China: Interim Report on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Abstract

Three research projects on a greenhouse gas emissions inventory in China have been completed in the past three years: the Asian Development Bank project, National Response Strategy for Global Climate Change: China; the World Bank/Global Environment Facility project, China: Issues and Options in Greenhouse Gas Emissions Control; and the China Science and Technology Commission—Environment Canada project, Beijing’s GHG Emission and Preliminary Control Measures. Both the Asian Development Bank and World Bank projects estimated China’s greenhouse gas emissions in 1990, while the Beijing project estimated the greenhouse gas emissions of Beijing in 1991. Emissions from energy and industry sources are entirely based on the three existing studies, which had small variations in their results. In the Asian Development Bank and World Bank studies of China’s 1990 data, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels combustion were estimated to be between 2,255 and 2,380Tg CO2. From industrial processes, carbon dioxide emissions from cement production were estimated to be between 93.5 and 106.3 Tg CO2. Methane emissions from energy production and consumption activities were estimated to be between 8.20 and 19.37 Tg CH4. To reduce uncertainties, emissions from non-energy sources were combined with a more robust approach, especially for methane emissions from flooded rice fields. Methods for calculating methane emissions from rice fields and carbon dioxide absorption by forests in China were based on current studies in China. Emissions from non-energy sources were evaluated for methane released from domestic livestock, manure management, and flooded rice fields, and from uptake of carbon dioxide by forests. From the World Bank and Asian Development Bank studies, methane emissions from domestic livestock, manure, and rice fields were 6.2–5.5 Tg CH4, 2.7–3.0 Tg CH4, and 11.9–15.0 Tg CH4, respectively. Forests were found to be a net sink of carbon.