The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has published data showing that in 2010, carbon emissions per person rose in 90 per cent of local authorities in the United Kingdom.

The figures, produced on behalf of DECC by sustainability consultancy AEA, showed that only 12 of the UK’s 406 local authorities reported a drop, compared to 402 for the previous year (2009) and that the Welsh authority of Neath Port Talbot saw the largest rise in emissions per person, rising from 44.7 kilotonnes (kt) to 62 kt per person. Conversely, the Yorkshire authority of Redcar and Cleveland saw the greatest drop in emissions per capita, falling from 50.7 kt in 2009 to 21.8 in 2010.

Each year, past data is recalculated according to current methods to ensure that year-on-year comparisons can be made as accurately as possible. The figures – which show emissions for the years 2005-2010 – are then used by DECC to check how the country is progressing against international reporting obligations, such as the Kyoto Protocol.

Industry and commerce was the sector judged to have produced the highest amount of CO2 overall, generating nearly 300,000 kt (43.8 per cent) of emissions. The sector also saw a 4.3 per cent rise on the previous year.

Domestic emissions rose by 7.4 per cent from 2009 – the highest of any of the sectors measured – to produce in the region of 30.8 per cent of all CO2. This was reflected in local authority figures, which also saw an across the board rise in domestic emissions.

“All local authorities in the domestic sector, and 90 per cent of the local authorities in the industrial and commercial sector, experienced an increase in emissions”, said a spokesperson for the DECC.

“There are two reasons for this increase. Firstly, there was an increase in the use of natural gas. Emissions, particularly from the domestic sector, are heavily influenced by external temperatures. On average, 2010 was the coldest year since 1987. This caused an increase in demand for space heating in 2010, which resulted in a significant increase in emissions from gas use. Secondly, emissions from the use of electricity are determined by the fuel mix used by power stations. In 2010, this increase mainly resulted from less nuclear power used at power stations, and increase in the combustion of the more carbon-intensive fossil fuels of coal and gas.”

Such increases in domestic and industry/commerce sectors meant that, although the amount of emissions produced by road transport did increase slightly (0.05 per cent) in 2010, it actually made up a smaller percentage of the country’s total emissions than in the previous year, falling from 27.3 to 26.2 per cent.

The UK’s total CO2 emissions for the year 2010 increased by 19,161.85 kt – around 4.2 per cent.

The figures can be viewed in full on DECC’s website.