Inventory of Asian Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks in 1990

Abstract

This paper presents a synthesis of preliminary national inventory assessments prepared by Bangladesh, China, Mongolia, the Philippines, and Thailand through the assistance of the U. S. Country Studies Program and other organizations. Emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, oxides of nitrogen, and carbon monoxide from various sources in each country are compared and examined in the context of demographic and economic characteristics. The energy sector is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in all five countries, except the Philippines, where the forestry and land-use change sector is the largest carbon dioxide source. Forestry and land-use change is the second most important source of carbon dioxide in Thailand, while in Bangladesh, China, and Mongolia, the sector acts as a carbon sink. Agriculture, particularly rice cultivation and livestock digestion, is the largest source of methane in all five countries. Only three countries—Mongolia, the Philippines, and Thailand—reported emissions of nitrous oxide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide, which result primarily from fossil fuel and biofuel combustion and biomass burning associated with land conversion. Comparison of national inventory estimates to other published estimates of country-level emissions indicated quite close agreement for the fossil energy and industry sectors, and wide divergence for the land-use change and forestry sector and for rice cultivation.