Methane emissions in energy sector (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent) - Country Ranking - Central America & the Caribbean

Definition: Methane emissions from energy processes are emissions from the production, handling, transmission, and combustion of fossil fuels and biofuels.

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: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Guatemala 3,880.00 2018
2 Cuba 2,230.00 2018
3 Honduras 1,050.00 2018
4 Nicaragua 870.00 2018
5 El Salvador 540.00 2018
6 Panama 530.00 2018
7 Dominican Republic 490.00 2018
8 Costa Rica 380.00 2018
9 Haiti 230.00 2018
10 Belize 110.00 2018
11 Trinidad and Tobago 80.00 2018
12 Jamaica 50.00 2018
12 Barbados 50.00 2018
14 The Bahamas 20.00 2018
15 Antigua and Barbuda 0.00 2018
15 Grenada 0.00 2018
15 Dominica 0.00 2018
15 St. Kitts and Nevis 0.00 2018
15 St. Lucia 0.00 2018
15 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 0.00 2018

More rankings: Africa | Asia | Central America & the Caribbean | Europe | Middle East | North America | Oceania | South America | World |

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: IPCC category 1 = Energy. Expressed in CO2 equivalent using the GWP100 metric of the Second Assessment Report of IPCC and include CH4 (GWP100=21). Methane emissions are those stemming from human activities such as agriculture and from industrial methane production. 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. The unit of measurement is kt (kiloton) of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual