Atmospheric Methane (CH4) Emissions from Energy-Related Sources

This dataset provides global national and United States data on energy-related sources of methane (CH4) emission including coal mining, natural gas production and distribution, automotive exhausts and landfills. The data is available in hardcopy form from CDIAC as Technical Report TR047 prepared by D.W. Barns and J.A. Edmonds. The natural gas production data is based on the United Nations Energy Data Base for 1950-1986 which is available on magnetic tape from CDIAC. Although much of the atmospheric methane is due to natural sources (wetlands, animals, etc.), about 20-30% is attributed to the production of energy. Landfills are a potential source beacuse of the decay or combustion of solid waste; methane emission from coal mining are a function of coal rank and depth; natural gas is mostly methane and is released to the atmosphere through venting and flaring; automobile and biomass burning are other anthropogenic sources. Estimates of future methane emissions was done using the Edmonds-Reilly Long-term Energy CO2 Model (Edmonds and Reilley, 1983) which is available from CDIAC as Computer Model Package (CMP) CMP-001 and CMP-002. Methane emissions from energy sources was also estimated by Cicerone and Oremland (1988). See: "http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/ndps/cmp002pc.html".