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36439 | Sector by sector: where do global greenhouse gas emissions come from? | ghg-emissions-by-sector | post | publish | <!-- wp:html --> <div class="blog-info"> <p>Our World in Data presents the data and research to make progress against the world’s largest problems.<br>This blog post draws on data and research discussed in our work on <strong><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CO<sub>2</sub> and Greenhouse Gas Emissions</a></strong>.</p> </div> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp-block-tombstone 36503 --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To prevent severe climate change we need to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The world emits around 50 billion <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=chart&xScale=linear&yScale=linear&stackMode=absolute&endpointsOnly=0&time=earliest..latest&country=~World&region=World&Gas%20=All%20GHGs%20(CO%E2%82%82eq)&Accounting%20=Production-based&Fuel%20=Total&Count%20=Per%20country&Relative%20to%20world%20total%20=" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tonnes of greenhouse gases</a> each year <em>[measured in <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions#how-are-greenhouse-gases-measured" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">carbon dioxide equivalents</a> (CO<sub>2</sub>eq)]</em>.{ref}Carbon dioxide-equivalents try to sum all of the warming impacts of the different greenhouse gases together in order to give a single measure of total greenhouse gas emissions. To convert non-CO<sub>2</sub> gases into their carbon dioxide-equivalents we multiply their mass (e.g. kilograms of methane emitted) by their ‘global warming potential’ (GWP). GWP measures the warming impacts of a gas compared to CO<sub>2</sub>; it basically measures the ‘strength’ of the greenhouse gas averaged over a chosen time horizon.{/ref} </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To figure out how we can most effectively reduce emissions and what emissions <em>can </em>and <em>can’t</em> be eliminated with current technologies, we need to first understand where our emissions come from.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this post I present only one chart, but it is an important one – it shows the breakdown of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.{ref}While it would be ideal to have more timely data, this is the most recent data available at time of writing (September 2020).{/ref} This is the latest breakdown of global emissions by sector, published by <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions" target="_blank">Climate Watch</a> and the World Resources Institute.{ref}<em>The World Resources Institute also provides a nice </em><a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector"><em>visualization of these emissions</em></a><em> as a Sankey flow diagram</em>.{/ref}<sup>,</sup>{ref}In its 5th Assessment Report (AR5), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided a similar breakdown of emissions by sector. However, this was based on data published in 2010. The World Resources Institute therefore provides an important update of these figures. <br><br>IPCC (2014): <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/" target="_blank"><em>Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em></a> [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref}</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The overall picture you see from this diagram is that almost three-quarters of emissions come from energy use; almost one-fifth from agriculture and land use <em>[this increases to one-quarter </em><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions" target="_blank"><em>when we consider</em></a><em> the food system as a whole – including processing, packaging, transport and retail]</em>; and the remaining 8% from industry and waste.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To know what’s included in each sector category, I provide a short description of each. These descriptions are based on explanations provided in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report AR5) and a methodology paper published by the <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{ref}IPCC, 2014: <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg3/" target="_blank"><em>Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em></a> [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.{/ref}<sup>,</sup>{ref}Baumert, K. A., Herzog, T. & Pershing, J. (2005). <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/pdf/navigating_numbers.pdf" target="_blank">Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy</a>, <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{/ref}</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Emissions come from many sectors: we need many solutions to decarbonize the economy</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It is clear from this breakdown that a range of sectors and processes contribute to global emissions. This means there is no single or simple solution to tackle climate change. Focusing on electricity, or transport, or food, or deforestation alone is insufficient.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Even within the energy sector – which accounts for almost three-quarters of emissions – there is no simple fix. Even if we could fully decarbonize our electricity supply, we would also need to electrify all of our heating and road transport. And we’d still have emissions from shipping and aviation – which we do not yet have low-carbon technologies for – to deal with.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To reach net-zero emissions we need innovations across many sectors. Single solutions will not get us there.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator"/> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:columns {"className":"is-style-sticky-right"} --> <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Let’s walk through each of the sectors and sub-sectors in the pie chart, one-by-one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Energy (electricity, heat and transport): 73.2%</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Energy use in industry: 24.2%</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Iron and Steel (7.2%)</strong>: energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of iron and steel.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Chemical & petrochemical (3.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, refrigerants, oil and gas extraction, etc.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Food and tobacco (1%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of tobacco products and food processing (the conversion of raw agricultural products into their final products, such as the conversion of wheat into bread).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Non-ferrous metals: 0.7%: </strong>Non-ferrous metals are metals which contain very little iron: this includes aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin, titanium and zinc, and alloys such as brass. The manufacturing of these metals requires energy which results in emissions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Paper & pulp (0.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the conversion of wood into paper and pulp.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Machinery (0.5%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the production of machinery.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Other industry (10.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from manufacturing in other industries including mining and quarrying, construction, textiles, wood products, and transport equipment (such as car manufacturing).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Transport: 16.2%</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This includes a small amount of electricity (indirect emissions) as well as all direct emissions from burning fossil fuels to power transport activities. These figures do not include emissions from the manufacturing of motor vehicles or other transport equipment – this is included in the previous point ‘Energy use in Industry’.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Road transport (11.9%): </strong>emissions from the burning of petrol and diesel from all forms of road transport which includes cars, trucks, lorries, motorcycles and buses. Sixty percent of road transport emissions <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/transport-sector-co2-emissions-by-mode-in-the-sustainable-development-scenario-2000-2030" target="_blank">come from</a> passenger travel (cars, motorcycles and buses); and the remaining forty percent from road freight (lorries and trucks). This means that, if we could electrify the whole road transport sector, and transition to a fully decarbonized electricity mix, we could feasibly reduce global emissions by 11.9%.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Aviation (1.9%): </strong>emissions from passenger travel and freight, and domestic and international aviation. 81% of aviation emissions <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf" target="_blank">come from</a> passenger travel; and 19% from freight.{ref}Graver, B., Zhang, K., & Rutherford, D. (2019). <a href="https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf">CO2 emissions from commercial aviation, 2018</a>. <em>The International Council of Clean Transportation</em>.{/ref} From passenger aviation, 60% of emissions come from international travel, and 40% from domestic.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Shipping (1.7%): </strong>emissions from the burning of petrol or diesel on boats. This includes both passenger and freight maritime trips.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rail (0.4%): </strong>emissions from passenger and freight rail travel.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pipeline (0.3%): </strong>fuels and commodities (e.g. oil, gas, water or steam) often need to be transported (either within or between countries) via pipelines. This requires energy inputs, which results in emissions. Poorly constructed pipelines can also leak, leading to direct emissions of methane to the atmosphere – however, this aspect is captured in the category ‘Fugitive emissions from energy production’.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Energy use in buildings: 17.5%</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Residential buildings (10.9%):</strong> energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, cooking etc. and heating at home.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Commercial buildings (6.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, etc. and heating in commercial buildings such as offices, restaurants, and shops.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Unallocated fuel combustion (7.8%)</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Energy-related emissions from the production of energy from other fuels including electricity and heat from biomass; on-site heat sources; combined heat and power (CHP); nuclear industry; and pumped hydroelectric storage.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Fugitive emissions from energy production: 5.8%</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Fugitive emissions from oil and gas (3.9%): </strong>fugitive emissions are the often-accidental leakage of methane to the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction and transportation, from damaged or poorly maintained pipes. This also includes flaring – the intentional burning of gas at oil facilities. Oil wells can release gases, including methane, during extraction – producers often don’t have an existing network of pipelines to transport it, or it wouldn’t make economic sense to provide the infrastructure needed to effectively capture and transport it. But under environmental regulations they need to deal with it somehow: intentionally burning it is often a cheap way to do so.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Fugitive emissions from coal (1.9%):</strong> fugitive emissions are the accidental leakage of methane during coal mining.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Energy use in agriculture and fishing (1.7%)</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Energy-related emissions from the use of machinery in agriculture and fishing, such as fuel for farm machinery and fishing vessels.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Direct Industrial Processes: 5.2%</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cement (3%): </strong>carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct of a chemical conversion process used in the production of clinker, a component of cement. In this reaction, limestone (CaCO<sub>3</sub>) is converted to lime (CaO), and produces CO<sub>2</sub> as a byproduct. Cement production also produces emissions from energy inputs – these related emissions are included in ‘Energy Use in Industry’.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Chemicals & petrochemicals (2.2%): </strong>greenhouse gases can be produced as a byproduct from chemical processes – for example, CO<sub>2 </sub>can be emitted during the production of ammonia, which is used for purifying water supplies, cleaning products, and as a refrigerant, and used in the production of many materials, including plastic, fertilizers, pesticides, and textiles. Chemical and petrochemical manufacturing also produces emissions from energy inputs – these related emissions are included in ‘Energy Use in Industry’.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Waste: 3.2%</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Wastewater (1.3%): </strong>organic matter and residues from animals, plants, humans and their waste products can collect in wastewater systems. When this organic matter decomposes it produces methane and nitrous oxide.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Landfills (1.9%): </strong>landfills are often low-oxygen environments. In these environments, organic matter is converted to methane when it decomposes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use: 18.4%</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use directly accounts for 18.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. The food system as a whole – including refrigeration, food processing, packaging, and transport – accounts for around one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. We look at this in detail <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Grassland (0.1%): </strong>when grassland becomes degraded, these soils can lose carbon, converting to carbon dioxide in the process. Conversely, when grassland is restored (for example, from cropland), carbon can be sequestered.<strong> </strong>Emissions here therefore refer to the net balance of these carbon losses and gains from<strong> </strong>grassland biomass and soils.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cropland (1.4%): </strong>depending on the management practices used on croplands, carbon can be lost or sequestered into soils and biomass. This affects the balance of carbon dioxide emissions: CO<sub>2</sub> can be emitted when croplands are degraded; or sequestered when they are restored. The net change in carbon stocks is captured in emissions of carbon dioxide. This does not include grazing lands for livestock.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Deforestation (2.2%): </strong>net emissions of carbon dioxide from changes in forestry cover. This means reforestation is counted as ‘negative emissions’ and deforestation as ‘positive emissions’. Net forestry change is therefore the difference between forestry loss and gain. Emissions are based on lost carbon stores from forests and changes in carbon stores in forest soils.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Crop burning (3.5%): </strong>the burning of agricultural residues – leftover vegetation from crops such as rice, wheat, sugar cane, and other crops – releases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. <em>Farmers often burn crop residues after harvest to prepare land for the resowing of crops.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rice cultivation (1.3%):</strong> flooded paddy fields produce methane through a process called ‘anaerobic digestion’. Organic matter in the soil is converted to methane due to the low-oxygen environment of water-logged rice fields. 1.3% seems substantial, but it’s important to put this into context: rice accounts for around one-fifth of the world’s supply of calories, and is a staple crop for billions of people globally.{ref}The UN Food and Agriculture Organization <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS" target="_blank">estimates that</a> the average daily supply of calories from all foods was 2917 kilocalories in 2017. Rice accounted for 551 kilocalories [ 551 / 2917 * 100 = 19% of global calorie supply]. In China it supplied 26% of calories; and 30% in India.{/ref}</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Agricultural soils (4.1%):</strong> Nitrous oxide – a strong greenhouse gas – is produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils. This includes emissions from agricultural soils for all agricultural products – including food for direct human consumption, animal feed, biofuels and other non-food crops (such as tobacco and cotton).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Livestock & manure (5.8%): </strong>animals (mainly ruminants, such as cattle and sheep) produce greenhouse gases through a process called ‘enteric fermentation’ – when microbes in their digestive systems break down food, they <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane" target="_blank">produce methane as a by-product</a>. This means beef and lamb tend to have a high carbon footprint, and eating less is an effective way to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local" target="_blank">reduce the emissions</a> of your diet.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nitrous oxide and methane can be produced from the decomposition of animal manures under low oxygen conditions. This often occurs when large numbers of animals are managed in a confined area (such as dairy farms, beef feedlots, and swine and poultry farms), where manure is typically stored in large piles or disposed of in lagoons and other types of manure management systems ‘Livestock’ emissions here include direct emissions from livestock only – they do not consider impacts of land use change for pasture or animal feed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:image {"id":36441,"sizeSlug":"full"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-–-pie-charts.png" alt="" class="wp-image-36441"/></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>[Clicking on this visualization will open it in higher-resolution]</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><a href="https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Global-GHG-Emissions-by-sector-based-on-WRI-2020.xlsx">Download the data used in this visualization (.xlsx)</a></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> | { "id": "wp-36439", "slug": "ghg-emissions-by-sector", "content": { "toc": [], "body": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Our World in Data presents the data and research to make progress against the world\u2019s largest problems.