Cyprus' Sources of CH4 Emissions
Key Insights
Waste Drives Recent Growth
Waste has become Cyprus's principal methane source, contributing just over half of national methane emissions. After relatively low levels through the 20th century, emissions from waste accelerated from around 2010 and have climbed rapidly since, reaching nearly 2 megatonnes by the early 2020s. This surge now sets the overall trajectory.
Livestock Steady Over Decades
Livestock remains the second pillar, at just under half of emissions. Across much of the record it has been stable, with modest ups and downs, and since the early 2000s it has edged up slightly, hovering around the low tenths of a megatonne each year. This steadiness contrasts with the sharp rise from waste.
Minor Sources Show Mixed Signals
Fuel combustion is small and has inched upward to only around 0.02 megatonnes. Fugitive emissions rose into the late 1990s, then fell back and have nudged up slightly in recent years, remaining very small. Crop production is negligible, and other sources are absent. Overall, methane accounts for around 22% of Cyprus's total warming impact today.
Outlook And Near-Term Priorities
Current trends are dominated by rising waste emissions, while livestock is broadly stable. Reversing the waste surge is the single most effective step to bend total methane downward; keeping livestock from drifting higher will also help. Because methane's effect is short-lived, sustained cuts would translate into a relatively quick drop in its warming impact.
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, the effect lasts only for a relatively brief period (9 years on average), compared to hundreds of years for CO2. A reduction in emissions can cause a rapid decline in its atmospheric levels and climate impact.
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
About the Data
The last available year in all the emission datasets is 2023. Methane emissions come from the PRIMAP-Hist dataset. It is a rich dataset that combines several published sources to create a historical emissions time series for various greenhouse gases.
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 (1750-2023)
Update cycle: Every few monthsDelay: Less than 1 yearCredits: Gütschow, Johannes; Busch, Daniel; Pflüger, Mika (2024): The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series (1750-2023) v2.6. Zenodo.