Seoul’s greenhouse gas emissions will peak in 2020 but are expected to fall from 2030, a report showed Wednesday.

The city’s greenhouse gas emissions have risen over the past 20 years from about 44 million tons a year in 1990 to an estimated 51 million tons in 2010, according the report by the Seoul Development Institute.

In 2020 emissions are expected to reach about 54 million tons, then fall from 2030 as the city population decreases and energy efficiency improves.

Energy consumption takes up by far the biggest partion of greenhouse gas emissions in the city at 90.8 percent as of 2008, followed by waste disposal at 6.3 percent and industrial processing at 2.8 percent.

Seoul is the 8th-largest city in the world, with a population of about 11 million as of 2011, according to the City Mayors Foundation, an international think tank. The report recommends that the city set a reduction target in energy consumption and implement efficiency projects accordingly.

The city wants to cut the emissions rate by 4.8 percent through 2014 by implementing energy efficiency projects such as distributing highly efficient boilers, installing LED lights and conducting car traffic control policies such as limiting access to the city based on license plate numbers, according to the 2009 green growth master plan. The city also plans to distribute more cars and buses running on natural gas and electricity.

“In order for the city to reduce emissions by 25 percent based on 1990 levels by 2020, it needs to monitor and supervise the whole process from setting a reduction goal to planning reduction projects and its implementation,” the report recommends.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)