The chart above shows transportation-based carbon dioxide emissions broken down by population in EU states. Three states (Luxembourg, Denmark, and Malta) really stand out having at least 2.5 times the emissions that fourth place Ireland has.
Findings
- The difference between the state with the most per capita emissions, Luxembourg, and the state with the least, Croatia, is 6.89 metric tons.
- Luxembourg emits 26.31 times the per capita carbon dioxide that Croatia does.
- The mean per capita transportation-based carbon dioxide emissions for the 28 states is 1.54 and the median 0.83.
- Only four states emit more than four metric tons per person of carbon dioxide: Luxembourg, Denmark, Malta, and Ireland.
Caveats
- Population data is from 2011.
- Emissions data is from 2013.
- All figures are rounded to the nearest hundredths.
Details
It's strange to see Denmark so high in this metric as it has one of the lower vehicle ownership rates in the EU and has a pretty strong cycling culture. There must be some other carbon-dioxide emitting transportation source that is relied upon heavily because this metric only measures carbon dioxide from transportation sources.
The European Union as a whole emits 0.93 metric tons of carbon dioxide per person from transportation sources annually ranking it under Germany and just above Belgium.
Sources
Eurostat. 2017. "Data Explorer." Accessed December 11, 2017. http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=urb_lpop1&lang=en.
Eurostat. 2018. "Eurostat - Data Explorer: Air Emissions Accounts." Accessed April 17, 2018. http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-286146_QID_2207DEA6_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;AIRPOL,L,Z,0;NACE_R2,L,Z,1;UNIT,L,Z,2;INDICATORS,C,Z,3;&zSelection=DS-286146INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;DS-286146UNIT,T;DS-286146NACE_R2,H;DS-286146AIRPOL,CO2;&rankName1=UNIT_1_2_-1_2&rankName2=AIRPOL_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName4=NACE-R2_1_2_-1_2&rankName5=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName6=GEO_1_2_0_1&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&time_most_recent=false&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23.