ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS
 
 

Air pollution:
last update: June 2005
 
 

Emissions of SO2 from fuel combustion
                 
latest year
available
SO2  emissions from
fuel combustion

% change since
1990
SO2  emissions
from fuel
combustion
per capita
   
 
1000 tonnes
%
kg
Algeria* 1995
   49.0
1
...
1.8
Antigua and Barbuda 1990
   2.8
..
44.9
Australia 2002
   751.0
17.9
38.4
Austria 2002
   31.8
-57.3
3.9
Belgium 2002
   131.9
-57.3
12.8
Belize 1994
   0.5
...
2.6
Bolivia* 2000
   10.3
5.0
1.2
Bulgaria 2002
   966.9
...
121.4
Cambodia 1994
   25.6
...
2.3
Chile 1994
   146.2
...
10.4
Colombia 1994
   162.5
19.9
4.3
Comoros 1994
   0.4
...
0.6
Costa Rica 1996
   1.8
...
0.5
Croatia 2002
   66.6
-62.4
15.0
Cuba 1996
   423.9
1.3
38.5
Czech Republic 2002
   230.6
...
22.5
Democratic Republic of the Congo* 1994
   0.1
51.7
0.0
Denmark 2002
   24.9
-85.9
4.6
Dominican Republic 1994
   114.5
51.7
15.1
Estonia 2002
   96.3
...
72.0
Ethiopia 1995
   13.0
18.2
0.2
Finland 2002
   73.1
-54.4
14.1
France 2002
   524.2
-57.7
8.8
Georgia* 2002
   5.2
-97.9
1.0
Germany 2002
   537.6
-89.5
6.5
Greece 2002
   491.5
3.4
44.8
Guatemala* 1990
   73.7
..
8.4
Haiti 1994
   51.3
...
6.9
Honduras 1995
   2.1
...
0.4
Hungary 2002
   354.9
...
35.8
Iceland 2002
   4.4
-12.6
15.3
Ireland 2002
   96.0
-47.6
24.6
Israel* 2002
   306.4
2
12.5
48.6
Italy 2002
   596.6
-63.9
10.4
Jamaica 1994
   98.9
...
40.4
Japan 2002
   765.0
-16.4
6.0
Kyrgyzstan 2000
   30.2
-73.0
6.1
Latvia 2002
   11.7
-87.6
5.0
Lebanon 1994
   79.6
...
26.0
Lithuania 2002
   45.7
-78.8
13.2
Luxembourg 2002
   2.2
...
4.8
Malta 1994
   24.3
...
64.9
Mauritius 1995
   13.4
...
11.9
Micronesia, Federated States of 1994
   0.5
...
5.0
Monaco* 2002
   0.0
-27.2
1.3
Morocco 1994
   285.0
...
10.8
Netherlands 2002
   77.0
-58.2
4.8
New Zealand 2002
   51.7
22.2
13.5
Norway 2002
   8.8
-59.5
2.0
Peru 1994
   105.2
...
4.5
Philippines 1994
   433.4
...
6.5
Portugal 2002
   269.0
-12.6
26.8
Republic of Moldova 1998
   31.7
-88.0
7.4
Romania 2002
   632.0
-33.0
28.2
Saint Lucia 1994
   0.6
...
4.4
Slovakia 2002
   102.3
...
18.9
Slovenia 2002
   68.2
-72.4
34.3
Spain 2002
  1 909.8
-8.9
46.6
Sri Lanka 1995
   41.0
...
2.3
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 1997
   0.3
26.8
2.8
Sweden 2002
   41.1
-41.3
4.6
Switzerland 2002
   13.0
-62.0
1.8
Tajikistan 1998
   2.7
-92.1
0.5
Trinidad and Tobago* 1996
   8.4
3
...
6.6
Tunisia 1994
   76.4
...
8.7
United Kingdom 2002
   959.6
-73.4
16.2
United States 2002
  12 469.2
-35.2
42.8
Uruguay 1998
   52.3
27.8
15.9
Uzbekistan 1994
   247.0
-52.3
11.1
Yemen 1995
   2.9
...
0.2

 

Sources:

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretatiat (see: http://unfccc.int).
UNSD/UNEP 2004  questionnaire on Environment statistics, Air section.
UN Population Division.
Most data are from UNFCCC, except data for countries with "*" are from UNSD/UNEP 2004  questionnaire.


Footnotes:

  1. Emissions from power stations in the north of the country + emissions from main industries + emissions from car traffic in the north of the country.
  2. The total refers to emissions from fuel combustion, sectoral approach.
  3. Refers to emissions from fuel combustion in energy industries, industry, and transport only.


Definitions & Technical notes:

Data on emissions of SO2 are usually estimated according to international methodologies on the basis of national statistics on energy, industrial and agricultural production, waste management, etc. 

The most widely used methodologies are the 1996 Guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) (see http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/gl/invs4.htm) which is the basis for reporting to the UNFCCC. In earlier years the guidelines produced for the UNECE Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution were widely used in Europe, and are still used in some countries. 

The main source of SO2 is burning of fuels, including biomass. Therefore the data shown refer only to emissions from fuel combustion. This covers the combustion of fuels in the energy industries, all other industries and transport (except international aviation and marine transport) as well as small combustion activities such as in commercial, institutional or residential buildings, fuel combustion in agriculture and in all other activities.


Data Quality:

Standardised methods for calculating SO2 emissions from fuel combustion have been available for many years. The amount of SO2 emitted is directly related to the sulphur content of the fossil fuels consumed in the country, and the desulphurisation techniques used, if any.  Data on emissions from fuel combustion are considered to be reasonable.


Policy Relevance:

SO2 can be transported over large distances and is partly responsible for acidification of soil and water and for damage to sensitive plants and buildings many kilometres away from the source. The sulphur content of diesel fuels also has an impact on the emissions of particles from diesel engines, and thus impacts on human health. The main anthropogenic source of sulphur dioxide emissions is the combustion of coal, lignite and petroleum products. Some industrial processes also emit sulphur, but these emissions are less well documented, and are therefore not included in this table. While much of the sulphur in petroleum can be removed in the refinery, it is more difficult to remove sulphur from coal and lignite before burning. In this case, other measures can be taken, e.g. scrubbers can be fitted to chimneys at power plants and in large scale industries to remove the SO2 from the flue gases.
United Nations Statistics Division - Environment Statistics