Malta’s poor showing in a recent EU emissions report was an inaccurate estimation of air quality on the island, the head of the National Statistics Office said.
NSO director general Michael Pace Ross raised concerns over the validity of the damning report, which saw Malta register the highest rise in carbon emissions within the EU.
“Eurostat converted fuel imports into carbon dioxide emissions using a standardised formula. However, one must keep in mind that the volume of fuel imports for Malta is irregular,” Mr Pace Ross said referring to the practice of bulk oil purchases that vary greatly from month to month.
The report estimated that the EU’s average carbon emissions had dropped by 2.1 per cent while Malta posted a 6.3 per cent increase, one of only four EU countries not to register a decline in emissions.
The man behind the study, Eurostat project coordinator Michael Goll defended the report’s validity.
“Malta, like any other member state, sends in monthly data, which we compare to data compiled by the UN’s framework convention on climate change. It’s not rocket science. It’s rather simple,” he said.
Mr Pace Ross said that while the NSO provided Eurostat with monthly “oil balance sheets”, it was not engaged in any studies of air emissions. Air quality was tested by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority through several emission monitoring stations dotted across the island.
Arthur Ciantar, a member of the Mepa board responsible for monitoring power station emissions, was taken aback by the results, which he said had not been reflected by local economic growth.
“I’m surprised. I don’t think there has been any significant rise in industrial activity to reflect this increase in emissions,” he said.
Mr Ciantar mentioned the two diesel-operated generators installed at Delimara last year as a huge step towards lowering carbon emissions. The two generators produced roughly 45 per cent less emissions than their predecessors, he noted.
Besides heavy fuel oil, one of the island’s main carbon offenders was jet fuel kerosene, which made up roughly 10 per cent of imported fuels.
Dr Goll said “This jet fuel is definitely too much for Malta and we will be looking into the matter in a separate study.”
The NSO director refuted that jet fuel had a significant influence on air quality.
“Naturally, the emissions from consumption of aviation fuel are mostly released by aircraft outside of Maltese airspace,” he said.