United Kingdom's Sources of CH4 Emissions
Key Insights
2024 CH4 Emissions Profile
In 2024, the United Kingdom's anthropogenic methane emissions totalled around 43.6 megatonnes CO2e. Livestock dominated, at about 29.9 megatonnes CO2e and 68.5%, followed by waste at 8.9 megatonnes CO2e (20.4%) and fugitive emissions at 3.4 megatonnes CO2e (7.8%). Fuel contributed 1.3 megatonnes CO2e (3.1%), while crop and other emissions were each about 0.1%. Over the ten years to 2024, every source declined except fuel, which increased by about 0.9% per year.
Historic Livestock Emissions
Livestock emissions began at around 15.7 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and rose to roughly 29.6 megatonnes CO2e by 1915. They continued upward overall, peaking at about 42.7 megatonnes CO2e in 1974, before declining from the late 1980s. Emissions reached around 29.9 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Fugitive Emissions
Fugitive emissions started at roughly 17.2 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and climbed sharply to around 72.8 megatonnes CO2e by 1913. After substantial variation, they peaked at about 75.6 megatonnes CO2e in 1955, then fell steeply through the early 2000s. They declined to around 3.4 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Waste Emissions
Waste emissions began near 1.1 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and remained low until the early 1940s. They then rose rapidly, reaching around 50.5 megatonnes CO2e by 1968 and peaking at about 64.2 megatonnes CO2e in 1995. A sustained decline followed, reaching roughly 8.9 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Crop Emissions
Crop emissions were negligible until the 1950s, then rose gradually to a peak of around 0.065 megatonnes CO2e in 1989. They remained low and broadly stable thereafter, with a slight decline over the following decades. Crop emissions ended at about 0.053 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Fuel Emissions
Fuel emissions began at around 20.2 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and peaked at about 20.7 megatonnes CO2e in 1854. They generally declined, with some variation through the first half of the twentieth century, then fell sharply after 1950. Emissions reached around 1.3 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Other Emissions
Other methane emissions began near 0.002 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and stayed very small through the early twentieth century. They rose after the mid-1940s, peaking at around 0.126 megatonnes CO2e in 1965, before gradually declining. Other emissions were about 0.056 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