Republic of Korea's Sources of CH4 Emissions
Key Insights
2024 CH4 Emissions Profile
In 2024, Republic of Korea's anthropogenic methane emissions totalled around 38 megatonnes CO2e. Waste dominated, at about 22.2 megatonnes CO2e (58.4%), rising by roughly 1.1 megatonnes CO2e per year (6.5%) over the ten years to 2024. Livestock contributed 6.8 (17.9%), crop production 4.2 (11.1%), fugitive emissions 3.5 (9.3%), fuel combustion 0.9 (2.5%), and other sources 0.3 megatonnes CO2e (0.9%). Waste, livestock, fugitive and other emissions rose, while crop and fuel emissions declined.
Historic Livestock Emissions
Livestock emissions began at around 0.3 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and rose gradually to roughly 1.9 by 1970. Growth then continued, reaching a peak of about 6.8 megatonnes CO2e in 2024, the final year.
Historic Fugitive Emissions
Fugitive emissions were near zero in 1851 but became substantial after the early 1950s, rising to around 8 megatonnes CO2e by 1979. They peaked at roughly 10.9 in 1988, fell to about 2.7 in 2005, and recovered to 3.5 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Waste Emissions
Waste emissions started at about 0.6 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and remained below 1 through the early 1920s. They then climbed increasingly quickly, from around 2.6 in 1969 to a peak of roughly 22.2 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Crop Emissions
Crop emissions began near 1 megatonne CO2e in 1851, rose rapidly from the late 1930s to around 7 by 1960, and remained near that level until the 1980s. They peaked at roughly 7.4 in 1987 before declining to about 4.2 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Fuel Emissions
Fuel-combustion emissions began at around 5.4 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and rose to a peak of roughly 10.2 in 1946. They then fell sharply to about 4.4 by 1961 and declined more gradually to around 0.9 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Other Emissions
Other methane emissions were negligible in 1851 and remained below 0.1 megatonnes CO2e through 1987. They increased steadily thereafter, reaching their peak and final level of around 0.3 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