China - Methane emissions (kt of CO2 equivalent)

The value for Methane emissions (kt of CO2 equivalent) in China was 1,238,630 as of 2018. As the graph below shows, over the past 28 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 1,242,150 in 2016 and a minimum value of 730,340 in 1990.

Definition: Methane emissions are those stemming from human activities such as agriculture and from industrial methane production.

Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC)/Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL). Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR): http://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/

See also:

Year Value
1990 730,340
1991 743,070
1992 751,660
1993 757,560
1994 773,650
1995 798,450
1996 823,860
1997 791,730
1998 813,830
1999 825,690
2000 829,610
2001 824,170
2002 819,890
2003 815,910
2004 829,700
2005 837,670
2006 883,360
2007 921,560
2008 973,580
2009 1,018,910
2010 1,063,830
2011 1,106,190
2012 1,151,100
2013 1,178,020
2014 1,206,210
2015 1,237,520
2016 1,242,150
2017 1,239,130
2018 1,238,630

Development Relevance: The addition of man-made greenhouse gases to the Atmosphere disturbs the earth's radiative balance. This is leading to an increase in the earth's surface temperature and to related effects on climate, sea level rise and world agriculture. Emissions of CO2 are from burning oil, coal and gas for energy use, burning wood and waste materials, and from industrial processes such as cement production. Emission intensity is the average emission rate of a given pollutant from a given source relative to the intensity of a specific activity. Emission intensities are also used to compare the environmental impact of different fuels or activities. The related terms - emission factor and carbon intensity - are often used interchangeably. The carbon dioxide emissions of a country are only an indicator of one greenhouse gas. For a more complete idea of how a country influences climate change, gases such as methane and nitrous oxide should be taken into account. This is particularly important in agricultural economies. The environmental effects of carbon dioxide are of significant interest. Carbon dioxide (CO2) makes up the largest share of the greenhouse gases contributing to global warming and climate change. Converting all other greenhouse gases (methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)) to carbon dioxide (or CO2) equivalents makes it possible to compare them and to determine their individual and total contributions to global warming. The Kyoto Protocol, an environmental agreement adopted in 1997 by many of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is working towards curbing CO2 emissions globally.

Limitations and Exceptions: National reporting to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that follows the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidelines is based on national emission inventories and covers all sources of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions as well as carbon sinks (such as forests). To estimate emissions, the countries that are Parties to the Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) use complex, state-of-the-art methodologies recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Methane emissions are those stemming from human activities such as agriculture and from industrial methane production. Expressed in CO2 equivalent using the GWP100 metric of the Second Assessment Report of IPCC and include CH4 (GWP100=21). The emissions are usually expressed in carbon dioxide equivalents using the global warming potential, which allows the effective contributions of different gases to be compared. A kilogram of methane is 21 times as effective at trapping heat in the earth's atmosphere as a kilogram of carbon dioxide within 100 years.

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Environment Indicators

Sub-Topic: Emissions