Asia-Wide Emissions of Greenhouse Gases

Emissions of principal greenhouse gases (GHGs) from Asia are increasing faster than those from any other continent. This is a result of rapid economic growth, as well as the fact that almost half of the world's population lives in Asian countries. In this paper, we provide estimates of emissions of the two principal greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (C02) and methane (CH4), from individual countries and areas. Recent literature has been reviewed for emission estimates for individual sources, such as carbon dioxide from cement manufacture, and methane from rice fields. There are very large uncertainties in many of these estimates, so several estimates are provided, where available.

The largest anthropogenic source of CO2 emissions is the use of fossil fuels. Energy consumption data from 1992 have been used to calculate estimated emissions of CO2 from this source. In view of the ongoing negotiations to limit future greenhouse gas emissions, estimates of projected CO2 emissions from the developing countries of Asia are also provided. These are likely to be 3 times their 1986 levels by 2010, under “business as usual” scenarios. Even with the implementation of energy efficiency measures and fuel switching where feasible, the emissions of CO2 are likely to double within the same time period.