4. Methane - CH4

4. METHANE - CH₄

4.1 CH₄-emissions by countries

The 1990 annual total CH₄-emissions for EUROPE were estimated to be 45 million tonnes. These emissions broken down by EU-12, EFTA-5 and PHARE-10 countries are shown in figure 4.1. The largest contributor were the EU-12 countries with 60%, second largest the PHARE-10 countries with 27%. The EFTA-5 countries contributed 10% and Germany (former East) and Malta 3%.

Figure 4.1: Contribution in % to the EUROPEAN total CH₄-emissions

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Figure 4.2 shows the relative contribution of individual countries to the total of 45 million tonnes. In 1990 the largest contributing countries were Poland (13%), Greece (12%) and Germany (former West; 11%); the smallest contributing countries were Malta (0.02%), Luxembourg (0.06%) and Slovenia (0.3%). These differences are due to different size of population, different per capita emissions (see also paragraph 4.3) and differences in emissions from natural sources.

Figure 4.2: Contribution in % of each country to the EUROPEAN total CH₄-emissions

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4.2 CH₄-emissions per group

One third of the CH₄-emissions for EUROPE resulted from agriculture (group 10) in 1990. Group 11 (nature) and group 5 (extraction and distribution of fossil fuels) both contributed 23%. Group 9 (waste treatment and disposal) produced 19% and group 2 (commercial, institutional and residential combustion) contributed only 1% to the total CH₄-emissions of EUROPE. In contrast to other pollutants the groups 1 (public power, cogeneration and district heating), 3 (industrial combustion), 4 (production processes), 7 (road transport) and 8 (other mobile sources and machinery) are not relevant for CH₄-emissions.

The split of the CH₄-emissions into groups for EU-12 countries is quite similar compared to the split for EUROPE with the exception of the smaller contribution of group 5 (extraction and distribution of fossil fuels) with 16% for EU-12 countries. In the PHARE-10 countries the contribution of group 5 (extraction and distribution of fossil fuels) is 44% and thus significant higher than its contribution in EUROPE. In the PHARE-10-countries the groups 9 (waste treatment and disposal) and 11 (nature) produced 9% and 11% of the CH₄-emissions; this is much lower than the contribution of these groups in EUROPE, in the EU-12 countries and in the EFTA-5 countries. In the EFTA-5 countries more than half of the CH₄-emissions were attributed to group 11 (nature).

The differences of contributions especially of the main sourcegroups 10, 11, 5 and 9 to the total emissions are larger between countries than these groups (see also table 4.1). The relative contribution of the CH₄-emissions of group 10 ranges from 76% (Ireland) to 7% (Greece), of group 11 from 83% (Greece) to 0% (Belgium, Wallonie region and others), of group 5 from 56% (Romania) to 0% (Sweden and others) and of group 9 (waste treatment and disposal) from 80% (Malta) to 0% (Lithuania and others).

However it is evident already from these differences in the relative contribution of source groups to a countries total emissions that strategies for reduction of CH₄-emissions need individual solutions as well as common elements.

Figure 4.3: Contribution in % of source groups to the EUROPEAN CH₄-emissions

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4.3 CH₄-emissions per capita

Only anthropogenic emissions are expected to be related to population for these calculations. Therefore group 11 (nature) has been excluded.

For EUROPE the average CH₄-emissions per capita were 72 kg/capita. Compared to this number the per capita CH₄-emissions were 13% smaller for the EU-12 countries with 63 kg/capita, 8% smaller for the EFTA-5 countries with 66 kg/capita and 46% larger for the PHARE-10 countries with 105 kg/capita. This comparison is also shown in figure 4.4 and table 9.

Again the differences are much larger if individual countries are compared: the largest CH₄-emissions per capita were estimated for Ireland (226 kg/capita) and the next largest ones for Poland (151 kg/capita) and Czech Republic (141 kg/capita); the smallest per capita emissions for CH₄ were calculated for Portugal (25 kg/capita), Malta (26 kg/capita) and Belgium, Flemish region (28 kg/capita). Figure 4.6 shows the countries ranked according their per capita emissions. The smallest per capita emissions is a factor of 9 smaller compared to the largest number.

Figure 4.4: CH₄-emissions per capita for EUROPE

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Figure 4.5: CH₄-emissions per capita for individual countries

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4.4 CH₄-emissions per km²

The emissions per km² have been calculated from the total emissions, the emissions of group 11 (nature) having been included in this case.

For EUROPE the average CH₄-emissions per km² were estimated as 9 602 kg/km². Compared to this number the per km² CH₄-emissions were 25% larger for the EU-12 countries with 12 028 kg/km², 22% larger for the PHARE-10 countries with 11 672 kg/km² and 61% smaller for the EFTA-5 countries with 3 704 kg/km². This comparison is also shown in figure 4.6 and table 10.

Figure 4.6: CH₄-emissions per km² for EUROPE

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Again the differences are much larger if individual countries are compared; the largest CH₄-emissions per km² were for Greece (41 738 kg/km²) and the next largest ones for Malta (28 611 kg/km²) and the Netherlands (25 079 kg/km²); the smallest emissions per km² for CH₄ were for Norway (868 kg/km²), Finland (2 930 kg/km²) and Lithuania (4 090 kg/km²). Figure 4.7 shows the countries ranked according their CH₄-emission per km². The differences in the emissions per km² between countries are much larger compared to the per capita emissions. The smallest number being 48 times smaller than the largest number.

Figure 4.7: CH₄-emissions per km² for individual countries

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Table 4.1: Methane emissions per country and group