Colombia's Sources of CH4 Emissions
Key Insights
2024 CH4 Emissions Profile
Colombia's anthropogenic methane emissions totalled around 91 megatonnes CO2e in 2024. Livestock dominated, at roughly 54 megatonnes CO2e (59.1%), followed by waste at around 21 megatonnes CO2e (23.7%) and fugitive emissions at nearly 10 megatonnes CO2e (10.8%). Crop production contributed around 4.6 megatonnes CO2e (5.1%) and fuel combustion 1.2 megatonnes CO2e (1.3%). Over the ten years to 2024, livestock, waste and crops rose, while fugitive emissions and fuel combustion declined.
Historic Livestock Emissions
Livestock emissions began at around 3.3 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and rose steadily, reaching roughly 19 megatonnes CO2e by 1950 and around 42 megatonnes CO2e in 1978. Growth then slowed and emissions varied, falling to roughly 39 megatonnes CO2e in 2015 before rising to their peak of around 54 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Fugitive Emissions
Fugitive emissions were near zero in 1851 and became more substantial from the 1920s, reaching around 5 megatonnes CO2e by 1962. They then declined to roughly 2.6 megatonnes CO2e in 1976, before rising over subsequent decades. Emissions peaked at around 15 megatonnes CO2e in 2012, then fell to nearly 10 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Waste Emissions
Waste emissions started at around 0.3 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and increased gradually through the first half of the twentieth century, reaching roughly 1.5 megatonnes CO2e in 1946. Growth accelerated thereafter, rising to around 13 megatonnes CO2e in 2002. Emissions continued upward and reached their peak of roughly 21 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Crop Emissions
Crop emissions began at around 0.1 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and remained low until the early twentieth century, reaching roughly 0.6 megatonnes CO2e in 1937. They rose to around 2.4 megatonnes CO2e by 1962, dipped to roughly 2 megatonnes CO2e in 1971, and later recovered. Emissions peaked at nearly 4.8 megatonnes CO2e in 2020, ending near 4.6 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Fuel Emissions
Fuel-combustion emissions began at around 0.2 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and rose gradually to roughly 0.9 megatonnes CO2e in 1948. They continued increasing and peaked at around 1.9 megatonnes CO2e in 1989, before declining to roughly 1 megatonne CO2e in 2001. Emissions later rose and fell back, ending at around 1.2 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Background
The chart shows a national breakdown by source of the yearly methane (CH4) emissions from human activities expressed as weight in megatonnes (Mt). In the scientific literature, these are referred to as anthropogenic emissions. Human-induced methane emissions increase atmospheric methane, which is warming the Earth. The sources of human methane emissions are
- Livestock
- Fugitive emissions from the fossil fuel industry
- Crop production
- Fossil fuel combustion
- Waste management
- Other processes
Methane's Global Warming Potential
Methane has a much higher Global Warming Potential (GWP) than CO2. However, Methane emissions in the atmosphere decay with an average lifetime of about 12 years so its long term warming-effect is much less compared to CO2 which stays on average for hundreds of years in the atmosphere. Meaning: Methane's short term warming effect is much higher, but long term warming effect is much lower. A reduction in emissions can cause a rapid decline in its atmospheric levels.
Livestock
Livestock emits methane that is produced in the animals' digestive system. Most methane is emitted from the mouth during rumination. A much smaller amount of methane is emitted from the manure. Depending on how the manure is managed, i.e., wet or dry, more methane is emitted. Wet management leads to higher methane emissions than dry management. However, dry management also emits nitrous oxide (N2O), which is another potent greenhouse gas.
Fugitive emissions from fossil fuel industry
Fugitive methane emissions are from the intentional and accidental release of methane, which happens during the extraction, storage, and transportation processes in the fossil fuel industry. Examples are methane leaks during oil and gas handling, storage, transport, incomplete combustion, and many more. Also, methane is deliberately ventilated from mines during the extraction of coal.
Methane is a primary part of “gas”, also called “natural gas” or “fossil gas”. Natural gas is used, for example, for heating and electricity generation, whereby it emits CO2 during the combustion process. However, when natural gas leaks (unburned) it contains a lot of fugitive methane emissions.
Waste
Waste from landfills and wastewater produces a lot of methane when biodegradable material breaks down without oxygen.
Crop production
Crop production emissions are largely from rice cultivation, which generates large amounts of methane during plant growth. These emissions are from flooded paddies, which create the swamp-like environment of rice fields. There are agricultural techniques to reduce emissions significantly, like periodic drainage and aeration. Rice is the main staple for about half the world's population, and its emissions are a significant part of total human methane emissions.
Fuel combustion
Fuel combustion emissions are mostly from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. As mentioned before, natural gas consists largely of methane, and when the combustion does not happen completely, methane enters the atmosphere.
Other
Other human-induced methane emissions include industrial processes and product uses.
Wikipedia: Anthropogenic Sources of Atmospheric MethaneIPCC: AR6, 5.2.2.2 Anthropogenic CH4 emissions
Units and Measures
CH4 emissions are expressed in the total weight in megatonnes per year. 1 Megatonne is equal to 1 million tonnes.
Wikipedia: MegatonneWikipedia: Global warming potential
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National methane emissions data through 2024 is from the PRIMAP-hist dataset, which combines several published sources into a historical emissions time series.
The Key Insights paragraph was created using a large language model (LLM) in combination with our data, historic events, and a structured approach for best accuracy by separating the context generation from the interpretation and narrative.
Data Sources
PRIMAP-hist The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series (1750-2024)
Update cycle: Every few monthsDelay: Less than 1 yearCredits: Gütschow, J.; Busch, D.; Pflüger, M. (2025): The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series v2.7 (1750-2024). zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.17090760