Carbon Accounting in Scotland
SEI have just released a policy brief on Scotland's Footprint.
Our study has shown that Scotland's carbon footprint has grown by 11 per cent since 1992.
The figure includes greenhouse gases released overseas during the production of goods later consumed in Scotland and so is the most accurate gauge of the country's emissions to date.
While emissions generated in Scotland fell by 13 percent between 1995 and 2004, when trade is taken account, greenhouse gases rose by 11 per cent over the same period.
The full policy brief can be found on SEI's website.
An article has also be published in the Sunday Herald and can be found here.
The carbon footprint in Scotland is increasingly driven by emissions from productionprocesses abroad. Between 1995 and 2004, territorial emissions in Scotland reduced by 13%,while consumer emissions grew by 11% over the same time period.
The difference between territorial emissions and consumer emissions grew from10.6 Mt CO2e1 in 1995 to 28 Mt CO2e over this time period. The satisfaction of growingconsumer demand in Scotland between 1995 and 2004 without increasing territorialemissions was only possible through this increased reliance on imported products with thenear tripling of imported emissions.
Three key areas of consumption make up household carbon impacts: housing (33%),transport (26%) and food and drink (19%).
60% of the increase in the carbon footprint from 1992 to 2004 comes from transport. Over 45% of this growth relates to the use, purchase and maintenance of cars, 40% is due to aviation, and the remainder relates to other public transport.
The carbon footprint of the highest emitters is over 3 times greater than the lowest. Thisresults in some households having a carbon footprint near 50 tonnes compared to somegroups with a footprint of 16 tonnes.
Apart from transport, the growth in consumer emissions is related to other categories suchas leisure, clothes and communications equipment. All these categories have nearly doubled between 1992 and 2004.
At present there is no carbon accounting system in Scotland that can ensure that a realreduction in emissions is being achieved and not displaced to other countries, therefore makingit very difficult to assess future progress.
The use of REAP in Scotland has been reviewed by the EPSRC ISSUES Project who look at urban sustainability.
"The Sustainable Urban Environments Programme is an EPSRC funded portfolio of research looking at ways of improving sustainability in the urban environment." (taken from www.urbansustainabilityexchange.org.uk, July 2010)
The full report titled "The Process of Knowledge Transfer from Researcher and Policy Maker to End-User" provides an analysis of the footprinting work done in Scotland and the use of REAP by Scottish Local Authorities. It is available here.
REAP Version 2
Please contact us to get your latest copy of REAP. Read the full news article by clicking more below to find out about the updates and what the type of licence you require.
See the REAP pages for details about licence costs and training packages.
REAP Petite has been updated and improved.
To download a free copy click here
If you are a license holder, contact SEI to get your new version.
SEI have just released a policy brief on Scotland's Footprint.
Our study has shown that Scotland's carbon footprint has grown by 11 per cent since 1992.
The figure includes greenhouse gases released overseas during the production of goods later consumed in Scotland and so is the most accurate gauge of the country's emissions to date.
While emissions generated in Scotland fell by 13 percent between 1995 and 2004, when trade is taken account, greenhouse gases rose by 11 per cent over the same period.
The full policy brief can be found on SEI's website.
An article has also be published in the Sunday Herald and can be found here.