The Observatory was commissioned by Energy West Midlands to produce the first monitoring report for measuring progress towards the regional targets outlined in the West Midlands Energy Strategy (pdf, 238kb) published in November 2004.
The report provides the first comprehensive compendium of regional energy and emissions estimates.
It identifies and analyses data produced by the (former) energy group within DTI and DEFRA, as well as regional surveys undertaken since the strategy launch, which provide information on renewable energy production, a key target for the strategy.
The primary objectives of the report are to update the baseline indicators and compare changes in energy consumption and emissions against the projected reductions required to meet the region's contribution to national CO2 emissions targets.
It begins by updating the main regional energy demands from industry, commerce and public services, domestic use and transport, presenting indicators by energy use, fuel type and CO2 emissions.
Table 1 provides an example of the analysis included. It shows estimated final energy consumption in GWh for production industries in the region between 2002 and 2004.
Table 1: Total industry energy consumption (GWh) by fuel source 2002-2004
|
Partner
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
|
Coal and manufactured fuel
|
3,492
|
2,457
|
3,155
|
|
Petroleum products
|
8,625
|
9,686
|
10,822
|
|
Natural gas
|
18,839
|
18,864
|
15,695
|
|
Renewables and waste
|
302
|
300
|
300
|
|
Electricity
|
14,028
|
14,282
|
14,329
|
|
Heat sold
|
694
|
682
|
1,199
|
|
Total
|
45,980
|
46,272
|
45,501
|
By applying CO2 conversion factors to the sources of fuel used to generate final energy consumption we can calculate CO2 emissions attributable to production industries over the period. These are shown in table 2 below.
Table 2: Total CO2 emissions (000 tonnes) for industry by fuel source 2002-2004
|
Partner
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
|
Coal and manufactured fuel
|
1,048
|
737
|
946
|
|
Petroleum products
|
2,175
|
2,452
|
2,763
|
|
Natural gas
|
3,580
|
3,585
|
2,983
|
|
Renewables and waste
|
90
|
90
|
90
|
|
Electricity
|
6,032
|
6,141
|
6,162
|
|
Total
|
12,925
|
13,005
|
12,944
|
While the report provides more detailed data and analysis of the individual components ofthe broad users, the following are examples of some of the headline findings:
Industry
Regional energy consumption by industry has fallen by 1.1% between 2002 and 2004, but CO2 emissions are up slightly over the period.
Energy intensity for industry has improved from 2.21 GWh/ GVA (£m) in 2002 to 1.97 GWh/ GVA (£m) in 2004.
Commerce, public sector services
Regional energy consumption by commercial and public services has increased by 5%, while CO2emissions have risen by 3.6%.
Energy intensity has improved from 0.48 GWh / GVA (£m) in 2002 to 0.37 GWh / GVA (£m) in 2004.
Households
Domestic energy consumption has risen by 1.5% between 2002 and 2004, with CO2 emissions increasing by 0.5% over the period.
Total dwelling stock has increased by 2.4% between 2001 and 2005.
Households in rural areas consume less natural gas, but have higher relative levels of consumption for petroleum products.
Transport
Estimates of transport CO2 emissions are up by 1.8% between 2002 and 2004 with a 10% increases in emissions from diesel offsetting a 6.5% decrease in emissions from petrol vehicles
Numbers of car trips made in the region has increased from an average 413 trips in 2002 to 434 trips in 2004.