EU Emissions Trading System Data

More than 12,000 installations are covered by the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). 105 of these installations are located in Ireland.

Launched in 2005, the EU ETS works on the "cap and trade" principle. This means there is a "cap", or limit, on the total amount of certain greenhouse gases that can be emitted by the factories, power plants and other installations in the system. Within this cap, companies receive emission allowances which they can sell to or buy from one another as needed. The limit on the total number of allowances available ensures that they have a value.

At the end of each year each company must surrender enough allowances to cover its emissions. If a company reduces its emissions, it can keep the spare allowances to cover its future needs or else sell them to another company that is short of allowances. The number of allowances is reduced over time so that total emissions fall. In 2020 emissions will be 21% lower than in 2005.

The European Environment Agency (EAA) has launched a useful data viewer whereby it’s possible to generate user specified spreadsheets and graphs by country, sector, year etc. Take a look here http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/data-viewers/emissions-trading-viewer