What are Carbon Emissions?
Carbon dioxide is an important heat-trapping greenhouse gas and comes from natural processes such as volcanic eruptions and human activities, such as the extraction and burning of fossil fuels. Since the industrial revolution, human activities have raised atmospheric carbon dioxide by 50%, making the amount of carbon dioxide 150% of its value in 1750.
This rise in carbon dioxide and other major greenhouse gas emissions has far-ranging environmental effects. This is because greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, absorb and emit radiant energy within the thermal infrared spectrum. By absorbing and re-emitting energy, these gases act like a blanket, insulating the Earth and slowing down the rate at which energy can escape into space. By trapping this energy in the Earth’s atmosphere, these gases cause what is known as the greenhouse effect or global warming.
Global warming results in serious changes to the environment, which affects human health. Climate change can cause a rise in sea levels, leading to loss of coastal land, increased risks of floods and droughts, change in precipitation patterns and poses a threat to biodiversity [ref]. However, carbon footprint measurement allows for effective and focused carbon emission reduction efforts and offers a great starting point for industry, governments and households to reduce their carbon emissions.
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What is a Carbon Footprint?
A carbon footprint refers to the total greenhouse gas emissions caused by an individual, organization, service, event, place or product – expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). In most cases, the total carbon footprint cannot be calculated exactly due to inadequate knowledge of data regarding the complex interactions between contributing processes, thus the following definition was put in place:
“A measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions of a defined population, system or activity, considering all relevant sources, sinks and storage within the spatial and temporal boundary of the population, system or activity of interest. Calculated as carbon dioxide equivalent using the relevant 100-year global warming potential (GWP100).” [ref].
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Per Capita Carbon Emissions?
In order to uncover where in the world the average person emits the most carbon dioxide each year, Our World in Data calculated the contribution of the average citizen of each country by dividing its total emissions by population, calculating carbon dioxide emissions per capita.
Based on this study, the world’s largest per capita carbon emitters are the major oil producing countries, most of which are in the Middle East. In 2017, Qatar had the highest emissions at 49 tonnes per person followed by Trinidad and Tobago at 30t, Kuwait and the UAE both at 25t, Bahrain at 23t and Saudi Arabia at 19t. However, the major oil producers have a lower population meaning the annual emissions are low while more populous countries have some of the highest per capita emissions, therefore, high total emissions. These countries are Australia at 17t, the US at 16.2t, and Canada at 15.6t [ref].
As there is a strong relationship between income and per capita carbon emissions, it’s expected that countries with higher living standards would have a higher carbon footprint. However, there can be notable differences in per capita emissions, even between countries with similar standards of living. For example, many countries across Europe have lower emissions than that of the US, Canada or Australia.
For example, based on the 2017 study mentioned above, Portugal measured at 5.3t; France at 5.5t and the UK at 5.8t per person. Prosperity is, of course, a driver of carbon emissions but policy and technology can make a significant difference
Global emissions monitoring is vital to help reduce emissions and have cleaner energy in the fossil fuel industry. This kind of technology is able to detect, monitor, and measure emissions from oil and gas assets such as gas plants, well pads, and compression stations.
In 2021, GHGSat observed over 100,000 sites worldwide and measured a total of 143 MTCO2e methane emissions. With its constellation of satellites, the company successfully mitigated 2.3 MTCO2e of methane emissions. GHGSat’s data technology accurately identifies gas emission sources to individual facilities from unlit flares to open thief hatches, supporting leak detection and repair (LDAR) activities, production operations and environmental reporting. This allows operators, governments and financial services to monitor, mitigate and reduce emissions across industries involved in fossil fuel production and exploitation.
The Our World in Data study also shows that many countries have low per capita carbon emissions. These countries are mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa and include the Central African Republic, Nigeria and Chad – with the average carbon footprint at just around 0.1 t per year.
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Annual Carbon Emissions
Asia is the largest emitter of carbon emissions, accounting for 53% of global emission, as it’s home to 60% of the world’s population. However, this means that per capita emissions in Asia are a bit lower than the world average. North America is the second largest regional carbon emissions emitter, at 18% of global emissions and is home to only 5% of the world population.
Africa and South America have smaller emitters and account for 3-4% of global emissions each.
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Which Country Is the Largest Contributor to Carbon Emissions?
