April 2011
UK CO₂ emissions rose 3.8% in 2010, with all greenhouse gas emissions up 2.8%, according statistics from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

It’s reported that while emissions increased by less than 4% in the energy supply and business sectors, residential sector levels soared by 13.4%, taking household emissions to their highest figures in a decade.

DECC blames plunging temperatures during the latter part of 2010, the coldest year since 1986, for driving homeowners to increase their usage of gas heating.

“Britain’s blighted by inefficient and draughty homes, this is why we want to help people waste less energy through the Green Deal and install new cleaner technologies to heat their homes,” Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne is quoted as saying.

DECC’s report says that the UK’s energy consumption has still however, decreased by around 5% compared with 1990.

DECC puts the downward trend to improvements in the efficiency of electricity generation, as well as the transition away from coal towards lower-carbon fuels such as gas.