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "text": "This blog post draws on data and research discussed in our work on ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions", "children": [ { "text": "CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " and Greenhouse Gas Emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "To prevent severe climate change we need to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The world emits around 50 billion ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=chart&xScale=linear&yScale=linear&stackMode=absolute&endpointsOnly=0&time=earliest..latest&country=~World®ion=World&Gas%20=All%20GHGs%20(CO%E2%82%82eq)&Accounting%20=Production-based&Fuel%20=Total&Count%20=Per%20country&Relative%20to%20world%20total%20=", "children": [ { "text": "tonnes of greenhouse gases", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " each year ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "[measured in ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions#how-are-greenhouse-gases-measured", "children": [ { "text": "carbon dioxide equivalents", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " (CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "eq)]", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ".{ref}Carbon dioxide-equivalents try to sum all of the warming impacts of the different greenhouse gases together in order to give a single measure of total greenhouse gas emissions. 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GWP measures the warming impacts of a gas compared to CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "; it basically measures the \u2018strength\u2019 of the greenhouse gas averaged over a chosen time horizon.{/ref}\u00a0", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "To figure out how we can most effectively reduce emissions and what emissions ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "can ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": "and ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "can\u2019t", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " be eliminated with current technologies, we need to first understand where our emissions come from.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "In this post I present only one chart, but it is an important one \u2013\u00a0it shows the breakdown of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.{ref}While it would be ideal to have more timely data, this is the most recent data available at time of writing (September 2020).{/ref} This is the latest breakdown of global emissions by sector, published by ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions", "children": [ { "text": "Climate Watch", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " and the World Resources Institute.{ref}", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "The World Resources Institute also provides a nice ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "url": "https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector", "children": [ { "children": [ { "text": "visualization of these emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "children": [ { "text": " as a Sankey flow diagram", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ".{/ref}", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": ",", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-superscript" }, { "text": "{ref}In its 5th Assessment Report (AR5),\u00a0 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided a similar breakdown of emissions by sector. However, this was based on data published in 2010. The World Resources Institute therefore provides an important update of these figures.\u00a0", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "text": "IPCC (2014): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/", "children": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref}", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The overall picture you see from this diagram is that almost three-quarters of emissions come from energy use; almost one-fifth from agriculture and land use\u00a0 ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "[this increases to one-quarter ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions", "children": [ { "children": [ { "text": "when we consider", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "children": [ { "text": " the food system as a whole \u2013 including processing, packaging, transport and retail]", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": "; and the remaining 8% from industry and waste.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "To know what\u2019s included in each sector category, I provide a short description of each. These descriptions are based on explanations provided in the IPCC\u2019s Fifth Assessment Report AR5) and a methodology paper published by the ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "World Resources Institute", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ".{ref}IPCC, 2014: ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg3/", "children": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schl\u00f6mer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.{/ref}", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": ",", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-superscript" }, { "text": "{ref}Baumert, K. A., Herzog, T. & Pershing, J. (2005). ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/pdf/navigating_numbers.pdf", "children": [ { "text": "Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ", ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "World Resources Institute", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ".{/ref}", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Emissions come from many sectors: we need many solutions to decarbonize the economy", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 2, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "It is clear from this breakdown that a range of sectors and processes contribute\u00a0to global emissions. This means there is no single or simple solution to tackle climate change. Focusing on electricity, or transport, or food, or deforestation alone is insufficient.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Even within the energy sector \u2013 which accounts for almost three-quarters of emissions \u2013 there is no simple fix. Even if we could fully decarbonize our electricity supply, we would also need to electrify all of our heating and road transport. And we\u2019d still have emissions from shipping and aviation \u2013\u00a0 which we do not yet have low-carbon technologies for \u2013 to deal with.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "To reach net-zero emissions we need innovations across many sectors. Single solutions will not get us there.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "left": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Let\u2019s walk through each of the sectors and sub-sectors in the pie chart, one-by-one.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Energy (electricity, heat and transport): 73.2%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Energy use in industry: 24.2%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Iron and Steel (7.2%)", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": ": energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of iron and steel.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Chemical & petrochemical (3.6%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, refrigerants, oil and gas extraction, etc.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Food and tobacco (1%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of tobacco products and food processing (the conversion of raw agricultural products into their final products, such as the conversion of wheat into bread).", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Non-ferrous metals: 0.7%: ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "Non-ferrous metals are metals which contain very little iron: this includes aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin, titanium and zinc, and alloys such as brass. The manufacturing of these metals requires energy which results in emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Paper & pulp (0.6%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "energy-related emissions from the conversion of wood into paper and pulp.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Machinery (0.5%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "energy-related emissions from the production of machinery.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Other industry (10.6%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "energy-related emissions from manufacturing in other industries including mining and quarrying, construction, textiles, wood products, and transport equipment (such as car manufacturing).", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Transport: 16.2%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "This includes a small amount of electricity (indirect emissions) as well as all direct emissions from burning fossil fuels to power transport activities. These figures do not include emissions from the manufacturing of motor vehicles or other transport equipment \u2013 this is included in the previous point \u2018Energy use in Industry\u2019.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Road transport (11.9%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "emissions from the burning of petrol and diesel from all forms of road transport which includes cars, trucks, lorries, motorcycles and buses. Sixty percent of road transport emissions ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/transport-sector-co2-emissions-by-mode-in-the-sustainable-development-scenario-2000-2030", "children": [ { "text": "come from", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " passenger travel (cars, motorcycles and buses); and the remaining forty percent from road freight (lorries and trucks). This means that, if we could electrify the whole road transport sector, and transition to a fully decarbonized electricity mix, we could feasibly reduce global emissions by 11.9%.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Aviation (1.9%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "emissions from passenger travel and freight, and domestic and international aviation. 81% of aviation emissions ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf", "children": [ { "text": "come from", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " passenger travel; and 19% from freight.