Switzerland - CO2 emissions from liquid fuel consumption (kt)

The value for CO2 emissions from liquid fuel consumption (kt) in Switzerland was 24,884 as of 2016. As the graph below shows, over the past 56 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 41,807 in 1973 and a minimum value of 11,129 in 1960.

Definition: Carbon dioxide emissions from liquid fuel consumption refer mainly to emissions from use of petroleum-derived fuels as an energy source.

Source: Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, United States.

See also:

Year Value
1960 11,129
1961 12,611
1962 16,043
1963 19,908
1964 20,836
1965 23,931
1966 25,805
1967 27,723
1968 31,437
1969 33,494
1970 35,662
1971 37,675
1972 38,566
1973 41,807
1974 37,081
1975 35,262
1976 36,740
1977 36,905
1978 37,939
1979 35,324
1980 35,145
1981 32,633
1982 30,454
1983 33,590
1984 32,310
1985 32,798
1986 35,412
1987 33,153
1988 33,641
1989 31,870
1990 34,917
1991 35,020
1992 35,453
1993 33,458
1994 33,901
1995 31,470
1996 32,083
1997 34,011
1998 34,151
1999 32,959
2000 31,133
2001 34,664
2002 32,684
2003 31,863
2004 31,826
2005 32,512
2006 33,230
2007 29,431
2008 31,441
2009 32,974
2010 29,439
2011 28,185
2012 28,478
2013 30,531
2014 26,630
2015 26,450
2016 24,884

Development Relevance: Carbon dioxide (CO2) is naturally occurring gas fixed by photosynthesis into organic matter. A byproduct of fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning, it is also emitted from land use changes and other industrial processes. It is the principal anthropogenic greenhouse gas that affects the Earth's radiative balance. It is the reference gas against which other greenhouse gases are measured, thus having a Global Warming Potential of 1. An 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. Burning of carbon-based fuels since the industrial revolution has rapidly increased concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, increasing the rate of global warming and causing anthropogenic climate change. It is also a major source of ocean acidification since it dissolves in water to form carbonic acid. 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. 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: The U.S. Department of Energy's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) calculates annual anthropogenic emissions from data on fossil fuel consumption (from the United Nations Statistics Division's World Energy Data Set) and world cement manufacturing (from the U.S. Department of Interior's Geological Survey, USGS 2011). Although estimates of global carbon dioxide emissions are probably accurate within 10 percent (as calculated from global average fuel chemistry and use), country estimates may have larger error bounds. Trends estimated from a consistent time series tend to be more accurate than individual values. Each year the CDIAC recalculates the entire time series since 1949, incorporating recent findings and corrections. Estimates exclude fuels supplied to ships and aircraft in international transport because of the difficulty of apportioning the fuels among benefiting countries.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Carbon dioxide emissions, largely by-products of energy production and use, account for the largest share of greenhouse gases, which are associated with global warming. Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions result primarily from fossil fuel combustion and cement manufacturing. In combustion different fossil fuels release different amounts of carbon dioxide for the same level of energy use: oil releases about 50 percent more carbon dioxide than natural gas, and coal releases about twice as much. Cement manufacturing releases about half a metric ton of carbon dioxide for each metric ton of cement produced. Data for carbon dioxide emissions include gases from the burning of fossil fuels and cement manufacture, but excludes emissions from land use such as deforestation. Carbon dioxide emissions are often calculated and reported as elemental carbon. The values were converted to actual carbon dioxide mass by multiplying them by 3.667 (the ratio of the mass of carbon to that of carbon dioxide).

Aggregation method: Gap-filled total

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Environment Indicators

Sub-Topic: Emissions