4 Charts Explain Greenhouse Gas Emissions By Countries And ...

Today, greenhouse gas emissions can be traced back to five economic sectors: • Energy • Agriculture • Industrial processes • Waste • Land use, land-use change and forestry

The energy sector produces the most greenhouse gas emissions by far, accounting for a whopping 75.7% worldwide.

The energy sector includes emissions from electricity and heat (29.7% of all emissions), transportation (13.7%), manufacturing and construction (12.7%) and buildings (6.6%). It also includes fugitive emissions (greenhouse gases released during fossil fuel production or transmission) and emissions from other fuel combustion.

We can also look at which specific activities (or end-uses) drive the most emissions within each sector.

For example, residential buildings account for the largest share of energy sector emissions and 12.5% of all emissions globally. This includes emissions from generating the electricity used in homes as well as from direct fossil fuel use, such as cooking with gas.

Another major GHG source in the energy sector is road transportation, which accounts for 12.2% of global emissions.

Non-energy sectors contribute just one-quarter of global emissions.

Agriculture is the second highest emitting sector after energy, accounting for 11.7% of global emissions. Major emitters in this sector include livestock farming and agricultural soils, such as methane from manure. Agriculture can also drive emissions through land-use change and energy use.

Industrial processes make up 6.5% of global emissions. This includes emissions from chemical and cement production, among other things (but excludes energy use).

Waste emissions, such as methane and nitrous oxide from landfills, make up 3.4% of the global total.

Land use, land-use change and forestry make up another 2.7%. This net total includes both emissions released by lands and forests — such as when trees are cut down or when organic matter breaks down in soil — as well as carbon removed from the atmosphere as forests grow. Gross emissions from the sector (not including removals) are therefore higher than what's shown here.

Here’s a bigger-picture view of all sectors, sub-sectors and end-uses driving global emissions. Note that end-uses may repeat as they can fall under several sub-sectors. For example, residential buildings show up under both Electricity (because they use electricity generated at power plants) and Buildings (because they create emissions directly).