Countries by Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) (Mt CO2e)

Ranking 2024

Analysis

This metric measures annual methane (CH4) emissions from electricity and heat generation, a subsector of the energy sector. The source definition states: 'A measure of annual emissions of methane (CH4), one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHG), from electricity and heat generation (subsector of the energy sector) including IPCC 2006 code 1.A.1.a. The measure is standardized to carbon dioxide equivalent values using the Global Warming Potential (GWP) factors of IPCC's 5th Assessment Report (AR5).' Values are expressed in megatonnes of CO2 equivalent (Mt CO2e), where higher values indicate greater methane output from this subsector. The dataset covers 194 countries with data from 2024, 100% of which meet the recency threshold, and 100% of data points are classified as official quality. The ranking contains 26 extreme outliers identified at the 3-sigma threshold, reflecting the highly skewed distribution of emissions across nations.

The top of the ranking is dominated by large economies with substantial fossil fuel power sectors. China leads at 4.135 Mt CO2e, followed by the United States at 1.997 Mt CO2e and India at 1.006 Mt CO2e. Russia ranks fourth at 0.691 Mt CO2e and Japan fifth at 0.648 Mt CO2e. Thailand places sixth at 0.534 Mt CO2e, ahead of Indonesia at 0.458 Mt CO2e and Brazil at 0.394 Mt CO2e. Germany ranks ninth at 0.391 Mt CO2e and Saudi Arabia tenth at 0.364 Mt CO2e. These ten countries account for the highest absolute methane outputs from power generation among all 194 ranked.

Notable placements appear throughout the middle ranks. Sweden (rank 15, 0.197 Mt CO2e) and Finland (rank 20, 0.156 Mt CO2e) rank higher than several larger economies, including Canada (rank 19, 0.164 Mt CO2e). Nigeria, a major fossil fuel producer, ranks only 61st at 0.027 Mt CO2e, well below smaller European nations. Guatemala ranks 37th at 0.065 Mt CO2e, ahead of South Africa (rank 42, 0.055 Mt CO2e) and Pakistan (rank 44, 0.051 Mt CO2e). At the lower end, 13 countries in the 174th rank group each report 0.0001 Mt CO2e, and eight countries record exactly zero, including Iceland (rank 187) and Nepal (rank 187).

Several limitations apply to this metric. It covers only the power industry subsector of energy, excluding methane from other energy uses, agriculture, waste, or industrial processes, so it does not represent total national methane or GHG output. Countries with zero values may reflect genuinely low fossil fuel use in power generation, rounding at the reported precision level, or gaps in national inventory completeness. The 26 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold indicate a heavily right-skewed distribution where a small number of countries drive most of the total. Reporting quality and inventory methodology can vary across countries, and standardization to AR5 GWP factors means values are not directly comparable to datasets using earlier GWP standards.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code EN.GHG.CH4.PI.MT.CE.AR5, for the reference year 2024. The metric covers 194 countries, all with data from within the last seven years (100% recency), and all data points are classified as official quality. The definition applied is: 'A measure of annual emissions of methane (CH4), one of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHG), from electricity and heat generation (subsector of the energy sector) including IPCC 2006 code 1.A.1.a. The measure is standardized to carbon dioxide equivalent values using the Global Warming Potential (GWP) factors of IPCC's 5th Assessment Report (AR5).' Values are in Mt CO2e. The dataset exhibits 26 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, and the value range spans 0.000 to 4.135, a spread exceeding 999%. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 9.0%, within the 50% volatility threshold. Higher values indicate greater methane emissions from this subsector.

Sources

• World Bank