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The fall largely resulted from a 15 percent
decrease in emissions from the energy supply sector as
coal-fired generation fell and output from renewable power
sources rose.
Output of the heat-trapping gases in Europe's second-largest
emitter fell to 520.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide
equivalent (CO2e) last year down from 568.3 million tonnes in
2013, preliminary data from the Department of Energy and Climate
Change (DECC) showed.
Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas
blamed for climate change dropped 9.7 percent to 422 million
tonnes.
The bulk of Britain's emissions, some 36 percent, came from
energy supply, followed by transport at 28 percent, business at
17 percent and residential at 15 percent. The rest came from
sectors including agriculture and waste management.
Data published in February showed overall British power
generation fell 7.2 percent in 2014, while coal-fired generation
which emits almost double the amount of CO2 as gas, dropped to a
five year low.
British utilities are major buyers of carbon permits under the
European Union's Emissions Trading System (ETS), which requires
big emitters to surrender one permit for every ton of carbon
dioxide they emit each year.
The fall in emissions is likely to mean Britain's carbon permit
demand declined last year.
On April 1, the European Commission will grant access to 2014
CO2 figures for the near 12,000 installations covered by the EU
ETS, which account for around 45 percent of the bloc's
greenhouse gas emissions.
The data release is an important date in the EU carbon market's
calendar as it gives a glimpse of the overall demand-supply
balance for EU emission permits.
Britain has a legally binding target to cut its CO2 emissions by
2050 to 80 percent below 1990 levels.
(Reporting By Susanna Twidale Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
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