Air pollution figures produced for La Safor
Lack of a train and N-332 tailbacks cause pollution
LA SAFOR'S gridlocked towns pump out as much carbon dioxide as 1.7 million planes would on a flight to the UK, according to recent research.
These horrifying statistics show that over 30% of CO2 emissions in the district come from road traffic, and mostly in towns and villages the N-332 inter-provincial highway cuts through.
Of these fumes, just over a quarter comes from lorries.
Regional government head of environmental affairs, Mireia Mollà has just released an annual report on the greenhouse gas effect produced by the provinces of Alicante, Valencia and Castellón, which includes air quality – and shows that cities and large towns are not the only culprits when it comes to a hefty carbon footprint.
The southernmost district in the province of Valencia, La Safor, is responsible for an annual 832,981 tonnes of CO2 per year – and that is based upon samples taken in 2020, throughout most of which the entire country was in lockdown.
Planes churn out around 250 kilos, or a quarter of a tonne, of carbon dioxide for every hour they are in flight, meaning a typical two-hour UK flight from Alicante or Valencia airport is responsible for half a tonne of planet-warming emissions.
In other words, La Safor’s 31 towns and villages, the largest of which has just 76,000 inhabitants, generates the equivalent CO2 of 3.3 million flight hours.
'Net' emissions are the crucial figure, though – how much CO2 is left after trees, water and other elements of nature absorb it.
But in La Safor, only 5.7% of the total carbon dioxide is 'drunk' by trees.
Oliva and Tavernes among most-polluted towns
Although these nearly 833,000 tonnes include La Safor's district capital, Gandia – one of 20 municipalities responsible for half the region's annual greenhouse gases – the rest of La Safor still manages to generate 61% of this figure.
Towns which suffer permanent nose-to-tail traffic jams on the N-332 – still heavily-frequented by lorries, despite the AP-7 motorway having been toll-free for over two years – show the highest annual CO2 emissions, according to Sra Mollà.
Oliva generates 29,530 tonnes per annum, or the equivalent of 118,120 hours of passenger aircraft flight, whilst barely five kilometres north along the N-332, Bellreguard – home to just over 4,600 people – spews out 5,282 tonnes annually.
On the district's northern border, Tavernes de la Valldigna's 17,500 residents breathe in 18,775 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
Other small villages such as Palmera and L'Alqueria de la Comtessa, between Oliva and Gandia on the N-332, have similarly-high emissions readings.
Towns with a notorious shortage of parking spaces are among the biggest offenders, due to motorists having to drive round and round the streets fruitlessly looking for somewhere to leave their cars.
For La Safor as a whole, traffic is responsible for well over double the emissions created by industrial and domestic electricity use.
Homes in the district produce 7% of the total emissions, and industry generates 6%, through power consumption.
Being a largely-rural district does not necessarily reduce CO2 emissions, since tractors are responsible for 11.7% of La Safor's carbon footprint – but one of the 31 municipalities is actually carbon-negative.
Greenhouse gases in Alfauir and Castellonet de la Conquesta, in the Vernissa Valley, are very low, although still more than their natural environment is able to absorb.
But neighbouring Almiserà is the place to go for clean air – its trees, shrubs and river swallow up more carbon dioxide than the village of 258 residents produces. Almiserà's annual CO2 output is minus 333 tonnes, making it one of the greenest municipalities in the region.