{ref}Graver, B., Zhang, K., & Rutherford, D. (2019). ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf", "children": [ { "text": "CO2 emissions from commercial aviation, 2018", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".\u00a0", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "The International Council of Clean Transportation", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ".{/ref} From passenger aviation, 60% of emissions come from international travel, and 40% from domestic.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Shipping (1.7%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "emissions from the burning of petrol or diesel on boats. This includes both passenger and freight maritime trips.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Rail (0.4%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "emissions from passenger and freight rail travel.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Pipeline (0.3%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "fuels and commodities (e.g. oil, gas, water or steam) often need to be transported (either within or between countries) via pipelines. This requires energy inputs, which results in emissions. Poorly constructed pipelines can also leak, leading to direct emissions of methane to the atmosphere \u2013 however, this aspect is captured in the category \u2018Fugitive emissions from energy production\u2019.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Energy use in buildings: 17.5%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Residential buildings (10.9%):", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": " energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, cooking etc. and heating at home.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Commercial buildings (6.6%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, etc. and heating in commercial buildings such as offices, restaurants, and shops.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Unallocated fuel combustion (7.8%)", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Energy-related emissions from the production of energy from other fuels including electricity and heat from biomass; on-site heat sources; combined heat and power (CHP); nuclear industry; and pumped hydroelectric storage.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Fugitive emissions from energy production: 5.8%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Fugitive emissions from oil and gas (3.9%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "fugitive emissions are the often-accidental leakage of methane to the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction and transportation, from damaged or poorly maintained pipes. This also includes flaring \u2013 the intentional burning of gas at oil facilities. Oil wells can release gases, including methane, during extraction \u2013 producers often don\u2019t have an existing network of pipelines to transport it, or it wouldn\u2019t make economic sense to provide the infrastructure needed to effectively capture and transport it. But under environmental regulations they need to deal with it somehow: intentionally burning it is often a cheap way to do so.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Fugitive emissions from coal (1.9%):", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": " fugitive emissions are the accidental leakage of methane during coal mining.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Energy use in agriculture and fishing (1.7%)", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Energy-related emissions from the use of machinery in agriculture and fishing, such as fuel for farm machinery and fishing vessels.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Direct Industrial Processes: 5.2%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Cement (3%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct of a chemical conversion process used in the production of clinker, a component of cement. In this reaction, limestone (CaCO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "3", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": ") is converted to lime (CaO), and produces CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " as a byproduct. Cement production also produces emissions from energy inputs \u2013 these related emissions are included in \u2018Energy Use in Industry\u2019.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Chemicals & petrochemicals (2.2%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "greenhouse gases can be produced as a byproduct from chemical processes \u2013 for example, CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2\u00a0 ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "can be emitted during the production of ammonia, which is used for purifying water supplies, cleaning products, and as a refrigerant, and used in the production of many materials, including plastic, fertilizers, pesticides, and textiles. Chemical and petrochemical manufacturing also produces emissions from energy inputs \u2013 these related emissions are included in \u2018Energy Use in Industry\u2019.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Waste: 3.2%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Wastewater (1.3%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "organic matter and residues from animals, plants, humans and their waste products can collect in wastewater systems. When this organic matter decomposes it produces methane and nitrous oxide.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Landfills (1.9%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "landfills are often low-oxygen environments. In these environments, organic matter is converted to methane when it decomposes.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use: 18.4%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use directly accounts for 18.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. The food system as a whole \u2013 including refrigeration, food processing, packaging, and transport \u2013 accounts for around one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. We look at this in detail ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions", "children": [ { "children": [ { "text": "here", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Grassland (0.1%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "when grassland becomes degraded, these soils can lose carbon, converting to carbon dioxide in the process. Conversely, when grassland is restored (for\u00a0 example, from cropland), carbon can be sequestered.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": " ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "Emissions here therefore refer to the net balance of these carbon losses and gains from", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": " ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "grassland biomass and soils.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Cropland (1.4%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "depending on the management practices used on croplands, carbon can be lost or sequestered into soils and biomass. This affects the balance of carbon dioxide emissions: CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " can be emitted when croplands are degraded; or sequestered when they are restored. The net change in carbon stocks is captured in emissions of carbon dioxide. This does not include grazing lands for livestock.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Deforestation (2.2%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "net emissions of carbon dioxide from changes in forestry cover. This means reforestation is counted as \u2018negative emissions\u2019 and deforestation as \u2018positive emissions\u2019. Net forestry change is therefore the difference between forestry loss and gain. Emissions are based on lost carbon stores from forests and changes in carbon stores in forest soils.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Crop burning (3.5%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "the burning of agricultural residues \u2013 leftover vegetation from crops such as rice, wheat, sugar cane, and other crops \u2013 releases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "Farmers often burn crop residues after harvest to prepare land for the resowing of crops.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Rice cultivation (1.3%):", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": " flooded paddy fields produce methane through a process called \u2018anaerobic digestion\u2019. Organic matter in the soil is converted to methane due to the low-oxygen environment of water-logged rice fields. 1.3% seems substantial, but it\u2019s important to put this into context: rice accounts for around one-fifth of the world\u2019s supply of calories, and is a staple crop for billions of people globally.{ref}The UN Food and Agriculture Organization ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS", "children": [ { "text": "estimates that", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " the average daily supply of calories from all foods was 2917 kilocalories in 2017. Rice accounted for 551 kilocalories [ 551 / 2917 * 100 = 19% of global calorie supply]. In China it supplied 26% of calories; and 30% in India.{/ref}", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Agricultural soils (4.1%):", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": " Nitrous oxide \u2013 a strong greenhouse gas \u2013 is produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils. This includes emissions from agricultural soils for all agricultural products \u2013 including food for direct human consumption, animal feed, biofuels and other non-food crops (such as tobacco and cotton).", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Livestock & manure (5.8%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "animals (mainly ruminants, such as cattle and sheep) produce greenhouse gases through a process called \u2018enteric fermentation\u2019 \u2013 when microbes in their digestive systems break down food, they ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane", "children": [ { "text": "produce methane as a by-product", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ". This means beef and lamb tend to have a high carbon footprint, and eating less is an effective way to ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local", "children": [ { "text": "reduce the emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " of your diet.