Iran's Sources of CH4 Emissions
Key Insights
Fugitive Emissions Dominate
Iran's methane profile is led by fugitive emissions, which make up about two-thirds of the total. After modest levels early on, they surged from the mid-1950s to the late 1970s, briefly fell around 1980, and have since trended upward. In recent years they have hovered around 120 megatonnes, near historic highs, and remain the central driver of national methane emissions.
Shifts Across Other Sectors
Livestock, contributing about one-fifth, rose steadily through the late 20th century before easing slightly since the early 2000s, now around 20 megatonnes. Waste has moved in the opposite direction, rising steadily-especially since the early 2000s-to roughly 15 megatonnes. Smaller sources matter less for the total: crop production increased until the mid-2000s and has declined to just over 2 megatonnes, while fuel combustion remains under 5 megatonnes but has been edging up; other sources are minimal.
Warming Impact And Outlook
Methane accounts for roughly 40% of Iran's overall warming impact. With fugitive emissions still edging upward and waste on a continuing rise, reversing growth in these two sectors is essential to change the national trajectory. Livestock emissions are drifting down, but only modestly; sustaining and accelerating that decline would help. Prioritizing the largest sources will deliver the most rapid 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.