What are GHG emissions

Greenhouse gases are gases in Earth’s atmosphere that trap heat. They let sunlight pass through the atmosphere, but they prevent the heat that the sunlight brings from leaving the atmosphere. Refer to What are Greenhouse gases for the details.

Ways to slice & dice

There are different ways to breakdown the global GHG emissions. Just to mention a few:

  • By country
  • By sector
  • By societal needs
  • Household contributions

Emissions by Country

There are multiple ways to look at GHG emissions for countries. Some statistics show the emission per capita, other show the total emission for the whole country. The Aqal group uses a so called Varidewide chart to show both in one graph.

CO2 Emissions per Capita and by Country in 2019 by Aqal Group

It shows that USA and China are major contributors. USA driven by a high emission per capita, China driven by a large numeber of people.

Emissions by Sector

Our World in Data is a great source of data for all kinds of topics.

Emissions by sector – pie charts
Emissions by sector by Our World in Data

Emsissions by societal needs

Emissions x-ray by Circularity Gap

Emissions by households

Household consumption contributes to 72% of global greenhouse gas emissions

It Starts at home? Energy Research & Social Science Volume 52, June 2019, Pages 144-158

The baseline carbon footprint (CF) assessments of households participating in the HOPE study found the mobility sector to be the most significant contributor to a median household’s footprint. Emissions of greenhouse gases were accounted for by CO2 equivalents (CO2e).

Source: It Starts at home? Energy Research & Social Science Volume 52, June 2019, Pages 144-158

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