Kyrgyzstan's Sources of CH4 Emissions
Key Insights
Methane’s Role And Scale
Methane contributes about 27% of Kyrgyzstan's total warming impact. Emissions are dominated by livestock at roughly three‑quarters, with waste near one‑fifth and a smaller share from fugitive emissions; crop production and fuel combustion remain minor. This mix has persisted for decades, but the momentum within sectors has shifted.
Livestock Dominance With Slow Change
From the early 20th century to the late Soviet era, livestock emissions climbed, then settled into a long period of relative stability from the 1970s onward. They have hovered around 3-4 megatonnes, with fluctuations and a recent edge upward toward the high end of that range. Other sources like crop production and fuel combustion have stayed well below 0.2 megatonnes and changed little.
Waste And Fugitive Turning Points
Waste emissions trended slowly higher through the post‑war era, then accelerated since the mid‑1990s, roughly tripling to the low‑twos megatonnes. Fugitive emissions rose through the late 1980s to around 0.6 megatonnes, declined sharply into the early 2000s, and have climbed again since the mid‑2000s, reaching close to 1 megatonne. These shifts have raised the importance of non‑livestock sources in recent years.
Actionable Outlook For Kyrgyzstan
The current trajectory shows livestock largely stable at a high plateau, waste still rising, and fugitive emissions rebounding. Bending total methane will hinge on reversing the rise in waste and fugitive emissions while preventing growth in livestock. Because methane's effects are short‑lived, cutting these sources can reduce the warming impact relatively quickly.
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.