Ireland has met legally binding emission reduction commitments for four out of five major air pollutants in 2024, new figures show – but rising emissions from the country’s whiskey industry leave a bad taste in the mouth.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Pollutant Emissions: Trends and Outlook 2026 report, published today, reveals that Ireland is compliant with current targets for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia and PM2.5. Emissions of sulphur dioxide have plummeted 96% since 1990, largely due to reduced coal and peat burning in power stations and a 54.5% increase in electricity imports.
However, the report confirms Ireland missed its 2024 reduction commitment for non-methane volatile organic compounds, which contribute to ground-level ozone formation. The shortfall is driven significantly by emissions from spirit production, with the food and beverage industry now accounting for nearly a third of national NMVOC output.
Under standard accounting, NMVOC emissions fell only 11% against a required 25% reduction. But when Ireland applies flexibilities allowed under EU and UN rules – excluding newly identified sources such as whiskey distillation and cattle manure management – compliance is restored, showing a 40% reduction.
‘Ireland must implement significant mitigation measures to achieve compliance out to 2030,’ the EPA warns. The agency projects that without additional policies, NMVOC emissions will actually rise by 2030, making the 32% reduction target increasingly difficult to reach.
On a more positive note, ammonia emissions – which had breached limits between 2016 and 2021 due to rising cattle numbers and fertiliser use – have now been compliant for three consecutive years. In 2024, ammonia fell 5% below its baseline, driven by expanded use of low-emission slurry spreading techniques.
PM2.5, which is linked to 1,700 premature deaths a year in Ireland, decreased by nearly 2% last year and is projected to meet 2030 targets under all scenarios.
The EPA stresses that achieving the 2030 nitrogen oxides commitment – a 69% cut from 2005 levels – will require accelerated transport electrification, heat pump deployment and full implementation of the Clean Air Strategy.
‘Consistent implementation of existing policies will ensure Ireland stays compliant,”’ the agency concludes, while noting that post-2030 targets will become ‘increasingly challenging’ without further action.
The report also notes a fall in emissions of air pollutants with no reduction commitment since 1990. These include metals such as lead (-95.2%), mercury (-70.7%) and cadmium (-61.6%)
Copper emissions increased between 1990 and 2007 but have been decreasing steadily since. Despite that, they are still 145.4% above 1990 levels, driven by industrial processes and transport
While overall emissions of arsenic have fallen 42.8%, the report notes that emissions from the waste incineration sector have increased, in part due to rising cremation rates.
The full report can be downloaded here.
Photo: Sylvia Szekely
Leave a Reply