Question on Kuwait's CH4 data

[Mari Luomi]

Hello WRI and other folks,
 
I am wondering why Kuwait's CH4 levels appear so high.

For example, according to CAIT 2.0, Kuwait’s total emissions in 2010 (incl. LUCF) were 196.50 MtCO2e, of which CH4: 106.98 MtCO2e (presumably fugitive emissions).
Also, the chart at the bottom of the country profile page shows a consistently high CH4 emissions trajectory since 1990: http://cait2.wri.org/profile/Kuwait

However, Kuwait's Initial (and so far only) National Communication to the UNFCCC, which contains an emissions inventory for 1994, estimates the share of CH4 emissions at 8.4% of total emissions (in CO2e), which is _substantially_ less than what CAIT 2.0 data suggests.

Furthermore, Kuwait, unlike most of its OPEC neighbours, is not amongst the world's top 20 'flarers' of natural gas, based on NOAA data (http://go.worldbank.org/G2OAW2DKZ0).

Oman's proportional and absolute CH4 emissions are pretty high as well, but less so than those of Kuwait.

Would anyone be able to explain this? I'd be very thankful and will attribute the source in my publication(s).

Regards,
Mari Luomi, PhD
Research Associate,
Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

[CAIT]

Dear Mari,

Thank you for your feedback for CAIT 2.0.

Concerning the question you had about methane emission of Kuwait:

Our data source for CH4 is the EPA’s Global Non-CO2 GHG Emissions: 1990-2030 publication.

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/EPAactivities/economics/nonco2projections.html

As you can see in the appendices the EPA is using EIA fossil fuel combustion estimates and IPCC Tier I methodology for their calculation of Kuwait’s CH4 emissions from oil and gas. 

The sources are the following:

EIA. 2010. Energy Information Administration International Energy Statistics Data Portal. 

EIA. 2009. Natural Gas Annual Data. U.S. Energy Information Agency.

We are currently not sure why other data sources report different data. This might be because they used different sources for their gas and oil data or they applied a different methodology to calculate the corresponding emissions. There is always the balance between applying a consistent methodology across all countries (like the EPA report is doing) and applying a more accurate methodology for each country (like the Kuwait country report most likely did). We have prioritized on using a consistent methodology, designing CAIT 2.0 to serve as a tool for decision makers to get a quick sense of relative country/sector contributions and trends over time. However, as a result CAIT 2.0 estimates may differ from official country-reported calculations – even significantly in certain sectors.

To get more information it might be useful to contact the EPA about the differences in numbers. 

I hope this answer was of some help.

Best,

The CAIT team