emissions.

1  Further information on Scotland’s Climate Change Targets can be found in Section C.

2 Following the inclusion of drainage and rewetting of organic soils into the Scottish inventory, EU comparisons including land use are technically invalid.

3  Direct comparisons between Scotland and the UK can be made by adding up the results for the four Devolved Administrations separately.  The UK figure in this case would exclude offshore emissions.

Which greenhouse gases are reported on and how do they contribute to global warming?

The basket of greenhouse gases consists of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and the four F-gases (hydrofluorocarbons- HFCs, perfluorocarbons – PFCs, sulphur hexafluoride- SF6 and nitrogen trifluoride- NF3).  These gases are weighted by Global Warming Potential (GWP), so that total greenhouse gas emissions can be reported on a consistent basis. The GWP for each gas is defined as its warming influence relative to that of carbon dioxide over a 100 year period.  Greenhouse gas emissions are then presented in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) units.  In the case of some of the F-gases, the global warming potential is listed as being within a range of values, due to the gases existing as a variety of isotopes with differing GWPs.

Table 1.  List of Greenhouse Gases and their contribution to Scotland's net greenhouse gas emissions, 2022

The Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) are based on international reporting standards, as set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Section B contains further data on the individual greenhouse gases.   Section D contains a more detailed discussion of the causes and impacts of revisions between the 1990-2021 and 1990-2022 inventories.

Reporting of the Baseline Period and 1990

In this publication, a single 1990 Base Year is used for all estimated source emissions.  This year is referred to as “1990” in charts, tables and text.

A different baseline is used for the reporting progress against Scotland’s Climate Change Targets, using the GHG account. This is referred to as “Baseline Period” when referring to changes over time in the charts, tables and text.

The Baseline Period for reporting against Climate Change Targets is:

• 1990 for carbon dioxide carbon dioxide (CO2),  methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O)
• 1995 for Fluorinated gases (F gases):  hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3)

The difference between these definitions of baseline year tend to be small as F gases are a minority contribution to the total emissions in terms of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Within this publication, data are estimated for the Baseline Period; and the years 1990, 1995 and 1998 to 2022.

What are net emissions and carbon sinks?

The emissions reported are the combination of emissions minus removals from the atmosphere by carbon sinks.  Carbon sinks are present in the ‘Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry’ (LULUCF) category, they are mostly associated with the effects of grasslands and forestry to sequester carbon, as well as the carbon stored in wood products.  These are known as “removals” as they offset emissions.

Emissions sectors

This publication provides the latest estimates of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions by source from 1990-2022. It uses the ‘Territorial Emissions Statistics’ sectors, which are the same categories now used for the UK report.  Previously these statistics were categorised by ‘National Communication Categories’ but following a consultation exercise by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, it was determined that the national communication categories were not meeting users’ needs.  Annex C presents emissions using the previous categories.

Figure 1 below shows the relationship between the old categories and the new categories.

Figure 1:  Relationship between National Communications categories and Territorial Emissions Statistics Sectors, Scotland 2022.

For the purposes of reporting, greenhouse gas emissions are allocated into categories as follows:

• Electricity Supply – Includes emissions from power stations previously allocated to the Energy Supply sector.
• Fuel Supply – Includes emissions from fuel production and fuel supply activities such as mining, refining, manufacturing, and distributing fuels previously allocated to the Energy Supply sector.
• Domestic Transport – Includes all emissions previously allocated to the Transport sector and now includes air conditioning and refrigeration on vehicles.
• Buildings and Product Uses – Includes emissions from combustion on residential, public sector and commercial sites. Also includes emissions from product uses such as nitrous oxide (N2O) use as an anaesthetic; and F-gas emissions from aerosols, and metered dose inhalers or residential refrigeration and air conditioning.
• Industry –These comprise of emissions from manufacturing, industrial processes and construction, as well as industrial refrigeration and air conditioning. Emissions from coke production previously categorised as part of the Energy Supply sector are now included in the Industry sector as energy from coke production is primarily used in the iron and steel industry.
• Waste – Includes all emissions previously allocated to the Waste Management sector. Additionally; Includes emissions from accidental fires previously allocated to the Business sector and includes emissions from household composting, small-scale waste burning, and accidental fires previously allocated to the Residential sector.
• Agriculture – The coverage of the Agriculture sector is unchanged. However, there have been some changes to the categories within the Agriculture sector.
• Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) – The coverage of the LULUCF sector is unchanged. However, there have been some substantial changes to the categories within the LULUCF sector to align better with land use policy. Key changes include the separation of forestry and peatlands related emissions into their own sub-sectors, as well as the creation of new categories within forestry and peatlands that better describe the emissions and removals.
• International Aviation and Shipping (IA&S) – unchanged from previous categorisation.

When emissions are reported by source, emissions are attributed to the sector that emits them directly. These high-level sectors are made up of a number of more detailed sectors, which follow the definitions set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and which are used in international reporting tables which are submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) every year.

The Kyoto Protocol allows Parties flexibility to choose either 1990 or 1995 as the base year for the industrial gases.  Using a 1995 base year is in line with the approach adopted by the UK Government and many EU Member States.