Last updated: 23 January 2024

As of February 2020, around 70% of the UK’s councils have declared a ‘climate emergency’. This datakit is designed to help councils address this emergency by making open data relating to climate change more discoverable.



A variety of open datasets are presented with metadata and example visualisations. Structured data that has been pre-processed by the Trafford Data Lab are provided at local authority level where available. In some cases, the R script used to pre-process the data is given rather than the data.

A companion application enables UK councils - and their residents - to build a slide pack of data visualisations relating to climate change for their local authority.


Carbon dioxide emissions

Carbon dioxide emissions broken down by housing, transport and industrial & commercial sectors. These estimates exclude large industrial sites, railways, motorways and land-use because local authorities have no influence on them. Carbon dioxide emissions are also available per capita (ktCO2/capita) in the source dataset.

Carbon dioxide emissions by main sector in Trafford, 2021.

Carbon dioxide emissions by main sector in Trafford, 2021.

Additional resources
The National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) website has an interactive map that allows you to explore CO2 emissions by local authority area and sector.


Carbon dioxide emissions from large industrial installations

Carbon dioxide emissions from large industrial installations are available across the UK from the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory. Other greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide are also available.


Industrial and commercial energy consumption

Estimates of total industrial & commercial energy consumption are available for 2005 to 2021.

Industrial and commercial fuel use in Trafford, 2021.

Industrial and commercial fuel use in Trafford, 2021.


Road transport fuel consumption

Estimates of road transport fuel use by local authority are available for petrol (cars, motorcycles and LGVs) and diesel (cars, LGVs, HGVs and buses) consuming vehicles. Estimates by road type (motorways, A roads and minor roads) are also available in the source dataset.

Fuel use by vehicle type in Trafford, 2005-2021.

Fuel use by vehicle type in Trafford, 2005-2021.


Domestic energy consumption

Estimates of total domestic energy consumption area available from 2005 until 2021.

Domestic fuel use in Trafford, 2021.

Domestic fuel use in Trafford, 2021.


Domestic property build period

Information about the age of domestic dwellings is available from the Valuation Office Agency. The age of a building influences energy consumption with older properties tending to be less energy efficient than newer buildings.

Domestic property build period in Trafford, pre-1900 to 2023.

Domestic property build period in Trafford, pre-1900 to 2023.


EPCs by Energy Efficiency Rating

An Energy Performance Certificate’s (EPC) Energy Efficiency Rating gives a property an energy efficiency rating from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient) and is valid for 10 years.

36.7% of homes in Trafford are well insulated with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of A, B or C.


EPCs by Environmental Impact Rating

An Energy Performance Certificate’s (EPC) Environmental Impact Rating is an estimate of the amount of CO2 produced by a home. The most energy efficient homes fall within band A (lowest CO2 emissions) and the least efficient in Band G (highest CO2 emissions). Lodgements on the Energy Performance of Buildings Register are published on a quarterly basis.

Cumulative domestic EPCs by Environmental Impact Rating in Trafford, 2008-2019.

Cumulative domestic EPCs by Environmental Impact Rating in Trafford, 2008-2019.


Fuel poverty

A household is considered fuel poor if their income is below the poverty line (taking into account housing costs) and their home has a low energy efficiency.

Additional resources
Detailed fuel poverty data at a national level (England) are available from BEIS.


Flood risk from rivers and/or the sea

The chance of flooding from rivers and/or the sea is available at 50m by 50m resolution. Each grid cell is allocated to one of four flood risk categories, taking into account flood defences and their condition. The risk of flooding from surface water is available from data.gov.uk.

Risk of flooding from rivers and sea in Trafford, 2019-12-20.

Risk of flooding from rivers and sea in Trafford, 2019-12-20.

Additional resources
The Environment Agency has an interactive map showing flood risk information.


Air Quality Management Areas

Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA) are declared when a local authority expects that air quality will not meet the National Air Quality Objectives.

Air Quality Management Area in Trafford, 2019.

Air Quality Management Area in Trafford, 2019.

Additional resources
DEFRA has an AQMAs interactive map.


Background air pollution

Estimates for annual mean background concentrations of nitrogen oxide (NOx), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), coarse (PM10) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are available at 1km x 1km resolution.

Modelled background PM2.5 concentrations in Trafford, 2022

Modelled background PM2.5 concentrations in Trafford, 2022

Additional resources
The UK Ambient Air Quality Interactive Map visualises background concentrations of air pollution.


