Greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for the increase in average global temperature: at the local level, the sources of these emissions can however vary considerably from one country to another depending on its specializations. Emissions from electricity production are often the most cited, but in reality represent a relatively small part of the overall impact.
What are the largest sources of emissions in France? What are the most emitting sectors? This article summarizes the different territorial emissions positions.
1. Transportation (31%)
Emissions from transport alone represent around a third of total emissions. These are mainly CO2 emissions linked to the combustion of different fuels when traveling (such as gasoline or diesel).
Car use has a significantly greater impact than freight transport. The car thus represents half of the emissions due to transport (53%)! Heavy goods vehicles represent a quarter of the impact (25%), followed by utility vehicles (15%), domestic plane flights (4%) and other types of transport (national maritime, two-wheeled , rail, river etc.).
The sector's territorial emissions do not include the international transport of passengers or goods: these emissions are reported separately (see part 7).
2. Industry (19%)
Industry is the second highest emitting sector. Unlike transport, the sub-emissions it contains are extremely varied.
The challenges facing the sector are therefore very specific to the area concerned: the Ministry of Ecological Transition thus publishes a series of roadmaps relating to each sector, the latest at the time of writing this article being that of the Paper-Cardboard sector [1] , after those of chemistry (26% of industry emissions), metallurgy (23%) and construction materials (23%), notably cement.
[1] Publication of the decarbonization roadmap for the Paper-Cardboard sector, March 2021, Ministry of Ecological Transition, https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/publication-feuille-route-decarbonation-filiere-papier-carton
3. Agriculture (19%)
On an equal footing with industry in terms of volume of emissions, the agricultural sector also reflects a complex reality.
It is interesting to look at emissions by type of greenhouse gas: where CO2 represents the majority of emissions from other sectors, different gases are involved in agricultural emissions. Methane (CH4) is thus responsible for 45% of emissions [2] , mainly linked to breeding (digestive process of ruminants) and the fermentation of slurry. Nitrous oxide (N2O) represents 42% of emissions: these mainly occur during the spreading of nitrogen fertilizers for fertilizing crops. CO2 emissions are therefore in the minority: emissions linked to agricultural machinery and greenhouse heating represent only 12% of the total.
[2] 2021 report SECTEN format, CITEPA
4. Building (17%)
More homogeneous, emissions from the building sector come 61% from housing and the residential sector and 39% from buildings in the tertiary sector.
The three main uses in terms of emissions are heating, the use of domestic hot water and cooking (89% of sector emissions). These uses in fact cause CO2 emissions, particularly due to the combustion of fossil fuels such as gas or fuel oil.
5. Energy transformation (10%)
Energy transformation comes in fifth place. And electricity production, often taken as an example when we talk about decarbonization, does not even represent half of the sector's emissions (47%)! The rest includes oil refining (21%), heat production particularly when it involves fossil fuels (9%), and other uses (fugitive emissions from mines or transformation of wood into charcoal for example) .
6. Waste (4%)
Waste is often mentioned when we talk about ecology: and for good reason, it is a particularly visible item in our daily life. Each French person produces around 568 kg of household waste per year [3] . However, their treatment only represents 4% of total emissions in France.
Another counter-intuitive element: these emissions mainly come from waste storage (83%), particularly in landfills, far ahead of incineration (which can also enable energy recovery) or other biological processes (composting, methanization, etc.).
[3] Waste key figures, ADEME, 2020, https://www.ademe.fr/sites/default/files/assets/documents/dechets_chiffres_cles_edition_2020_010692.pdf
7. And the rest?
This overview would be incomplete without mentioning three other key elements in our environmental impact: carbon sinks, international transport and imported emissions.
The use of land and forests and their change of use (LULUCF) thus has a positive impact. The sector makes it possible to sequester around 7% of national emissions, in particular thanks to forest management. Land artificialization and deforestation, however, reduce this impact and limit the sector's potential.
International transport is not integrated into the national scope: it nevertheless represents 6% of total territorial emissions, mainly due to air flights (77% of international transport emissions).
Finally, all imported products and services also have a carbon footprint: they are associated with greenhouse gas emissions in other countries. If we calculate the carbon footprint linked to consumption in France rather than territorial emissions, the total increases by 52%! This figure includes emissions associated with imports, but the impact of exports is deducted.
Whatever your sector of activity, Act4Transition helps you estimate both your direct and indirect emissions: contact us to find out more about our support.