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Nitrous oxide and methane can be produced from the decomposition of animal manures under low oxygen conditions. This often occurs when large numbers of animals are managed in a confined area (such as dairy farms, beef feedlots, and swine and poultry farms), where manure is typically stored in large piles or disposed of in lagoons and other types of manure management systems \u2018Livestock\u2019 emissions here include direct emissions from livestock only \u2013 they do not consider impacts of land use change for pasture or animal feed.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "alt": "", "size": "wide", "type": "image", "filename": "Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts.png", "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "[Clicking on this visualization will open it in higher-resolution]", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "url": "https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Global-GHG-Emissions-by-sector-based-on-WRI-2020.xlsx", "children": [ { "text": "Download the data used in this visualization (.xlsx)", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "article", "title": "Sector by sector: where do global greenhouse gas emissions come from?", "authors": [ "Hannah Ritchie" ], "excerpt": "Globally, we emit around 50 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases each year. Where do these emissions come from? We take a look, sector-by-sector.", "dateline": "September 18, 2020", "subtitle": "Globally, we emit around 50 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases each year. Where do these emissions come from? We take a look, sector-by-sector.", "sidebar-toc": false, "featured-image": "Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts.png" }, "createdAt": "2020-09-16T17:07:01.000Z", "published": false, "updatedAt": "2020-09-21T16:55:12.000Z", "revisionId": null, "publishedAt": "2020-09-18T14:30:00.000Z", "relatedCharts": [], "publicationContext": "listed" } |
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2020-09-18 14:30:00 | 2024-02-16 14:22:50 | 1AWJj1beqLcogs2e2YNUK0jd6_KtZR0E0e-MTSoF7FyQ | [ "Hannah Ritchie" ] |
Globally, we emit around 50 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases each year. Where do these emissions come from? We take a look, sector-by-sector. | 2020-09-16 17:07:01 | 2020-09-21 16:55:12 | https://ourworldindata.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-–-pie-charts.png | {} |
Our World in Data presents the data and research to make progress against the world’s largest problems. This blog post draws on data and research discussed in our work on **[CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions](https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions)**. To prevent severe climate change we need to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The world emits around 50 billion [tonnes of greenhouse gases](https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=chart&xScale=linear&yScale=linear&stackMode=absolute&endpointsOnly=0&time=earliest..latest&country=~World®ion=World&Gas%20=All%20GHGs%20(CO%E2%82%82eq)&Accounting%20=Production-based&Fuel%20=Total&Count%20=Per%20country&Relative%20to%20world%20total%20=) each year _[measured in [carbon dioxide equivalents](https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions#how-are-greenhouse-gases-measured) (CO2eq)]_.{ref}Carbon dioxide-equivalents try to sum all of the warming impacts of the different greenhouse gases together in order to give a single measure of total greenhouse gas emissions. To convert non-CO2 gases into their carbon dioxide-equivalents we multiply their mass (e.g. kilograms of methane emitted) by their ‘global warming potential’ (GWP). GWP measures the warming impacts of a gas compared to CO2; it basically measures the ‘strength’ of the greenhouse gas averaged over a chosen time horizon.{/ref} To figure out how we can most effectively reduce emissions and what emissions _can _and _can’t_ be eliminated with current technologies, we need to first understand where our emissions come from. In this post I present only one chart, but it is an important one – it shows the breakdown of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.{ref}While it would be ideal to have more timely data, this is the most recent data available at time of writing (September 2020).{/ref} This is the latest breakdown of global emissions by sector, published by [Climate Watch](https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions) and the World Resources Institute.{ref}_The World Resources Institute also provides a nice _[_visualization of these emissions_](https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector)_ as a Sankey flow diagram_.{/ref},{ref}In its 5th Assessment Report (AR5), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided a similar breakdown of emissions by sector. However, this was based on data published in 2010. The World Resources Institute therefore provides an important update of these figures. IPCC (2014): [_Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change_](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/) [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref} The overall picture you see from this diagram is that almost three-quarters of emissions come from energy use; almost one-fifth from agriculture and land use _[this increases to one-quarter _[_when we consider_](https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions)_ the food system as a whole – including processing, packaging, transport and retail]_; and the remaining 8% from industry and waste. To know what’s included in each sector category, I provide a short description of each. These descriptions are based on explanations provided in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report AR5) and a methodology paper published by the _World Resources Institute_.{ref}IPCC, 2014: [_Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change_](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg3/) [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.{/ref},{ref}Baumert, K. A., Herzog, T. & Pershing, J. (2005). [Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy](https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/pdf/navigating_numbers.pdf), _World Resources Institute_.{/ref} ## Emissions come from many sectors: we need many solutions to decarbonize the economy It is clear from this breakdown that a range of sectors and processes contribute to global emissions. This means there is no single or simple solution to tackle climate change. Focusing on electricity, or transport, or food, or deforestation alone is insufficient. Even within the energy sector – which accounts for almost three-quarters of emissions – there is no simple fix. Even if we could fully decarbonize our electricity supply, we would also need to electrify all of our heating and road transport. And we’d still have emissions from shipping and aviation – which we do not yet have low-carbon technologies for – to deal with. To reach net-zero emissions we need innovations across many sectors. Single solutions will not get us there. Let’s walk through each of the sectors and sub-sectors in the pie chart, one-by-one. ### Energy (electricity, heat and transport): 73.2% #### Energy use in industry: 24.2% **Iron and Steel (7.2%)**: energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of iron and steel. **Chemical & petrochemical (3.6%): **energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, refrigerants, oil and gas extraction, etc. **Food and tobacco (1%): **energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of tobacco products and food processing (the conversion of raw agricultural products into their final products, such as the conversion of wheat into bread). **Non-ferrous metals: 0.7%: **Non-ferrous metals are metals which contain very little iron: this includes aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin, titanium and zinc, and alloys such as brass. The manufacturing of these metals requires energy which results in emissions. **Paper & pulp (0.6%): **energy-related emissions from the conversion of wood into paper and pulp. **Machinery (0.5%): **energy-related emissions from the production of machinery. **Other industry (10.6%): **energy-related emissions from manufacturing in other industries including mining and quarrying, construction, textiles, wood products, and transport equipment (such as car manufacturing). #### Transport: 16.2% This includes a small amount of electricity (indirect emissions) as well as all direct emissions from burning fossil fuels to power transport activities. These figures do not include emissions from the manufacturing of motor vehicles or other transport equipment – this is included in the previous point ‘Energy use in Industry’. **Road transport (11.9%): **emissions from the burning of petrol and diesel from all forms of road transport which includes cars, trucks, lorries, motorcycles and buses. Sixty percent of road transport emissions [come from](https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/transport-sector-co2-emissions-by-mode-in-the-sustainable-development-scenario-2000-2030) passenger travel (cars, motorcycles and buses); and the remaining forty percent from road freight (lorries and trucks). This means that, if we could electrify the whole road transport sector, and transition to a fully decarbonized electricity mix, we could feasibly reduce global emissions by 11.9%. **Aviation (1.9%): **emissions from passenger travel and freight, and domestic and international aviation. 