About

This page is part of the CDIAC at App State project, which estimates carbon emissions from nations around the world. For more information, see the text below or check out the main CDIAC at AppState website. For carbon emissions separated by economic sector, see the CDIAC DataDash page. Note that this website, and the data shown, are under development. This data should not be used for important purposes.

How was this dataset created?

To estimate carbon emissions since 1950, this project primarily uses fuel data from the United Nations Statistic Division’s (UNSD) Energy Statistics Database. This database uses surveys to collect information about fuel production, imports, exports, stock changes, and more for countries around the world. To estimate fuel consumption for a particular country and year, we sum the country’s fuel production and imports, then remove the exports, bunker fuels, stock changes, and some fuels used for non-energy purposes. This calculation is done for solid, liquid, and gas fuels. Gas flaring and venting are also included. From there, we estimate the amount of fuel which is oxidized and the carbon content of the fuel, producing estimates of carbon emissions.

For cement production, carbon emissions are calculated using data from the USGS's Cement Statistics and Information page, the UNFCCC’s National Inventory Reports, clinker ratios from "Getting the Numbers Right," and some other sources. From these, we quantify the amount of clinker produced, and estimate the carbon emitted in the process.

For years before 1950, we rely on an earlier version of this data product, whose methodology is outlined in Andres et al., 1999. A more recent overview of this project can be found at the CDIAC at AppState website and in Gilfillan & Marland 2021.

Can I browse the raw data?

Yes, the original UN fuel data is available to browse at UNdata. First, find a product type (e.g., conventional crude oil), and then click "view data" to see the data in tabular format.

How are bunker fuels treated?

Because bunker fuels are used for international commerce, it is difficult to assign them to a particular country. In this dataset, bunker emissions are treated as follows:

• Global figure: Bunker emissions are included in other fuel categories (e.g., liquid fuel) but can be visualized separately as well.
• National figures: Bunker emissions are not included in other fuel categories but can be visualized separately. For each nation, the bunker fuels shown correspond to the fuels loaded in that nation, regardless of where they are going.
• Data table: Bunker emissions are not included.

Why do emissions from some countries change around 1950?

The primary dataset for this project is the United Nations Statistic Division, which starts in 1950. Prior to that, other data sources were used, potentially leading to discontinuities in the results.

Why do I see some negative values in the data?

Negative values may be due to imperfect data, as different elements of the fuel trade (e.g., production, imports, exports, stock changes, etc.) may be calculated by different people. Some negative emissions are due to small differences between large uncertain numbers (Boden et al., 1995).

What about other changes in the data?

While much of the data represents historical changes in fuel combustion and cement production, some irregularities may result from limitations of the data sources or methodology.

What about national borders on the map?

National borders on the map are from rnaturalearth. These borders are for illustration purposes only and may not correspond exactly with those used when calculating the data. For example, in the carbon emission dataset, Monaco is included with France; on the map, Monaco is not included in any region. Additionally, some small regions may not appear on the map, as well as all extant nations. Refer to the Data Table for a more complete listing of nations in the dataset.

Credit

The CDIAC-FF data product is maintained by Gregg Marland and Michael Erb at Appalachian State University. To get in touch, please contact Michael Erb at [email protected].