Global Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions
Since 1751 approximately 347 billion metric tonnes of carbon have been released to the atmosphere from the consumption of fossil fuels and cement production. Half of these emissions have occurred since the mid 1970s. The 2008 global fossil-fuel carbon emission estimate, 8749 million metric tons of carbon, represents an all-time high and a 2.4% increase from 2007.
Globally, liquid and solid fuels accounted for 76.3% of the emissions from fossil-fuel burning and cement production in 2008. Combustion of gas fuels (e.g., natural gas) accounted for 18.5% (1616 million metric tons of carbon) of the total emissions from fossil fuels in 2008 and reflects a gradually increasing global utilization of natural gas. Emissions from cement production (386 million metric tons of carbon in 2008) have more than doubled since the mid 1970s and now represent 4.4% of global CO2 releases from fossil-fuel burning and cement production. Gas flaring, which accounted for roughly 2% of global emissions during the 1970s, now accounts for less than 1% of global fossil-fuel releases.
CITE AS: Boden, T.A., G. Marland, and R.J. Andres. 2011. Global, Regional, and National Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tenn., U.S.A. doi 10.3334/CDIAC/00001_V2011