81% of aviation emissions [come from](https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf) passenger travel; and 19% from freight.{ref}Graver, B., Zhang, K., & Rutherford, D. (2019). [CO2 emissions from commercial aviation, 2018](https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf). _The International Council of Clean Transportation_.{/ref} From passenger aviation, 60% of emissions come from international travel, and 40% from domestic. **Shipping (1.7%): **emissions from the burning of petrol or diesel on boats. This includes both passenger and freight maritime trips. **Rail (0.4%): **emissions from passenger and freight rail travel. **Pipeline (0.3%): **fuels and commodities (e.g. oil, gas, water or steam) often need to be transported (either within or between countries) via pipelines. This requires energy inputs, which results in emissions. Poorly constructed pipelines can also leak, leading to direct emissions of methane to the atmosphere – however, this aspect is captured in the category ‘Fugitive emissions from energy production’. #### Energy use in buildings: 17.5% **Residential buildings (10.9%):** energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, cooking etc. and heating at home. **Commercial buildings (6.6%): **energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, etc. and heating in commercial buildings such as offices, restaurants, and shops. #### Unallocated fuel combustion (7.8%) Energy-related emissions from the production of energy from other fuels including electricity and heat from biomass; on-site heat sources; combined heat and power (CHP); nuclear industry; and pumped hydroelectric storage. #### Fugitive emissions from energy production: 5.8% **Fugitive emissions from oil and gas (3.9%): **fugitive emissions are the often-accidental leakage of methane to the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction and transportation, from damaged or poorly maintained pipes. This also includes flaring – the intentional burning of gas at oil facilities. Oil wells can release gases, including methane, during extraction – producers often don’t have an existing network of pipelines to transport it, or it wouldn’t make economic sense to provide the infrastructure needed to effectively capture and transport it. But under environmental regulations they need to deal with it somehow: intentionally burning it is often a cheap way to do so. **Fugitive emissions from coal (1.9%):** fugitive emissions are the accidental leakage of methane during coal mining. #### Energy use in agriculture and fishing (1.7%) Energy-related emissions from the use of machinery in agriculture and fishing, such as fuel for farm machinery and fishing vessels. ### Direct Industrial Processes: 5.2% **Cement (3%): **carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct of a chemical conversion process used in the production of clinker, a component of cement. In this reaction, limestone (CaCO3) is converted to lime (CaO), and produces CO2 as a byproduct. Cement production also produces emissions from energy inputs – these related emissions are included in ‘Energy Use in Industry’. **Chemicals & petrochemicals (2.2%): **greenhouse gases can be produced as a byproduct from chemical processes – for example, CO2 can be emitted during the production of ammonia, which is used for purifying water supplies, cleaning products, and as a refrigerant, and used in the production of many materials, including plastic, fertilizers, pesticides, and textiles. Chemical and petrochemical manufacturing also produces emissions from energy inputs – these related emissions are included in ‘Energy Use in Industry’. ### Waste: 3.2% **Wastewater (1.3%): **organic matter and residues from animals, plants, humans and their waste products can collect in wastewater systems. When this organic matter decomposes it produces methane and nitrous oxide. **Landfills (1.9%): **landfills are often low-oxygen environments. In these environments, organic matter is converted to methane when it decomposes. ### Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use: 18.4% Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use directly accounts for 18.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. The food system as a whole – including refrigeration, food processing, packaging, and transport – accounts for around one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. We look at this in detail [**here**](https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions). **Grassland (0.1%): **when grassland becomes degraded, these soils can lose carbon, converting to carbon dioxide in the process. Conversely, when grassland is restored (for example, from cropland), carbon can be sequestered.** **Emissions here therefore refer to the net balance of these carbon losses and gains from** **grassland biomass and soils. **Cropland (1.4%): **depending on the management practices used on croplands, carbon can be lost or sequestered into soils and biomass. This affects the balance of carbon dioxide emissions: CO2 can be emitted when croplands are degraded; or sequestered when they are restored. The net change in carbon stocks is captured in emissions of carbon dioxide. This does not include grazing lands for livestock. **Deforestation (2.2%): **net emissions of carbon dioxide from changes in forestry cover. This means reforestation is counted as ‘negative emissions’ and deforestation as ‘positive emissions’. Net forestry change is therefore the difference between forestry loss and gain. Emissions are based on lost carbon stores from forests and changes in carbon stores in forest soils. **Crop burning (3.5%): **the burning of agricultural residues – leftover vegetation from crops such as rice, wheat, sugar cane, and other crops – releases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. _Farmers often burn crop residues after harvest to prepare land for the resowing of crops._ **Rice cultivation (1.3%):** flooded paddy fields produce methane through a process called ‘anaerobic digestion’. Organic matter in the soil is converted to methane due to the low-oxygen environment of water-logged rice fields. 1.3% seems substantial, but it’s important to put this into context: rice accounts for around one-fifth of the world’s supply of calories, and is a staple crop for billions of people globally.{ref}The UN Food and Agriculture Organization [estimates that](http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS) the average daily supply of calories from all foods was 2917 kilocalories in 2017. Rice accounted for 551 kilocalories [ 551 / 2917 * 100 = 19% of global calorie supply]. In China it supplied 26% of calories; and 30% in India.{/ref} **Agricultural soils (4.1%):** Nitrous oxide – a strong greenhouse gas – is produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils. This includes emissions from agricultural soils for all agricultural products – including food for direct human consumption, animal feed, biofuels and other non-food crops (such as tobacco and cotton). **Livestock & manure (5.8%): **animals (mainly ruminants, such as cattle and sheep) produce greenhouse gases through a process called ‘enteric fermentation’ – when microbes in their digestive systems break down food, they [produce methane as a by-product](https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane). This means beef and lamb tend to have a high carbon footprint, and eating less is an effective way to [reduce the emissions](https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local) of your diet. Nitrous oxide and methane can be produced from the decomposition of animal manures under low oxygen conditions. This often occurs when large numbers of animals are managed in a confined area (such as dairy farms, beef feedlots, and swine and poultry farms), where manure is typically stored in large piles or disposed of in lagoons and other types of manure management systems ‘Livestock’ emissions here include direct emissions from livestock only – they do not consider impacts of land use change for pasture or animal feed. <Image filename="Emissions-by-sector-–-pie-charts.png" alt=""/> _[Clicking on this visualization will open it in higher-resolution]_ _[Download the data used in this visualization (.xlsx)](https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Global-GHG-Emissions-by-sector-based-on-WRI-2020.xlsx)_ | { "id": 36439, "date": "2020-09-18T15:30:00", "guid": { "rendered": "https://owid.cloud/?p=36439" }, "link": "https://owid.cloud/ghg-emissions-by-sector", "meta": { "owid_publication_context_meta_field": { "latest": true, "homepage": true, "immediate_newsletter": true } }, "slug": "ghg-emissions-by-sector", "tags": [], "type": "post", "title": { "rendered": "Sector by sector: where do global greenhouse gas emissions come from?" }, "_links": { "self": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/36439" } ], "about": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/types/post" } ], "author": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/users/17", "embeddable": true } ], "curies": [ { "href": "https://api.w.org/{rel}", "name": "wp", "templated": true } ], "replies": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/comments?post=36439", "embeddable": true } ], "wp:term": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/categories?post=36439", "taxonomy": "category", "embeddable": true }, { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/tags?post=36439", "taxonomy": "post_tag", "embeddable": true } ], "collection": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/posts" } ], "wp:attachment": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/media?parent=36439" } ], "version-history": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/36439/revisions", "count": 25 } ], "wp:featuredmedia": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/media/36441", "embeddable": true } ], "predecessor-version": [ { "id": 36505, "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/36439/revisions/36505" } ] }, "author": 17, "format": "standard", "status": "publish", "sticky": false, "content": { "rendered": "\n<div class=\"blog-info\">\n<p>Our World in Data presents the data and research to make progress against the world\u2019s largest problems.