1. Carbon Emissions by Country: China
China is the largest carbon dioxide emitter, with 10, 668 million metric tons emitted in 2020. The primary source of these emissions is due to fossil fuels, notably the burning of coal. In 2021, coal supplied around 55% of China’s total energy consumption, down from 56% of 2020 and 70% in 2001 [ref]. The burning of coal is due to China’s industrial plants and boilers that release large amounts of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. GHGSat satellites detect methane emissions from oil & gas facilities and coal mining sites in China. Fossil fuel production is a major contributor to methane emissions and represents 85% of GHGSat satellite emission measurements since COP2.
2. Carbon Emissions by Country: The US
The US is the second largest emitter of carbon emissions, with 5,222 million metric tons of total carbon dioxide emissions in 2020. The government undertook significant measures to reduce reliance on coal for electricity generation however, the US has become a major producer of crude oil. The US economy is also reliant on the transportation sector and burns petroleum while consumers depend on cars as a primary means of transportation – contributing to the carbon footprint through diesel and gasoline. Industry is a large emitter of carbon emissions in the US. There are a variety of ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the industry sector, including Emissions Monitoring and Intelligence for Mitigation and Management.
Looking into GHGSat’s satellite methane emissions data since 2021, the probability of detecting an emission from an O&G facility in the US is high. in Q4 2021, approximately 45% of GHGSat observations in the US have measured at least 1 emission. This highlights the need for stronger regulations for O&G. An updated version of the EPA’s standards is under review. Revisions include ensuring all well sites are routinely monitored and a new super-emitter response program that will be able to use third-party data, such as GHGSat’s.
With pioneering sensor innovation, GHGSat is at the forefront of emissions detection technology in industry, making it possible to locate individual sources and to detect ever smaller emissions.
3. Carbon Emissions by Country: India
India is the 3rd largest carbon emissions emitter, with 2,442 million metric tons of total carbon dioxide emissions produced in 2020. Similar to China, coal is the primary energy source for India, supplying about 45% of the energy in the country. Petroleum and similar liquids provide close to 26%.
Natural gas accounts for just 6% of India’s energy consumption; however, the country plans to increase the natural gas market share to 15% by 2030 in order to reduce air pollution and use cleaner-burning fuels. Landfill methane emissions can be harnessed as a valuable energy source through conversion technologies such as biogas recovery, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing an opportunity for renewable energy production.
4. Carbon Emissions by Country: Russia
With the 4th largest carbon emissions, Russia emitted 1,57 7 million metric tons in 2020. Greenhouse gas emissions by Russia are primarily from fossil gas, oil and coal. Russia emits 2 or 3 billion tonnes CO2eq of greenhouse gases each year – around 4% of global emissions.
However, Russia’s greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 30% between 1990 and 2018, excluding emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry [ref].
5. Carbon Emissions by Country: Japan
The 5th largest producer of carbon emissions is Japan, with 1,577 million metric tons in 2020. Oil is the largest source of energy in Japan, with its total share of energy consumption being 40% in 2019. The country’s energy plan from 2018 has the goal of increasing nuclear-fired power production by 2030 to reduce the dependency on hydrocarbon fuel imports.
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Is Any Country Carbon Neutral?
In order to mitigate the impact of climate change, many countries have begun taking strides to minimize carbon emissions. Today, 8 countries have reached net zero emissions, helping combat global warming.
The countries that have reached net zero emissions are:
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Bhutan
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Comoros
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Gabon
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Guyana
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Madagascar
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Niue
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Panama
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Suriname
Net zero emissions ischieved when more carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere each year than is emitted. Reaching net zero on a global scale is a central part of efforts to prevent global warming exceeding the 1.5C climate target.
These countries function as ‘carbon sinks,’ absorbing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year than they emit into the atmosphere. Notably, most are small countries, with limited industrial sectors and prioritize ecological protection measures [ref].
There’s no single action that will lead us to carbon neutrality and net zero emissions, but technology and intelligence provides unparalleled data and insight to accelerate the planet’s journey to carbon neutrality.
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Technology in the fight against climate change
Technology plays a major role in the mitigation, management and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions across industries and sectors. GHGSat’s emission intelligence empowers carbon intensive industries, sectors and governments to achieve their emission reduction goals.
The company will launch in space a sensor dedicated to CO2 monitoring. The data will seamlessly integrate into its emissions intelligence platform – SPECTRA, for easy access of emissions intelligence by customers and partners.
Explore accurate emissions data like never before.
