UK carbon emissions due to transport

You asked

Please supply me with annual estimates for the total number of megatonnes of CO2 emitted due to UK consumption for;

• each of the following modes of transport;

  • trains
  • road vehicles
  • aircraft
  • ships
  • bicycles
  • all transport modes combined.

Please also provide;

• for each of these modes of transport, please break these estimates down for;

  • infrastructure construction including material production needed for this contruction,
  • vehicle manufacture,
  • vehicle operation, and
  • infrastructure maintenance including material production needed for this maintenance.
  • Supply the total number of kilometres traveled for each listed mode of transport.
  • Supply carbon emissions for overal consumption in the UK covering all sectors including transport.

We said

Thank you for your query.

As you may be aware, there are different ways of estimating atmospheric emissions.

• ONS publish production-based estimates of atmospheric emissions on a residence basis, that is, those emissions produced by UK residents and UK-registered businesses, including emissions associated with exports but excluding emissions associated with imported goods and services. Information on how the estimates are compiled, including reference to the various underlying sources (for example, Department for Transport (DfT) data), is given in this quality and methodology information report.

• The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) also compile production-based estimates - consistent with the Climate Change Act measure. These are on a territory rather than residency basis, that is, including emissions released in the UK by tourists and foreign transport operations and excluding the emissions of UK residents abroad. Similarly, emissions from businesses based in the UK but registered abroad are included, those from businesses registered in the UK but based abroad are excluded.

• The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) compile estimates on a consumption (or footprint) basis, that is, based on the consumption of all goods and services by households within the UK. They include estimates of emissions associated with each stage of the supply chain for those goods and services, irrelevant of whether or not their production process occurs within the UK. They therefore include emissions associated with what the UK imports but exclude emissions associated with UK exports.

We understand that your query has also gone to BEIS, Defra and DfT and they will be responding separately.

On the basis noted above, ONS produce two tables which are of relevance to your query:

1. Estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by industry (as defined by the Standard Industrial Classification) available here - combined for all GHGs and for each GHG separately. Specifically, rows 108 to 117 show emissions associated with the UK transport and storage sector. Row 161 provides emissions associated with travel related activities of UK households.
2. Estimates of atmospheric emissions associated with road transport available here, which gives estimates of carbon dioxide (and other) emissions from fuel sources used by road vehicles across all industries of the UK.

This article on road transport and emissions may also be of interest