<br>This blog post draws on data and research discussed in our work on <strong><a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CO<sub>2</sub> and Greenhouse Gas Emissions</a></strong>.</p>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>To prevent severe climate change we need to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The world emits around 50 billion <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=chart&xScale=linear&yScale=linear&stackMode=absolute&endpointsOnly=0&time=earliest..latest&country=~World&region=World&Gas%20=All%20GHGs%20(CO%E2%82%82eq)&Accounting%20=Production-based&Fuel%20=Total&Count%20=Per%20country&Relative%20to%20world%20total%20=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tonnes of greenhouse gases</a> each year <em>[measured in <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions#how-are-greenhouse-gases-measured\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">carbon dioxide equivalents</a> (CO<sub>2</sub>eq)]</em>.{ref}Carbon dioxide-equivalents try to sum all of the warming impacts of the different greenhouse gases together in order to give a single measure of total greenhouse gas emissions. To convert non-CO<sub>2</sub> gases into their carbon dioxide-equivalents we multiply their mass (e.g. kilograms of methane emitted) by their \u2018global warming potential\u2019 (GWP). GWP measures the warming impacts of a gas compared to CO<sub>2</sub>; it basically measures the \u2018strength\u2019 of the greenhouse gas averaged over a chosen time horizon.{/ref} </p>\n\n\n\n<p>To figure out how we can most effectively reduce emissions and what emissions <em>can </em>and <em>can\u2019t</em> be eliminated with current technologies, we need to first understand where our emissions come from.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this post I present only one chart, but it is an important one \u2013 it shows the breakdown of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.{ref}While it would be ideal to have more timely data, this is the most recent data available at time of writing (September 2020).{/ref} This is the latest breakdown of global emissions by sector, published by <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions\" target=\"_blank\">Climate Watch</a> and the World Resources Institute.{ref}<em>The World Resources Institute also provides a nice </em><a href=\"https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector\"><em>visualization of these emissions</em></a><em> as a Sankey flow diagram</em>.{/ref}<sup>,</sup>{ref}In its 5th Assessment Report (AR5), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided a similar breakdown of emissions by sector. However, this was based on data published in 2010. The World Resources Institute therefore provides an important update of these figures. <br><br>IPCC (2014): <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em></a> [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The overall picture you see from this diagram is that almost three-quarters of emissions come from energy use; almost one-fifth from agriculture and land use <em>[this increases to one-quarter </em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions\" target=\"_blank\"><em>when we consider</em></a><em> the food system as a whole \u2013 including processing, packaging, transport and retail]</em>; and the remaining 8% from industry and waste.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To know what\u2019s included in each sector category, I provide a short description of each. These descriptions are based on explanations provided in the IPCC\u2019s Fifth Assessment Report AR5) and a methodology paper published by the <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{ref}IPCC, 2014: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg3/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em></a> [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schl\u00f6mer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.{/ref}<sup>,</sup>{ref}Baumert, K. A., Herzog, T. & Pershing, J. (2005). <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/pdf/navigating_numbers.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy</a>, <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Emissions come from many sectors: we need many solutions to decarbonize the economy</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>It is clear from this breakdown that a range of sectors and processes contribute to global emissions. This means there is no single or simple solution to tackle climate change. Focusing on electricity, or transport, or food, or deforestation alone is insufficient.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even within the energy sector \u2013 which accounts for almost three-quarters of emissions \u2013 there is no simple fix. Even if we could fully decarbonize our electricity supply, we would also need to electrify all of our heating and road transport. And we\u2019d still have emissions from shipping and aviation \u2013 which we do not yet have low-carbon technologies for \u2013 to deal with.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To reach net-zero emissions we need innovations across many sectors. Single solutions will not get us there.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>Let\u2019s walk through each of the sectors and sub-sectors in the pie chart, one-by-one.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Energy (electricity, heat and transport): 73.2%</h3>\n\n\n\n<h4>Energy use in industry: 24.2%</h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Iron and Steel (7.2%)</strong>: energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of iron and steel.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Chemical & petrochemical (3.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, refrigerants, oil and gas extraction, etc.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Food and tobacco (1%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of tobacco products and food processing (the conversion of raw agricultural products into their final products, such as the conversion of wheat into bread).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Non-ferrous metals: 0.7%: </strong>Non-ferrous metals are metals which contain very little iron: this includes aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin, titanium and zinc, and alloys such as brass. The manufacturing of these metals requires energy which results in emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Paper & pulp (0.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the conversion of wood into paper and pulp.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Machinery (0.5%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the production of machinery.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Other industry (10.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from manufacturing in other industries including mining and quarrying, construction, textiles, wood products, and transport equipment (such as car manufacturing).</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Transport: 16.2%</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>This includes a small amount of electricity (indirect emissions) as well as all direct emissions from burning fossil fuels to power transport activities. These figures do not include emissions from the manufacturing of motor vehicles or other transport equipment \u2013 this is included in the previous point \u2018Energy use in Industry\u2019.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Road transport (11.9%): </strong>emissions from the burning of petrol and diesel from all forms of road transport which includes cars, trucks, lorries, motorcycles and buses. Sixty percent of road transport emissions <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/transport-sector-co2-emissions-by-mode-in-the-sustainable-development-scenario-2000-2030\" target=\"_blank\">come from</a> passenger travel (cars, motorcycles and buses); and the remaining forty percent from road freight (lorries and trucks). This means that, if we could electrify the whole road transport sector, and transition to a fully decarbonized electricity mix, we could feasibly reduce global emissions by 11.9%.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Aviation (1.9%): </strong>emissions from passenger travel and freight, and domestic and international aviation. 81% of aviation emissions <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">come from</a> passenger travel; and 19% from freight.{ref}Graver, B., Zhang, K., & Rutherford, D. (2019). <a href=\"https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf\">CO2 emissions from commercial aviation, 2018</a>. <em>The International Council of Clean Transportation</em>.{/ref} From passenger aviation, 60% of emissions come from international travel, and 40% from domestic.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Shipping (1.7%): </strong>emissions from the burning of petrol or diesel on boats. This includes both passenger and freight maritime trips.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rail (0.4%): </strong>emissions from passenger and freight rail travel.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pipeline (0.3%): </strong>fuels and commodities (e.g. oil, gas, water or steam) often need to be transported (either within or between countries) via pipelines. This requires energy inputs, which results in emissions. Poorly constructed pipelines can also leak, leading to direct emissions of methane to the atmosphere \u2013 however, this aspect is captured in the category \u2018Fugitive emissions from energy production\u2019.