Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Walsall
In October 2022 Walsall Council committed to work with all relevant partners and stakeholders to make the whole borough net zero by 2041 in line with the regional target agreed by the West Midlands Combined Authority.
This page contains various visualisations, statistics and analyses to assess the landscape of Greenhouse Gas Emissions within the Walsall Borough.
It is a work in progress, and more will be added over the coming weeks and months as we explore the area in further detail.
Emissions by Sector
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) produces annual estimates for Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Local Authority and Sector. It suggests that Walsall’s largest contributions towards Greenhouse Gas Emissions are from Domestic Sources (34.9%) and Transport (34.2%), with Industry contributing 17.8%. Waste Management, Public Sector and Commercial operations contribute approximately 4% each and, as Walsall is part of the West Midlands conurbation/urban area, Agriculture and LULUCF (Land Use, Land Use Changes and Forestry) contribute the least (1.3% combined).
The long-term trend has seen substantial decreases, with a 40.9% reduction in emissions over 16 years (2005-2021).
Emissions by Source
The Sankey Chart below further breaks down Greenhouse Gas Emission Estimates (Data sourced from DESNZ) into sources, highlighting the principal sources of emissions within each sector. Overall Transport was responsible for the highest emissions, at 36.3%, however Domestic Gas use, which includes central heating, is the single largest source, contributing 74.6% of all Domestic emissions.
Land use, Land use changes and Forestry (LULUCF) accounts for a small contribution (3.1%), but is also offset by Walsall’s forest and wooded land, accounting for a 13% reduction in net emissions from LULUCF sources.
Projected Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The chart below illustrates potential future greenhouse gas emissions projections, based upon a series of scenarios. The data was produced by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, sourced from SCATTER cities. The scenarios cover a range of measures: from Business as Usual (if there was no substantial change), through to a flat reduction in fuel consumption, shifting fuel consumption (towards heat pumps and electric vehicles, for instance), and wider reaching interventions such as a reduction in-line with the Tyndall sourced Paris agreement aligned rate (minimum of 13.4% reduction per year).
