1. Sulfur Oxides SOx

1. SULFUR OXIDES - SO_x

1.1 SO_x-emissions by countries

The 1990 annual total SO_x-emissions for EUROPE were estimated to be 28 million tonnes as SO_x. These emissions broken down by EU-12, EFTA-5 and PHARE-10 countries are shown in figure 1.1. The largest contributor were the EU-12 countries with 44%, second largest the PHARE-10 countries with 38%; Germany (former East), Croatia and Malta contributed 16% and the EFTA-5 countries 2%.

Figure 1.1: Contribution in % to the EUROPEAN total SO_x-emissions

Figure 1.2 shows the relative contribution of individual countries to the total of 28 million tonnes. In 1990 the largest contributing countries were Germany (former East; 15%), the United Kingdom (14%), Poland (12%) and Italy (8%); the smallest contributing countries were Malta (0.02%), Luxembourg (0.05%), Switzerland (0.16%) and Austria (0.3%). These differences are due to different size of population, different per capita emissions (see also paragraph 1.3) and differences in emissions from natural sources. Different per capita emissions are due to different types of human activities and differences in air pollution control measures.

Figure 1.2: Contribution in % of each country to the EUROPEAN total SO_x-emissions

1.2 SO_x-emissions per group

Ninety percent of the SO_x-emissions for EUROPE in 1990 resulted from emissions of group 1 (public power, cogeneration and district heating), group 2 (commercial, institutional and residential combustion) and group 3 (industrial combustion). Group 1 contributed the largest share with 54%, group 3 and group 2 were the groups with the next largest contribution almost exclusively of 25% and 11%. The remaining 10% of the total emissions can be attributed almost exclusively to emissions of the groups 4 (production processes), 7 (road transport), 8 (other mobile sources and machinery) and 11 (nature).

The split of the SO_x-emissions into groups for EU-12 and PHARE-10 countries is quite similar compared to the split for EUROPE with the exception of the relative large contribution from group 11 (nature) for EU-12 countries which is due to the emissions of volcanoes, mainly in Italy. The split into groups for EFTA-5 countries is different from that already described split for EUROPE (see figure 1.3). The largest contribution from the EFTA-5 countries is group 3 (industrial combustion) with 34%, the second largest group is group 1 (public power, cogeneration and district heating) with 21% followed by group 4 (production processes) with 20%.

The differences of contributions of the main source groups 1, 2 and 3 to the total emissions are larger between countries than these groups (see also table 1.1). The contribution of group 1 in the countries ranges from 79% (Slovenia and Estonia) to 1% (Luxembourg), contribution of group 2 SO_x-emissions ranges from 33% (Switzerland) to 2% (Netherlands, Portugal, Estonia) and contribution of group 3 SO_x-emissions ranges from 87% (Luxembourg) to 3% (Latvia).

However it is evident from these differences in the relative contribution of source groups to a countries total emissions that strategies for reduction of SO_x-emission need individual solutions as well as common elements.

Figure 1.3: Contribution in % of source groups to the EUROPEAN SOx-emissions

1.3 SO_x-emissions per capita

Only anthropogenic emissions are expected to be related to population for these calculations. Therefore group 11 (nature) has been excluded.

For EUROPE the average SO_x-emissions per capita were 57 kg/capita. Compared to this number the per capita SO_x-emissions were 77% larger for the PHARE-10 countries with 101 kg/capita, 37% smaller for the EU-12 countries with 36 kg/capita and 72% smaller for the EFTA-5 countries with 16 kg/capita. This comparison is also shown in figure 1.4 and table 9.

Again the differences are much larger if individual countries are compared; the largest SO_x-emissions per capita were estimated for Germany (former East; 261 kg/capita) and the next largest ones for Bulgaria (223 kg/capita) and Czech Republic (181 kg/capita); the smallest per capita emissions for SO_x were calculated for Switzerland (7 kg/capita), Sweden and Austria (each 12 kg/capita), Norway (13 kg/capita), the Netherlands (14 kg/capita) and Germany (former West; 15 kg/capita). Figure 1.5 shows the countries ranked according their per capita emissions. The already mentioned special report for SO_x will analyse these large differences of the per capita emissions for SO_x, the smallest per capita emissions being a factor of 37 smaller compared to the largest number.

Figure 1.4: SO_x-emissions per capita for EUROPE

Figure 1.5: SO_x-emissions per capita for individual countries

1.4 SO_x-emissions per km²

The emissions per km² have been calculated from the total emissions, the emissions of group 11 (nature) having been included in this case.

For EUROPE the average SO_x-emissions per km² were estimated as 5 931 kg/km². Compared to this number the per km² SO_x-emissions were 69% larger for the PHARE-10 countries with 10 036 kg/km², 8% smaller for the EU-12 countries with
5 438 kg/km² and 93% smaller for the EFTA-5 countries with 422 kg/km². This comparison is also shown in figure 1.6 and table 10.

Figure 1.6: SO_x-emissions per km² for EUROPE

Again the differences are much larger if individual countries are compared; the largest SO_x-emissions per km² were for Germany (former East; 40 088 kg/km²) and the next largest ones for Czech Republic (23 618 kg/km²), Malta (19 199 kg/km²) Bulgaria (18 106 kg/km²) and Belgium, Flemish region (15 829 kg/km²); the smallest emissions per km² for SO_x were for Norway (165 kg/km²), Sweden (233 kg/km²), Finland (671 kg/km²) and Switzerland (1 068 kg/km²). Figure 1.7 shows the countries ranked according their SO_x-emission per km². The differences in the emissions per km² between countries are much larger compared to the differences of the per capita emissions. The smallest number being 243 times smaller than the largest number.

Figure 1.7: SO_x-emissions per km² for individual countries

Table 1.1: Sulfur oxides emissions per country and group