Committee on Climate Change

In the CCC’s December 2008 report Building a low-carbon economy, an analysis was carried out to assess where there was potential for reducing emissions within Wales. According to the analysis, there is potential to reduce emissions of GHGs in Wales by 4MtCO₂ in 2020.

Significant abatement potential was found particularly from insulating buildings, the basic metals sector in industry, road transport, power generation and non-CO₂ greenhouse gases. For further information on the analysis relating to Wales in the CCC’s inaugural report download the chapter and technical annex.

The Committee’s latest analysis recommending the level of the fourth carbon budget to the UK Government also provided an assessment of abatement potential in Wales through the 2020s:

• In the Committee’s Extended Ambition scenario, all cavity walls and lofts should be insulated where practicable by 2015, therefore the focus through the 2020s at the UK level will be continuing solid wall insulations. This applies in Wales also, where around a fifth of the housing stock has solid walls.
• Low carbon heat has potential to reduce emissions in Wales by 2 MtCO2e per year by 2030 across the residential and non-residential building sectors.
• In Industry, use of low carbon heat sources could reduce emissions by 1 MtCO₂e, while analysis of further abatement opportunities in the major emitting industrial sectors found a further 1.5 MtCO₂e in Wales, concentrated primarily in the iron and steel and refineries sectors.
• New analysis of agriculture abatement suggests emissions could be reduce by around 1MtCO₂e in Wales per year by 2030 through a range of soil and livestock measures.

The Committee’s fourth budget report and supporting research on abatement opportunities can be downloaded here.