Roadside air pollution

There are several sources of continuous air quality monitoring data including: DEFRA UK-AIR; Air Quality England; Air Quality in Scotland; Air Quality in Wales; Northern Ireland Air and OpenAQ. The legal limits for NO2, PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations are available from the European Commission Air Quality Standards page.

1-hour mean NO2 concentrations at Trafford A56 monitoring station during 2023.

1-hour mean NO2 concentrations at Trafford A56 monitoring station during 2023.


Renewable electricity generation

Data on renewable electricity installations, their capacity (MW) and generation (MWh).

Renewable electricity generation by source in Trafford, 2022.

Renewable electricity generation by source in Trafford, 2022.


Onshore wind

The location of operational onshore (and offshore wind) turbines is recorded on the Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD).


Non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive

The Non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive is a UK Government scheme launched in November 2011 to encourage industry, businesses and public sector organisations to switch to renewable heating technologies. Participants are paid a tariff per unit of energy produced as recorded by an on-site meter over 20 years.

There have been 14 non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive applications accredited in Trafford since the scheme was launched in 2011.


Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive

The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive is a UK Government scheme launched in April 2014 that encourages households to switch from gas and oil-fired boilers to low carbon heating technologies like heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar thermal panels. Financial support is linked to the production of renewable heat with payments received over seven years.

A total of 67 applications have been accredited for payment in Trafford between April 2014 and March 2023.


Recycling

The percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting. This local authority level measure is used as the basis of UK reporting for the EU Waste Framework Directive which specifies a target to recycle, reuse or compost 50% of the UK’s household waste by December 2020.

Data for England, Wales and Northern Ireland are available by financial year and by calendar year in Scotland.

Indicator Period Geography Source Updated Licence Data
Recycling 2015/16 - 2021/22 Local authority Defra; StatsWales; SEPA; DAERA 2023-12-06 OGL v3.0 view
Re-use, recycling or composting of household waste in Trafford, 2015/16 - 2021/22.

Re-use, recycling or composting of household waste in Trafford, 2015/16 - 2021/22.


Ultra low emission vehicles

Ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs) emit less than 75g of CO2 per km and typically refer to battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell electric vehicles.

ULEVs as a proportion of all licensed vehicles in Trafford, 2011-2022.

ULEVs as a proportion of all licensed vehicles in Trafford, 2011-2022.


Electric cars and vans

The number of licensed electric cars and vans (battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or range-extended electric) registered by the keeper’s local authority is available by calendar year.

EVs as a proportion of all licensed cars and vans in Trafford, 2011-2018.

EVs as a proportion of all licensed cars and vans in Trafford, 2011-2018.


Electric vehicle charging locations

Infomation about electric car charging points are available from Open Charge Map. The data are crowd-sourced so the accuracy of the data cannot be verified.

Additional resources
Open Charge Map allows you to explore electric vehicle charging locations across the UK.


Cycling

Local authority cycling rates are published by the Department of Transport from the Active Lives Survey.

The Active Lives Survey estimate that in 2022 the proportion of adults who cycled at least once a week was 10.9%. Other cycling frequencies are shown below:

How often? %
At least once a week 10.9
At least once per month 14.6

Walking

Local authority walking rates are published by the Department of Transport from the Active Lives Survey.

The Active Lives Survey estimate that in 2022 the proportion of adults who walked at least once a week was %. Other walking frequencies are shown below:

How often? %
At least five times a week 32
At least three times a week 44.1
At least once a week 69.6
At least once per month 78.5

Green belt

The percentage of land in each local authority area that is designated as Green Belt land by the local planning authority is published annually. Some local authorities are not listed in the dataset because they do not have any designated Green Belt land.

Please note: Greenwich is shown as ‘-’ in the raw data because it has less than five hectares of designated Green Belt land. This has been dropped from the processed data because it is not a numeric value.

The extent of the designated Green Belt in Trafford at 31 March 2023 was estimated at 3,980 hectares, or approximately 37.5% of the land area of Trafford.

Additional resources
Green Belt polygon boundaries for local authorities (2023) can be directly downloaded from data.gov.uk.


Green spaces

Parks, playing fields, gardens and other green spaces that are likely to be publicly accessible are available in the Ordnance Survey’s OS Open Greenspace product.

Green spaces in Trafford, 2019

Green spaces in Trafford, 2019

Additional resources
The Ordnance Survey’s interactive OS Maps tool allows you to explore green spaces in the UK interactively.





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