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Energy use in buildings: 17.5%</h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Residential buildings (10.9%):</strong> energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, cooking etc. and heating at home.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Commercial buildings (6.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, etc. and heating in commercial buildings such as offices, restaurants, and shops.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Unallocated fuel combustion (7.8%)</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Energy-related emissions from the production of energy from other fuels including electricity and heat from biomass; on-site heat sources; combined heat and power (CHP); nuclear industry; and pumped hydroelectric storage.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Fugitive emissions from energy production: 5.8%</h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fugitive emissions from oil and gas (3.9%): </strong>fugitive emissions are the often-accidental leakage of methane to the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction and transportation, from damaged or poorly maintained pipes. This also includes flaring \u2013 the intentional burning of gas at oil facilities. Oil wells can release gases, including methane, during extraction \u2013 producers often don\u2019t have an existing network of pipelines to transport it, or it wouldn\u2019t make economic sense to provide the infrastructure needed to effectively capture and transport it. But under environmental regulations they need to deal with it somehow: intentionally burning it is often a cheap way to do so.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fugitive emissions from coal (1.9%):</strong> fugitive emissions are the accidental leakage of methane during coal mining.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Energy use in agriculture and fishing (1.7%)</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Energy-related emissions from the use of machinery in agriculture and fishing, such as fuel for farm machinery and fishing vessels.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Direct Industrial Processes: 5.2%</h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cement (3%): </strong>carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct of a chemical conversion process used in the production of clinker, a component of cement. In this reaction, limestone (CaCO<sub>3</sub>) is converted to lime (CaO), and produces CO<sub>2</sub> as a byproduct. Cement production also produces emissions from energy inputs \u2013 these related emissions are included in \u2018Energy Use in Industry\u2019.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Chemicals & petrochemicals (2.2%): </strong>greenhouse gases can be produced as a byproduct from chemical processes \u2013 for example, CO<sub>2 </sub>can be emitted during the production of ammonia, which is used for purifying water supplies, cleaning products, and as a refrigerant, and used in the production of many materials, including plastic, fertilizers, pesticides, and textiles. Chemical and petrochemical manufacturing also produces emissions from energy inputs \u2013 these related emissions are included in \u2018Energy Use in Industry\u2019.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Waste: 3.2%</h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wastewater (1.3%): </strong>organic matter and residues from animals, plants, humans and their waste products can collect in wastewater systems. When this organic matter decomposes it produces methane and nitrous oxide.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Landfills (1.9%): </strong>landfills are often low-oxygen environments. In these environments, organic matter is converted to methane when it decomposes.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use: 18.4%</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use directly accounts for 18.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. The food system as a whole \u2013 including refrigeration, food processing, packaging, and transport \u2013 accounts for around one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. We look at this in detail <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Grassland (0.1%): </strong>when grassland becomes degraded, these soils can lose carbon, converting to carbon dioxide in the process. Conversely, when grassland is restored (for example, from cropland), carbon can be sequestered.<strong> </strong>Emissions here therefore refer to the net balance of these carbon losses and gains from<strong> </strong>grassland biomass and soils.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cropland (1.4%): </strong>depending on the management practices used on croplands, carbon can be lost or sequestered into soils and biomass. This affects the balance of carbon dioxide emissions: CO<sub>2</sub> can be emitted when croplands are degraded; or sequestered when they are restored. The net change in carbon stocks is captured in emissions of carbon dioxide. This does not include grazing lands for livestock.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Deforestation (2.2%): </strong>net emissions of carbon dioxide from changes in forestry cover. This means reforestation is counted as \u2018negative emissions\u2019 and deforestation as \u2018positive emissions\u2019. Net forestry change is therefore the difference between forestry loss and gain. Emissions are based on lost carbon stores from forests and changes in carbon stores in forest soils.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Crop burning (3.5%): </strong>the burning of agricultural residues \u2013 leftover vegetation from crops such as rice, wheat, sugar cane, and other crops \u2013 releases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. <em>Farmers often burn crop residues after harvest to prepare land for the resowing of crops.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rice cultivation (1.3%):</strong> flooded paddy fields produce methane through a process called \u2018anaerobic digestion\u2019. Organic matter in the soil is converted to methane due to the low-oxygen environment of water-logged rice fields. 1.3% seems substantial, but it\u2019s important to put this into context: rice accounts for around one-fifth of the world\u2019s supply of calories, and is a staple crop for billions of people globally.{ref}The UN Food and Agriculture Organization <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS\" target=\"_blank\">estimates that</a> the average daily supply of calories from all foods was 2917 kilocalories in 2017. Rice accounted for 551 kilocalories [ 551 / 2917 * 100 = 19% of global calorie supply]. In China it supplied 26% of calories; and 30% in India.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Agricultural soils (4.1%):</strong> Nitrous oxide \u2013 a strong greenhouse gas \u2013 is produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils. This includes emissions from agricultural soils for all agricultural products \u2013 including food for direct human consumption, animal feed, biofuels and other non-food crops (such as tobacco and cotton).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Livestock & manure (5.8%): </strong>animals (mainly ruminants, such as cattle and sheep) produce greenhouse gases through a process called \u2018enteric fermentation\u2019 \u2013 when microbes in their digestive systems break down food, they <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane\" target=\"_blank\">produce methane as a by-product</a>. This means beef and lamb tend to have a high carbon footprint, and eating less is an effective way to <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local\" target=\"_blank\">reduce the emissions</a> of your diet.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nitrous oxide and methane can be produced from the decomposition of animal manures under low oxygen conditions. This often occurs when large numbers of animals are managed in a confined area (such as dairy farms, beef feedlots, and swine and poultry farms), where manure is typically stored in large piles or disposed of in lagoons and other types of manure management systems \u2018Livestock\u2019 emissions here include direct emissions from livestock only \u2013 they do not consider impacts of land use change for pasture or animal feed.</p>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1302\" height=\"1233\" src=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-36441\" srcset=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts.png 1302w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts-400x379.png 400w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts-581x550.png 581w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts-150x142.png 150w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts-768x727.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1302px) 100vw, 1302px\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>[Clicking on this visualization will open it in higher-resolution]</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Global-GHG-Emissions-by-sector-based-on-WRI-2020.xlsx\">Download the data used in this visualization (.xlsx)</a></em></p>\n</div>\n</div>\n", "protected": false }, "excerpt": { "rendered": "Globally, we emit around 50 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases each year. Where do these emissions come from? We take a look, sector-by-sector.", "protected": false }, "date_gmt": "2020-09-18T14:30:00", "modified": "2020-09-21T17:55:12", "template": "", "categories": [ 1 ], "ping_status": "closed", "authors_name": [ "Hannah Ritchie" ], "modified_gmt": "2020-09-21T16:55:12", "comment_status": "closed", "featured_media": 36441, "featured_media_paths": { "thumbnail": "/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts-150x142.png", "medium_large": "/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts-768x727.png" } } |