According to Mepa, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority’s most recent publication about the state of the environment, the economy is becoming less energy efficient.

The State of the Environment Indicators 2006 booklet, which was made public yesterday, showed that although electricity consumption was growing at a slower rate than the economy, fuel imports were growing faster. Water consumption had fallen significantly; bathing water meets international microbiological standards but the levels of nitrates and chlorides in ground water remained high.

The State of the Environment Indicators 2006 is a continuation of similar information that was made available last year, following the publication of the State of the Environment report in 2005.

Mepa director general Godwin Cassar explained that the booklet was intended to provide information to policy makers and the public about the main trends that were affecting the environment.

This update of last year’s State of the Environment Indicators highlights Mepa’s commitment to publish regular, user-friendly environmental information, in line with the Århus Convention, said Mr Cassar.

While levels of benzene and sulphur dioxide in the air were on the downside and nitrogen dioxide levels remained stable, in line with EU standards, particulate matter and ground-level ozone remained matters of concern.

Giving a presentation of Mepa’s findings, Marguerite Camilleri, from the policy coordination office, said that among the driving forces for environmental change were vehicle numbers, planning permissions and the land area used by operational quarries.

Vehicle numbers increased by 0.07 per cent between 2004 and 2005, compared to an increase of 0.63 per cent between 2003 and 2004.

The number of planning permissions granted for housing between 2005 and 2006 had gone up but the rate of increase of 15 per cent had slowed down when compared to the increase rate of 35 per cent between 2004 and 2005.

It was also worth noting that the land area used by operational quarries went down by five per cent between 1999 and 2006.

Mepa’s publication indicates that fuel imported to Malta per unit GDP continued to increase between 2004 and 2005.

Malta’s total electricity generated per unit GDP, on the other hand, has started to decline after a sharp rise between 2002 and 2003. This was due to a relative slowdown in electricity generation compared to GDP, indicating that while Malta’s overall energy intensity was increasing slightly, electricity intensity was on the decline. This suggested that there has been substitution between electricity and energy from other fuels since 2003.

As for air quality, Mepa’s indications show that concentrations of particulate matter at the Floriana monitoring station exceeded EU thresholds on 41 per cent of the days when monitoring took place. Particulate matter may be the largest potential health problem from air pollution in all areas in Europe.

In 2005, ground-level ozone levels at the Gozo Gordan lighthouse also exceeded EU air quality standards on 33 per cent of the days when monitoring took place – an improvement over the previous year, when EU thresholds were exceeded on 36 per cent of the days.

Ground-level ozone is also one of the air pollutants of most concern in Europe. When ozone thresholds are exceeded, human health and ecosystems, as well as agricultural crops and materials, are affected.

Unsurprisingly, the long-term trend for the development of coastal areas is that this is being developed at an increasing rate. In the decade between 1990 and 2000, additional land that was taken up for development was 3.8 square kilometres.

During the following five years, another 3.7 square kilometres were taken up.

Mepa also indicated the quality of soil as another particular area of concern. Between 2002 and 2006, the average salinity and lead content in soil have increased in the sites monitored.

On a positive note, in the 10 years between 1997 and 2006, environmental expenditure increased from Lm17.6 million to Lm45.5 million.